


Mnemosyne

by Crazyeight, Ruki44



Series: Digital Gods [2]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Tamers
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Dark, Digimon/Human Relationships, Emotional Hurt, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Love Triangles, Memory Alteration, Multi, Mystery, Nightmare Fuel, Other, Science Fiction, Teen Romance, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-11 06:02:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 61
Words: 472,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4424141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazyeight/pseuds/Crazyeight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruki44/pseuds/Ruki44
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A lot can change in six years. Friendships. Technology. Memories. However, what can't be changed is bonds. Even when the world you live in is a lie, the truth of those relationships can be strong enough to set you free."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What is Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> This story is one I am co-authoring with my friend, Ruki44, over at fanfiction.net, so for those that are interested in her works, be sure to look her up.

Disclaimer: Neither Ruki44 or I own Digimon.  
Mnemosyne  
The air was cold, as to be expected from the month of January, and with the sun angling closer toward the horizon, it was only going to get colder. Still, for the dark-haired, grey-eyed boy, he smiled all the same in spite of the chill. Hot or cold, he was at home in it, especially when it involved his friends.

For one Henry Wong, his friends were among the most important people in his life, even if some of them, such as the red-haired girl who was presently by his side, expression neutral, could be a bit prickly.

“Trust me, Rika,” he repeated for what had to be the hundredth time since he managed to convince her to come with him to Hananzo Shrine for the first shrine visit of the New Year, “you’ll like them. They’re a good bunch.”

The only answer he got was a grunt as she pulled the black kimono closer to her body, a white scarf wrapped around her neck, chasing away the bitter weather.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she agreed to go with Henry to the shrine instead of lounge in front of the TV like she normally did with mama and grandma, the older women gossiping as they drank cup after cup of sake. It just seemed like a good alternative, especially when mama got rather weepy last year halfway through her third cup of sake, blubbering about something the teenager couldn't really remember besides feeling rather uncomfortable during the whole situation.

While mama and her had their differences which only grew by the day, it didn't mean the rebellious teenager enjoyed it when her mother cried.

Henry chuckled a little at her small response. He felt bad about dragging her out into the cold. He knew from experience that she was not a fan of the cold. Well, here’s hoping it was all worth it. “So what do you plan to wish for when we get to the shrine?” he prompted, hoping to get her to at least be in a more talkative mood once they met up with the others.

Rika didn't answer right away, her violet eyes following a small child - a boy who looked no older than five - pulling at his father's hand, pointing with small, chubby fingers at one of the vendors selling dumplings.

"I really didn't have anything in mind," she said after a minute. "Probably just for a good year."

  
It wasn't like she was struggling in school, and she still had a year before she needed to start thinking about studying for the entrance exams.

Coming from a well-to-do family, she had no real monetary concerns to worry about. Her mother typically provided her with anything she wanted as well - a well-meaning but misguided attempt to show her love.

She had a friend - singular, Henry - and if he was right, she would have more by the end of the night. At the very least, some people to spend time with when the half-Chinese boy was in cram school or otherwise busy.

There was that she supposed ... to find that which alluded to her. She felt speaking it aloud was rather embarrassing and not something she would admit to. Not even to Henry.

"What about you?" she asked, turning to him as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  
Henry’s head turned skyward, his expression becoming wistful. “I guess…” He furrowed his brow, hesitating before giving a rueful laugh. “It might sound strange, but I guess for our friendships to never end.” He gave Rika an embarrassed look. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve been drifting apart from everyone and it’s about all I can do just to keep in contact with them.”

Giving the girl an awkward smile, he rubbed the back of his head. “I guess I worry a lot, don’t I?”

"You do," came the blunt reply before a small smile crossed her lips. Reaching out, she lightly grasped his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "Unfortunately for you, you're stuck with me."

“Lucky me.” Henry’s smile relaxed at her touch. “I can always count on you,” he said. “You’re too stubborn to give up on a friend.”

"You mean too stubborn in general," she snorted as she removed her hand.

Turning her attention forward, she squinted her eyes as she made out the the tori, marking the entrance to the stone stairs leading up the approach to the shrine. In the sea of people, she couldn't make out who they were supposed to be looking for, nor did she immediately recognize anybody herself.

"Where did you say we were meeting them again?" she asked, her lips thinning.

“Jeri said that they were going to meet up at the Chōzuya,” Henry replied, scanning the crowd for a sign of their destination. “She should be wearing a yellow kimono while Takato wears a red… Ah! There they are.”

Picking up his pace a little bit, he headed over toward a water-basin. He spied Kazu leaning against one of the posts that held up its roof, smoking a cigarette while next to him was Takato and Jeri, the latter of whom was busily sketching something in a small notepad. He wanted to sigh at the trio—especially Kazu, who was straight away not giving the best of impressions.

  
_Although Takato could at least pay better attention to what’s around him,_ he thought, instead of losing himself in his worlds.

He suddenly found himself wondering if it actually was a good idea introducing Rika to them.

  
_I wonder where Kenta is?_ he mused before spying him sitting on the ground behind Kazu, head in one hand and tracing a finger in the ground. He didn’t even have to see his face to know that the boy looked bored out of his mind.

Rika followed after them, silently wishing her kimono had pockets as she suddenly felt rather apprehensive if not slightly nervous. She didn't do well in large groups - especially not with people she didn't know well. However, she had promised Henry she would come, so she couldn't back out now - not when they had arrived and especially not when they finally seemed to have noticed her.

"Henry!" It was the girl - Jeri she recalled Henry calling her - waving her hand wildly only to slow down as her brown eyes land on her. She bit her lip as the two girls stared at each other for a minute, bringing her hand closer to her chest. Rika, for her part, crossed her own arms as her frown became more pronounced.

_Great,_ she thought darkly, immediately recognizing the skittish body language.

"Henry ... is this ... your friend?" Jeri asked slowly, tentatively as the others took notice the final two members of the group had finally arrived.

“Yeah,” Henry replied with a nod. Stepping to the side, he gestured to the redhead. “Everyone? This is Rika Nonaka. Rika, these are the friends I was telling you about.” He gestured to each one, introducing them in turn. Kenta fumbled over his words as he waved, while both Kazu and Takato remained silent, though each for their own reasons.

The difference between them in their silence was rather stark. Kazu simply regarded Rika as he drew on his cigarette, giving her a complete once-over with his eyes before grinning, as if liking what he saw. Takato, for his part, fidgeted and had difficulty meeting her gaze—finding the ground to be a much more interesting sight to behold—but otherwise was able to offer a welcoming smile that was open and warm.

Jeri leaned back, her own expression one of puzzlement and curiosity, as if having difficulty understanding Henry’s state of mind in regards to Rika. “I thought you said your friend was shy,” she said. “I know you.” She looked at the other girl more fully. “I’ve seen you around school.” She giggled. “The teachers are afraid of you.”

The remark didn’t really garner much of a response besides an eyebrow raise and a grunt. Honestly, she never saw the other girl before - not that it said much as she preferred to keep to herself - but she was rather aware of the rumors which circulated around her. She had learned to ignore them over the years, although she was the slightest bit impressed the girl had the gall to state one of them to her face.

“She’s the Demon Queen I’ve been hearing about?” Kazu asked, looking baffled. He took another puff and then tapped his cigarette so that ashes fell to the ground like black snow. “Eh,” he said after a moment. “I’ve seen scarier stuff in my lunch.”

Somehow...the air became a bit colder, Henry noted, seeing Rika take on a more defensive stance. Of course Kazu had to be the one to cause it, as he tended to rub people wrong on the first meeting—and usually every time afterward. He wouldn’t fault her for not liking him.

“So...what do we want to do first?” he asked, hoping to break the ice that was now suddenly building between them. “Should we go make our wishes now?” He glanced over his shoulder at the crowd. It was pretty packed, leaving him uncertain if anyone, particularly Kazu and Rika, would want to stand for it. He really wished he had thought this through better. Unfortunately, everyone was a general only _after_ the battle.

“Might as well get the wishes done first,” Kazu chuckled, taking another drag. “I bet Chumley here gets bad luck again, just like last year. I want to see what his fortune says.”

Takato scowled at Kazu, but for the moment stayed quiet.

Rika merely shrugged - not caring one way or the other - as Jeri clapped her hands enthusiastically, her fingers interlacing with each other.

“Oh! Yes, let’s go!” she insisted, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Henry smiled gratefully at Jeri. If there was anyone he could count on to break the ice, it was most definitely her. “All right,” he nodded. “Let’s go fight the crowds.”

With that, the group began to wind their way through the throng of people, Rika hanging back, or at least attempting to as Henry saw what she was doing and deliberately slowed his pace to keep the group with her. He smiled knowingly at her, his grey eyes shining with amusement.

_So far everything’s going well,_ he thought, noting that the group was sticking together. Even Takato, for a wonder, didn’t wander too far in either direction, though he seemed to be trying to keep some measure of distance between himself and the fiery girl. Not that it did him much good.

However, even Henry could tell that things were tense in the group, save for Kazu, whose boisterous nature decided to make himself the life of the get-together, going on and on about some random incident at school, and generally talking the most; keeping himself the center of attention whenever things began to quiet down.

Rika kept shooting glares at Henry each time her attempt to distance herself from the group failed. While he had assured her that she would like the others, it seemed that he forgot to take into account whether or not they would like her in turn. Judging by Jeri’s reaction, and Kazu’s remark, her reputation had already tainted whatever view they could have held on her.

They eventually reached the front of the line, and dropping in a 5 yen coin in as an offering, she picked out the O-mikuji, unrolling it a little only to frown slightly upon reading her lot.

_Great blessing in your wish or desire._

Rolling it up she handed it over to Henry - she didn’t need something like this. It would be wasted on her, and Henry actually had something he wanted while she didn’t.

“Here,” she said simply. Henry raised his eyebrows in surprise at her, but quickly guessed what she was doing.

“You shouldn’t,” he insisted, pressing it back toward her. “That’s your fortune. Whatever happens, happens. I don’t think the gods will let you just hand it off to anyone you know.”

“Yeah,” crowed Kazu with a laugh. “You might piss them off. Wouldn’t want that to happen. You’d end up like ol’ Chumley here.” For emphasis, he reached over and rubbed Takato’s head with a fist, giving his scalp an extra hard dig, causing the boy to finally reach up and grab hold of him by the wrist, pushing his arm away.

“Kazu…” Takato warned, glowering at him. The other boy simply grinned.

“Take it easy man, I was just joking. You know I always kid around.”

“Yeah, Takato,” supplied Kenta from behind him. “Don’t be such a baby about it.”

Takato heaved a sigh and massaged his head, attempting to get his hair back to something resembling order, a job made difficult by its penchant toward disorder. Almost against his will, his eyes flickered over to Rika before darting away once more toward the ground, a small, barely noticeable blush creeping its way across his face.

Rika noticed this, but didn’t say anything. Out of all the people in the group, it seemed Takato was the least irritating - besides Henry of course. Of course, he had said just as much as she had - that is to say, barely anything at all.

Jeri now deposited her 5 yen as an offering and withdrew an O-mikuji. Unlike Rika, she unrolled it without concern and a smile bloomed across her face. Spinning around, she showed it off to the others. The kanji read Great Blessings in her romantic relationships. Kazu tsked at it.

“Figures that a girl would get that,” he remarked. Jeri stuck her tongue out at him.

“Maybe if you didn’t brag as much you’d have better luck with love. The gods don’t like braggers.”

“I do plenty fine with love,” Kazu snorted and then forked over 5 yen for his O-mikuji. He quickly unrolled it, turning around as he did so, a bored expression on his face. He smirked.

“Guess I’m getting my desire too,” he said, rolling it up. “All right Chumley. It’s your turn on the chopping block again.”

Tightening his lips, Takato exchanged his 5 yen for the O-mikuji that would seal his fate for the rest of the year. Unrolling it, his shoulders sagged a little.

“That bad, huh?” Kazu grinned, looking over his shoulder. “Oh...wow. Disputes! That’s some pretty bad luck there.”

“Put a sock in it,” Takato grumbled under his breath, rolling his O-mikuji back up. Rika tapped his shoulder before pointing over to a metal fence where other O-mikuji were tied, bad fortune and good fortune alike. However, it was typically bad fortunes, and the half-Japanese girl felt there was no reason why Takato’s bad luck couldn’t wait by the pine tree with the others.

For whatever good it could do him - it already seemed to her that the curse was taking effect.

Takato jerked in surprise at Rika’s touch and nearly spun around into her, but managed to catch himself at the last second. Following her finger to the metal fence, he raised an eyebrow before a light bulb turned on in his head. “Oh!” he exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “Ah...Thanks.”

Blushing lightly again, he headed over to the fence, kicking himself mentally for not thinking about this earlier...or the year before when it had been no less obvious.

_Yep. It’s not just my imagination that’s a curse,_ he berated himself, tying his bad luck up with the others.

Henry took note of this as he withdrew his O-mikuji and took a quick glance before rolling it up. _Lost articles,_ he mused, noting that it came with a curse. _Well, as Rika liked to say, we choose our own destiny._

_That was...such a long time ago…_ he thought, his expression becoming melancholy as he looked each of his friends over, one by one. _Things sure changed a lot…_

Now however was not the time to be thinking about such things.

The last acquiring of O-mikuji was met with a groan from Kenta, who refused to divulge its contents despite even the best of Kazu’s pesterings.

_Give credit where credit is due, at least he didn’t just take it from him and read it out loud,_ thought Henry, amused. _Maybe there’s some hope for him._

“Where should we head next?” Jeri asked the group, tucking her fortune away carefully in a clutch she had carried.

“We could all drink sake,” Kazu grinned, earning him a frown from the brown-haired girl and a scowl from Rika. The teen simply shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, not so much as withering under their baleful glares. “Hey, I’m just throwing ideas out there. What’ve you got?”

“How about we just wander around?” Henry suggested. “Maybe we’ll find something that interests us.”

“There’s lots of food,” Takato added, grinning now. “I’m pretty sure we’ll find that interesting.”

“You’d know best, Chumley,” Kazu smirked playfully.

“Food’s fine,” Rika grunted as her stomach rumbled slightly in agreement. Placing a hand over her stomach, willing it to be quiet, she looked up, standing on her toes as she tried to look over the sea of people. While she wasn’t exactly a picky eater, there were foods she definitely preferred over others. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she noticed a Taiyaki stand a few yards away.

Without really saying much to anybody else, she began to wander over to the vendor.

Exchanging glances, the others were quick to follow behind.

“Just charging off like that without even waiting to wander around with the rest of us,” Kazu grimaced. “That girl’s crazier than catfish.”

Rika was waiting for them at the end of the line - or really she was waiting for Henry. Honestly, she hadn’t really cared if anybody followed her or not. If not, it was better for her - she might be able to slip out easier of this farce without being rude to Henry.

“Jeez, you should wait for us,” Jeri complained as she joined the line, after casting a quick glance what it was for. “We’re here as a group.”

“Hn.”

It wasn’t what Rika really wanted to say, of course. There were several things she wanted to say - most notably that she only agreed to this outing because of Henry, and what would she care what the ‘Demon Queen’ did. However, she was being polite - she had to keep reminding herself that - so the million barbed wire comments waiting to leave at the tip of her tongue stayed silent.

“She’s quite the talker,” Kazu quipped, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head to one side. “She’s even worse than Chumley.”

“Rika just has her own way of going about things,” Henry defended with a small smile. “Sometimes you have to take small steps. Anyway, since she’s made her decision about what she wants to do, what about the rest of you?”

“I wonder if there are any Hamaya being sold?” Jeri said, looking around. Kazu smirked.

“Why? Got some evil demons you need protecting from?”

Jeri regarded Kazu with a small, amused smile. “I’ve got you,” she replied ambiguously, causing the teen to raise a confused eyebrow at her. Next to him, Takato barely managed to repress a laugh, causing Kazu to give him a sharp look.

“Maybe you should get yourself a Hamaya to protect yourself from _Demon Queen_ there…” he said under his breath to Jeri.

“Don’t worry, she’s not my type,” Rika quipped, hearing the conversation despite Kazu’s “best” efforts to keep it quiet. She was trying to be polite, but he was making it harder than it should be.

A grin suddenly split across Kazu’s face. “Too bad,” he said mischievously, causing Jeri to raise an eyebrow at first before suddenly blushing as she, through her long years of association, realized what he was going on about.

“K-Kazu!” she stammered.

“What?” he laughed. “You said it, not me.”

Takato heaved a small sigh, causing Henry to glance at him thoughtfully for a moment before stepping forward.

“How about we look around for a Hamaya stand then?” he asked, trying to salvage the outing. This was increasingly looking like a bad idea, but he wasn’t willing to give up just yet.

“I’m almost to the front of the line. I need Taiyaki, Henry,” Rika said bluntly as she inched forward.

“That’s okay,” Henry smiled. “We’ll only be gone for a second. Takato can stay with you.”

“Ah!” The boy flinched visibly and pointed at himself. “I...ah… Okay?” He glanced at Rika. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” she grunted. If Henry wasn’t the one staying, Takato was the one person she felt she could stand and be polite towards. The less temptation there was to snark, the better it would be for everybody. “That’s fine if you want to.”

“We won’t be gone long,” Henry assured, giving a light nudge against Kazu’s back, causing the boy to glower at him even as he acceded to the pressure.

“Try not to do anything embarrassing while we’re gone, Chumley,” Kazu joked. “We know how much you like doing that, but I think Henry’s pretty hot on his girlfriend hanging out with us tonight.”

“Friend, Kazu,” Henry said before Rika could explode on him, giving him a little extra encouragement to get moving. “We’ll be back,” he smiled over his shoulder, and with that the four disappeared into the crowd, leaving Takato and Rika alone together.

Rika glared at Kazu as they disappeared into the crowd, a million words at the tip of her tongue but not a single one in the air. At the end of this whole charade, Henry would owe her big time for having to put up with this group’s drivel.

_Honestly, this kid is the only redeeming feature of Henry’s friends,_ she noted, taking a sidelong glance at Takato. _No wonder Henry is worried about his friends drifting apart with people like this. What does he see in them?_

“S-Sorry about that,” Takato said. “Kazu can be a bit of a jerk sometimes. He’s not a bad person, but he… Well, he just has a hard time remembering not to say everything that’s on his mind.”

He flushed a little. He wasn’t used to talking much, especially to strangers, more so to strangers as pretty as Rika was.

“I don’t know why you’re apologizing,” Rika said bluntly, feeling that ‘a bit of a jerk’ was the politest understatement Takato could have possibly uttered. She had several other adjectives she felt was more fitting. Imbecile. Dunce. Simpleton. Jackass.

“I guess I just feel bad about it,” Takato shrugged. “I mean… This doesn’t seem like…” Scrunching his face up, his brain abandoned his brain and he gave up pursuing them. What was the point? “Never mind. I guess I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Do you always stand up for those who don’t deserve it and put down yourself?” she asked, frowning slightly. Honestly, it felt to her Takato was enabling Kazu’s behavior while not agreeing with it. “Your friend mocks you enough - you don’t need to add it yourself.”

Takato shrugged, not really agreeing with her. “Kazu...didn’t used to be like that. Well.. Okay, he still likes to brag a lot and...say stupid things sometimes, but… I’ve just known him for a long time. I guess…” He drifted off and then shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the riddle of his friend. Deep down he knew this girl was right, but the strands of loyalty bound him tightly. “Anyway, sorry. I’ll try to keep him quieter and...ah...separate from you.”

He offered the girl a small, beaming smile. Despite his lack of confidence in himself, he meant what he said. At least when it came to Kazu, he knew where he stood.

A small smirk - barely noticeable - flashed across her face as they got to the front of the line finally.

“A real knight in shining armor, aren’t ya?” she asked, but what might have been a barb in the past was more of a statement made on a light note. She found the gesture the crimson eyed boy was doing rather sweet, even if he did apologize a lot. Glancing at him, she paused when she saw white armor covering him, a red cape resting on his shoulders. With a blink, it was gone.

_What was that?_ she wondered, slightly startled by how real it seemed before brushing it off as just her imagination.

Dipping her head, she looked at the fish shaped pastries trying to figure out which filling she wanted before deciding on getting one of each. Giving the vendor her order, she dropped the change into the man’s outstretched hand as she collected her meal.

Giving another look at Takato, she held out one of the Taiyaki - the chocolate filled one - to him quietly. Henry wanted her to become friends with these people, so she supposed it might bode well to act a little friendly to the single person she didn’t want to strangle.

Takato looked first at her and then the Taiyaki in surprise before, hesitantly, accepting it. “T-Thanks,” he blushed, uncertain as to what to make of the gesture. “So what do you want to do now?” he asked, wanting to push past what felt like an incredibly awkward moment as quickly as possible.

“Probably find the others,” she said simply, taking a bite out of the red bean paste one. It was her favorite flavor - a bit odd, perhaps, but she had developed a rather unique taste after spending countless festivals with her grandmother.

All the same, in all honesty, she wanted to go home. She was getting rather tired, and her mother’s weeping seemed in hindsight much preferable to the tension which plagued the outing. Still, she made a promise to Henry and she intended to keep it.

Takato nodded, taking a bite out of his Taiyaki - his eyes widening slightly as he discovered it to be chocolate - and cast his eyes around for any sign of their group. It wasn’t difficult to spot them fortunately, as Kazu’s height made him stand out distinctively in the crowd.

“There,” he said, swallowing his bite and pointing in Kazu’s direction. They were in front of another vendor - not a Hamaya stand, but rather a Yakitori one. With nothing more that seemed needing to be said, the duo set off together, each with various degrees of reluctance.

At the stand, Rika noticed one of her mother’s photos - they must have contracted with her for advertisement. Honestly, she was a bit surprised ma took such a low level job, but that was mother for her - she seemed to honestly enjoy modeling. It seemed to be a small business as well - despite her many, many flaws, mother was a great supporter of the local economy and those who put their own money forward on an idea.

_“It takes a lot of courage, honey,” Rumiko told her daughter as she combed her hair. “I just want to support that - to support their dream. Like my mother did me.”_

Of course, it seemed that Rumiko struggled on supporting her own daughter - at least in her interests.

_But that isn’t true - mama always allowed me to pursue whatever I wanted. She even asked about Digimon one time, even though she didn’t get it…_

Her brow furrowing, she took another bite out of her pastry. Her stomach twisted slightly for the first time that night upon realizing she left her mother and grandmother at the house themselves to spend time with people who were in majority strangers to her. Sitting in front of a television may not be glamorous by any means, but perhaps it was time with the family - her mother - she didn’t have normally.

While waiting in line, Jeri turned to look at the photo of Rumiko. Reaching out, she picked it off the stand it was on and looked at it with a dreamy smile. At the bottom was a price marked at 3000 yen. Her smile dropped and she set it back down.

“She’s very pretty,” she said, disappointed that she couldn’t afford it. Behind her, Kazu took a gander and grinned.

“Yeah, I’d fuck her,” he laughed. “Looks like a ten out of ten to me.”

Scowling, Jeri gave him a light elbow jab.

_“Kazu!”_ she hissed. He stepped back, arms up in a placating gesture, but the cocky grin on his face didn’t disappear.

Unfortunately for Kazu, while the insincere gesture might have been enough to placate one of the girls, the Demon Queen was not someone who would be easily forgiving.

“You goddamned-” she snarled in a beastial growl, and while she normally found swearing to be vulgar and beneath her, this cocky boy was beneath even that. However, as her hand rose to wipe that cocky smirk off his face and hopefully remove a few teeth, it was caught by the only other hafu of the group - Henry.

“How about we _not_ resort to violence?” he asked, grey eyes locking with violet.

“Um… What’s going on?” asked Kenta, adjusting his glasses as he suddenly made himself a part of the conversation. At this, Kazu turned with raised eyebrows.

“Oh hey! Chumley! You’re back! And I see you brought a girl with…” He stopped upon realizing that Henry still held Rika’s fist firmly in one hand, the two struggling against each other. “Whoa… Someone’s knickers are in a bunch. Did I miss something?”

“I don’t know,” Kenta began. “It looked like Rika was about to punch one of us.”

“Phht!” Kazu snarked. “Seriously? Ah, she probably hits like a girl…”

“Um… Haven’t you been beaten up by a girl before?” Takato asked. Catching a look from Henry, he stepped between Rika and Kazu, suddenly getting the feeling that the time had come to keep his promise to make sure these two were separate from each other.

“I’ll show him just how a _girl_ can punch,” she hissed at Henry, venom lacing her voice as her eyes burned with the fury of the sun. The anger which she normally had kept forced down, hidden, was beginning to boil once more to the top and was threatening to overflow.

She had tried to be nice. To be polite. However, this just crossed the line. This jackass would learn some manners.

“Okay, what feelings did I hurt to get you so riled up?” Kazu asked, folding his arms over his chest. “You just showed up threatening to punch me out. What’s the deal?”

Takato frowned at the taller teen. “Could you dial it back a bit, Kazu? She’s mad and I don’t think she would be that way without a good reason.”

“Dial what back? I’m not the one being bitchy right now.”

“Kazu…” Now it was Takato’s turn to start seeing a little red, though he kept himself more tightly restrained. His fists shook as his nails bit into his palms. “Knock it off.”

Seeing this, Kazu looked honestly confused by his friend’s attitude. He was supposed to be on _his_ side! Not some stranger that Henry brought along. Tilting his head to one side, he cocked an eyebrow. “Okay Chumley. What the heck happened between you two when you were alone together that’s got you so uptight? You white-knighting for her or something? She’s not going to fuck you dude.”

In a rush of adrenaline, Rika broke free from Henry’s grip and followed through with her plan to punch Kazu in the face. It felt good, as her fist connected with his nose. It felt great, watching the piece of scum fall to his knees, cradling his face and blood beginning to drip down from his nose like a leaky faucet.

Kazu screamed into his hands as pain, shock and anger surged through him. She _punched_ him. She _punched him!_ Broke his nose by the feel of it screaming nerve obscenities at his brain’s pain receptors. Distantly he heard Jeri’s cry and the vendor shouting something, drowned out by Henry trying to restore order in the group by grabbing Rika and trying to restrain her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kenta back away, no doubt terrified.

_Can’t ever depend on him,_ he thought distractedly through his pain. In the war between it and his anger, anger quickly won out and he surged to his feet, ready to return the favor with interest...only to come to a dead stop as he saw the wild, furious look in Rika’s eyes as she glared at him. In an instant, she wasn’t just some girl in his eyes. She was some wild animal - a _wild cat_ \- looking to tear him apart.

His anger retreated, restoring some measure of clarity to his thoughts and, with great effort, he looked away, down at the ground where blood was starting to pool. His blood.

“I want you kids out of here, _now!”_ the vendor shouted at them.

“We’re going,” Henry grunted against Rika’s thrashing. “Rika! Calm down! We’ll leave! Okay? Rika…” The girl tore free from Henry’s grasp, but, for a wonder, chose not to do any further harm to Kazu. Instead, after brushing aside her bangs, she gave him one last venomous glare and stormed off. Running a hand through his hair, Henry gave everyone an apologetic look.

“Sorry,” he said simply before rushing off after the girl, leaving the other four alone.

Takato stood there, shaking. He looked over at Rika’s retreating form before heaving a sigh. Gathering as much self restraint as he could possibly muster, he took hold of Kazu by the arm and led him off. “Come on,” he grated. “Let’s get you cleaned up so your mother has less of a reason to kick your butt when you get home later.”

“She _punched_ me, Chumley! You saw that? She’s freaking crazy…”

“I’m pretty sure the crazy one here was you, Kazu…”

Jeri and Kenta exchanged glances before following tentatively. Jeri lingered for a second longer, looking at the poster of the model, sensing that there had been something about it that had set Rika off.

For an instant, those violet eyes struck her as familiar, but before she could make the connection, she was broke out of her thoughts by Kenta.

“Let’s go,” the bespectacled boy said. “I think we’ve all had enough fun for one night.”

Jeri nodded reluctantly before following after him.


	2. Lost Connections

“So how’s Kazu nose doing?”

Leaning against the metal grate where an old bunker, a relic from the past whose purpose had long since been forgotten, sat in the park, Henry rubbed his arms to fight against the January chill.

Takato looked up at Henry in surprise as he blew into his hands to keep his fingers warm, having left his gloves behind, foolishly thinking that it would be warm enough. “Um… He’s doing good, I guess,” he replied. “He stopped bleeding eventually. I haven’t heard from him since I got him home, so I figure his mother grounded him.”

“Sorry about that,” the half-Chinese apologized as he sighed, white, fog-like smoke escaping his lips almost as if he were a dragon. “I didn’t expect her to actually punch him.”

Not completely true. He didn’t expect her to break free of his grip would be the more correct statement, but he didn’t want to worsen her reputation than already it was. He totally forgot to take into account that Jeri went to their same high school, and she would probably know the rumors surrounding Rika let alone help spread them to the others.

Takato gave a light laugh, half in amusement and half in exasperation. “It’s okay, I guess,” he said. “He kinda deserved it after what he said. That girl was right though.” Running his hands through his hair he groaned. “He’s been… I don’t know. Is there a polite way to say he’s been a jerk lately?”

“That’s probably the politest way you could put it,” Henry replied, smiling ruefully, Rika’s voice at the back of his mind listing off the more … impolite words which could possibly be used to describe Kazu’s behavior. Adjectives she used last night on their way home, some of which he was shocked to hear her say. “Still though, it’s too bad. Rika was really upset. I never heard her swear before.”

“I don’t blame her,” Takato sighed, a depressed expression falling over his face. “I don’t know what to do about him though. I tried to talk to him about it, but...he didn’t want to listen.” His brow knotted together darkly. “He never listens anymore. And Kenta…” He shook his head. “I know he’s still a good guy, but I just feel lost on what to do.” He looked up at the half-Chinese teen. “Do you have any ideas?”

“I don’t know about Kazu, to be honest,” Henry admitted. “You can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink. I suppose that’s the same thing here. People change over the years as well … for better or the worse.” He paused at that and sighed, a melancholy look overtaking his face as he watched the wind push some clouds across the sky. “Either way, I doubt talking to Kazu would make Rika feel any better.”

  
“She was really upset. Sorry that things turned out the way they did.” He rubbed his fingers together. “I wonder if I should apologize or something.”

“Apologize for Kazu?” Henry asked, tilting his head.

“Why not?” Takato asked. “I’m his friend and I should have checked him when he started acting up.” Curling his fingers into his palms, his expression hardened. “Friends are supposed to be there for each other, after all, and that also means telling them when they’re not being good friends, right? I haven’t been doing that.”

“Kazu hasn’t been the most pleasant person, that much is true,” Henry agreed, not even attempting to beat around the bush. “However, you can’t be held responsible for someone else’s actions - every choice has consequences. You shouldn’t have to bear somebody else’s bad choices since they are an idiot.”

Takato thought back to yesterday and how Rika looked when Henry had held her back. “Still…” he murmured, more to himself than to Henry. The strings of his conscience tugged hard at him. Even though he wasn’t likely to ever see her, he hated seeing people upset. “I still feel like I should apologize or...or _something.”_

He hated feeling helpless. Too often it felt like he was helpless to do anything in his life and it left him feeling frustrated.

Henry watched him for a moment, the only sound was the faraway hum of the traffic and some screaming from children further in the park. Finally he smiled gently and brought out his phone, tapping something on the keys and a moment later Takato’s phone buzzed.

Curious, Takato pulled it out and looked at the message. _Is that...an address?_ he thought before seeing the name next to it. “Wait, this is where that girl lives? Why are you sending that to me?”

“Rika’s, yeah,” Henry said as he snapped close his phone. “If you want to talk to her, I’m not going to stop you - she might even appreciate the sentiment. She can be rough around the edges, but she can be touched by the smallest of gestures.”

“I...Henry! This is just going to make me look creepy! Are you crazy? I can’t just go down there. What am I supposed to say?”

“Just be your charming self, and you should be fine,” Henry said as he wrapped an arm around Takato’s shoulders, grinning mischievously. “You two got along well enough yesterday. As for getting her address, just tell her I gave it to you. That way she would pick a fight with me and not you if she ends up annoyed.”

“I… You…” Takato looked down at the address and his shoulders sagged in resignation. “You’re going to get me killed one of these days, you know that, right?”

“Doubt it. You’re a survivor.”

Takato raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what he was talking about. _Survivor? Huh? I mean, yeah, there’s the school lunch and gym class, and the chores at home, but that’s not exactly a big deal._

Deciding to shrug it off, he looked back at the message. He had a feeling that he knew he was going to end up going there regardless of how stupid he would make himself look.

###  
A plastic bag full of bread from his family’s bakery banging against his thigh, Takato’s feet propelled him down the street, the limbs at conflict with his head and heart as they hammered away, telling him over and over what a dumb idea this was while he just moved of his own accord.

_This is crazy… I’m crazy for even doing this. Talk to some girl the day after she got into it with a friend of mine? Going to her house even though I shouldn’t even know where she lives? There’s no way that this is going to go well._

His imagination could see it already, and was whipping up a likely scenario of what would happen as soon as he knocked on her door. She would answer. He would hand her the bag of bread that he had, and then after a brutal and brief interrogation as to how he found out where she lived, she would kill him, followed quickly by Henry. In his mind, he saw two little tombstones sitting side by side with their ghosts rising over them.

_And that’s if she even lets the cops find the bodies!_ Takato sweated, rounding a corner. Still, his feet kept him moving, unmindful about his impending doom.

_Figures that my feet are against me…_

As he continued to drown himself in his thoughts of his oncoming death, something caught his eye - some movement. Turning, he saw what looked like a red tail disappearing down the end of the street, followed by a familiar looking boy wearing a pair of goggles he hadn’t seen in years.

_Not since Mom threw them out anyway,_ he thought. For the first time since leaving home, his feet stopped in their tracks and angled themselves in the direction of the duo. Something...felt odd about what he saw. Something that he couldn’t quite explain. It tugged at him, like an itch in his brain. The familiarity...

_It’s probably nothing,_ he thought. _I mean, come on. A lot of kids wear blue hoodies and some even wear goggles._

But that red tail… Even though it had only been slight and last minute, he had caught it. It reminded him of... _him._ Of a creature he knew only in his imagination. A creature that shouldn’t, by all rights, not even have any physical form in the real world.

_Oh come on. It was just a tail! It was probably some kid playing a game and… Why are my feet already moving?_

Sure enough, his body was already being propelled forward down the end of the street that he had been staring at, apparently impatient with his brain’s lack of decisive action. Reaching the end, he turned just in time to see the same pair disappear down another corner.

“Hey, wait!” Takato called, chasing after them. “Man, why am I being so crazy about this?” he asked himself aloud. “It’s just a couple of harmless kids? Why am I getting so worked up? And why am I talking to myself?!”

Reaching the end of the street, he stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth falling open at the sight in front of him. Sure enough, there they were. Himself - or more accurately a 10-year old version of himself - standing alongside a red dinosaur digimon that he knew all too well. _Guilmon._

_Wha…? What is going on here?_ Takato asked himself, stepping closer almost against his will. They looked so real. That other Takato was definitely how he looked six years ago, no question. And Guilmon… As if to confirm it to himself with his own eyes, he dug out his notepad and flipped it open to the first page where a detailed, colored drawing of Guilmon lay emblazoned on its surface. He looked up from it to Guilmon, only to gawk in surprise as he found that they were no longer there.

“Wha…?” Takato blinked. “That… What...was _that?!”_

No answer came to him. Pressing his hands against his head, he shook it fiercely. “I must be losing my mind. Yeah, that’s it. I’m standing in the middle of the street, talking to myself as I go nuts, right? No one just sees digimon and someone who looks like themselves from six years ago after all.”

Cracking open his eyes, he found that the two hallucinations hadn’t suddenly rematerialized. Wondering if there was something in the air or something he ate, he plodded on, reorienting himself with his phone just to make sure that he was on the right path. Surprising himself, he was closer to his destination than he expected to be.

Eventually he came to a stop in front of a large gate. He gulped upon seeing the wall it was connected to. It was almost like a mini fortress from an ancient Japanese castle. _Does that girl really live here?_ he wondered. _Or was Henry messing with me?_

In the two years that he knew Henry though, the teen had never given him any reason to think that he would do something mean spirited like that. Still, with great hesitation, he raised a hand to the gate and knocked politely.

It was a dull knock, and for an instant he wondered if it would even be heard. He looked around, wondering if there was a doorbell or something he was supposed to push. Sure enough, he found one, and he quickly pressed it, kicking himself mentally for not having thought of it sooner.

There wasn’t an answer right away, and silence stretched for a long minute. However, finally, the gate pulled back to reveal an attractive woman in her mid 30s with striking violet eyes and wavy blonde hair. Spotting Takato, she smiled politely as she inquisitively tilted her head.

“Can I help you?”

“Ah… Is there a...Rika Nonaka here?” Takato asked tentatively. The woman stared at him for a moment before a large dopey smile crossed her face and she put two hands on her cheeks and squealed.

“Ah! You must be one of Rika’s friends! I never met another one besides Henry! Oh, if I knew one was coming to visit - and a cute one, my, she has some good taste - I would have picked up the house some,” the woman gushed before standing to the side and ushering him inside the gate to the spacious yard leading to the house. “Come in, come in! I’ll put on some tea, and let Rika know you’re here!”

“Ah… Thanks?” Takato could only say, bewildered at the woman’s reaction. He entered what he could only describe as a courtyard from the sheer size and felt instantly self-conscious. My whole house could fit in just the corner… he thought, looking around. There was much about the place that was pleasing to the eye, leaving him feeling almost quite relaxed. Almost that is, as he remembered his purpose here. Not sure what to do with himself, he ventured no further than the koi pond.

“Come on, come on,” the woman insisted, already at the doorway of the house, gesturing with her hand for him to come closer. “No need to be shy.”

Doing as he had been bid, Takato did just that, but he felt no more comfortable than before. Something about the woman was tugging at his memories. She seemed awfully familiar for some reason.

Sliding the door open and slipping off her shoes, she stuck her head into an adjourning room.

“Rika! Your friend is here! I’m making you two some tea!” she called out before smiling at Takato, pointing to the other room she was just in. “She’s in there. The tea should be out shortly.”

“Um… Thank you, Mrs. Nonaka,” Takato bowed slightly. Slipping off his own shoes, he stepped inside and took a look around. Sure enough, his gaze fell upon one Rika Nonaka, looking as though she had just gotten up, an alarmed expression on her face. “Um...hi,” he said to her, waving carefully, as if afraid that she were a wild animal that would tear his hand off at the slightest provocation.

Her violet eyes flickered to him, then to the retreating back of what could only be her mother, and then back to him again almost as if she couldn’t figure out which one of them took precedent.

“Stay right there,” she commanded before sprinting after her mother into the kitchen. “Mother! Let me make the tea, you just go sit down somewhere.”

“I can make the tea.” There was a pause. “Don’t give me that look! Go on, shoo! Go have fun with your friend. I can do this much.”

Slouching out of the kitchen, her short red locks looking as if she hadn’t tried to tame them since she rolled out of bed this morning, let alone change out of her pajamas, she gave Takato an appraising look before sighing as if she was dealing with something troublesome.

“Let me guess, Henry.” It was honestly more of a statement than a question.

Scratching the back of his head, he simply nodded. “Well, that makes explaining things easy.”

“It could only be him,” she grunted as she gestured for him to follow him in the room she was just in, bending down to pick up the remote where an anime was playing on the television. With a click of the button, the screen went black as she sat down on the couch. “Sit down. What’s up?”

Takato walked over to where she sat, but didn’t as yet join her on the couch. Still rubbing the back of his head, he offered her the bag he held. “Um… I just wanted to say I’m sorry for Kazu. He...um… He said a lot of dumb things that he shouldn’t have, so...sorry.”

“I don’t know why you’re apologizing for something you didn’t do,” she told him bluntly as she crossed her arms as her brow furrowed and a frown pulled her features down. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Henry said that too.” His hand dropped from his head to his side, his fingers twitching slightly, as if uncomfortable with not having something to do. “But Henry invited you as a guest and...well... we weren’t exactly polite hosts. I feel bad about that.” He pressed his lips together. “He wanted you to be friends with us, didn’t he?”

The stiff posture Rika had squared herself in loosened as she listened to him, her eyes widening slightly before a small smile crossed her lips as she pushed back her bangs.

“Ah, well, yeah, but I doubt I made things easier,” she admitted as she patted the space on the couch besides her. “I can be rather stubborn. Still … it is rather kind of you to apologize, even if it isn’t needed. Some people click and some people don’t, right?”

“I guess,” Takato replied, cautiously taking the indicated seat on the couch. “Um...anyway, I brought some bread and pastries from my parents’ bakery to...I don’t know. Um… Kind of like a house warming gift I guess? I dunno. I’m not sure what to give someone that someone else invites to become friends with people.” He frowned at the bag. “They’ve probably cooled down a little too…”

“Your parents own a bakery?” she asked curiously as she took the bag and began to rummage through it before pulling out a croissant, taking a bite out of the light and flaky crest. Her eyebrows shooting up, she chewed and swallowed. “Wow, this is really good.”

Takato’s cheeks were blemished by a light, rosy color at the compliment. “Heh. Thanks. We pride ourselves on our baking skills. If we didn’t we wouldn’t have a business after all.”

“I’ll have to tell grandma to stop by your shop then from now on when she’s buying bread,” Rika said as Rumiko came into the room, balancing two cups of tea on a small tray. Putting them down in front of the two teens, being careful not to spill anything, she smiled at her daughter and caught sight of the bread in her hand.

“What’s that?” she asked as she circled around, sitting on the couch’s arm.

“A croissant Takato brought,” Rika said as she held it out for her mother to try. “It came from his family’s bakery.”

“Ohh,” Rumiko crooned before leaning forward and taking a bite out of the pastry from her daughter’s hand instead of taking the offered treat herself. Rika’s eye twitched at her mother’s antics, quickly pulling her hand away and shielding the bread from further mauling. “It’s good! We should have this with dinner as soon as your grandmother returns.”

Turning her attention toward Takato, Rumiko smiled.

“You’ll stay, won’t you?” she asked before turning her attention sharply back to her daughter. “Also, you should get dressed and comb your hair. Honestly. I know you two are friends, but you should know better to have some over without even attempting to look presentable.”

“Um… I...ah… I wasn’t invited though,” Takato admitted. “And what’s wrong with how she looks? She looks nice.”

Takato’s face at once bloomed bright red at that and his brain went into panic mode. “Um… I...I mean… Not that it matters what I think… I mean… Um…” Looking away, Takato could only suffer as his face baked under the scrutiny that he now found himself under. “...I don’t think I know what I mean…”

“Good going mother, you broke him,” Rika chided her mother as Rumiko giggled at the teen’s awkward ramblings.

“Sorry, sorry,” Rumiko apologized, rather amused by her daughter’s scowl and the boy’s flushed face. She didn’t know where Rika managed to find this one, or why he hadn’t come by to visit earlier, but he was here now. “I’ll leave you two alone now.”

“Good,” Rika said bluntly.

“Although Rika, I would appreciate it if you got dressed,” she said as she stood up, leaning over her baby girl and giving her a peck on the forehead. “Even if you are a little siren when you aren’t trying.”

“MOTHER!”

“Going, going,” Rumiko hummed as she pranced out of the living room, Rika flushed with embarrassment or anger, making strangling motions at her mother’s retreating back.

“She’s...um…” began Takato as the woman exited the room. “...I don’t think I have a word for her.”

“Vexing,” was the immediate helpful adjective out of Rika’s mouth, her face still flushed as she tried to bury herself further in the couch as if the furniture could swallow her whole if she tried hard enough. “Childish. Immature. I have several. Feel free to use any of them.”

Takato just smiled. “Well… It could be worse.”

“It could be better, too,” Rika grumbled, failing to become one with the cloth. “Honestly … are your parents like that?”

“Oh… Yeah. I mean, they’re parents, right?” Takato laughed lightly. “I think it’s their job to embarrass us.”

“I suppose,” she granted him as she leaned forward, almost as if she were a turtle hesitantly coming out of her shell.

It felt odd, but…for some reason talking to her felt more natural now than it did last night. _Well, I’m not going to complain,_ he thought, smiling. She seemed to be a good person to talk to, even if she was a little intimidating at times.

 Rika took a small, tentative sip of the tea which had been offered earlier. Her eyes widened in surprise as she placed the cup down gently.

"It's good," she said, almost as if the admittance surprised her.

"Of course it's good!" Turning to the side, the two teens noticed Rumiko peeking over the corner, spying on them. "Just because I'm not as good of a cook as your grandmother doesn't mean I am completely inept!"

"Mother!" Rika growled. "I thought you were leaving."

"I wanted to watch your impromptu date!" Rumiko chirped as Rika's face turned an impressive shade of crimson.

"Mother!" she yelled, grabbing the nearby pillow and chucking it at her, only for it to hit the wall and falling to the floor, useless, as Rumiko's cackle echoed in the hallway as she ducked out of the way.

“Ah...Your mother’s kinda crazy, isn’t she?” Takato asked with a wide grin. He was blushing badly at the notion that the woman thought they were ‘dating’, but he didn’t want to draw attention to it.

The only answer he got from Rika was a groan, as her head buried in between her hands, her own face flushed.

She honestly didn't know why mother insisted on goading her along. She was like a small child, gleefully attempting to cause contention wherever she went.

_She's supposed to be the adult here!_ Rika thought frustrated.

Seeing this, Takato racked his brains for something that would deviate the course of the conversation, as the girl clearly wasn’t comfortable with the topic. But what to talk about?

“Um… Well, look on the bright side,” he began, his brain going into full search mode while his mouth began to babble whatever it happened to stumble across. “It’s even crazier when you think you see a younger version of yourself running around with a dinosaur, right?”

_I am such an idiot…_ Takato thought, already regretting the words the instant he said them. _Yeah, way to make yourself sound like an okay person to hang out with. She should just throw me out of her house and get it over with. Man… I’m going to be getting an earful from Henry later…_

Rika slowly lifted her head from her hands, her eyes widening in shock as her face drained of its color. Her mouth moved silently for a moment before she could utter a single word.

"Where?"

“Huh?” Takato blinked, not expecting that response. “O-Oh. Um… Never mind. I’m sorry I even said that. It’s too weird…”

"No, where," Rika insisted, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing hard as she stared him in the eyes, almost as if doing so would allow her to read his mind. "When was it?"

“Ow!” Takato winced at the strength in her grasp. “Hey!”

"Ah!" Noticing she was hurting him, Rika quickly let go and looked down, rubbing her hands together nervously. "Sorry ... didn't mean to hurt you."

“Um… No big deal,” Takato replied carefully, flexing his arm to work out the pain. It was already dying back. “Wow. You’ve got quite the grip.” His eyes flickered over to her as he rotated the limb slightly. “It’s… Are you sure you want to hear this? I mean… I only saw it on my way here and I thought I was just seeing things. It’s…” Looking into her eyes, Takato saw something -a ghost of a memory - moving within them. Whatever it was, it lent a kind of urgency that caused him to start speaking.

“It was outside, about a block away. I only saw them at the last second and I went after them. I saw them, standing by an alley and then, when I closed my eyes...they were gone.” Frowning, he tilted his head slightly. “You...believe me, don’t you? I’m not going crazy, am I?”

"If you're going crazy, so am I," Rika said, a hollow laughter erupting from her chest as she pushed back her hair. Biting her lip, she paused for a second before she sagged back on the couch. "I ... it's been about a year or so since I started seeing them. I honestly don't remember when they started. At first it was just this glowing blue eyes in the corner of the room that would disappear when I turned the light on, melting into the shadows.

However, as the months went on they became more frequent. More real. I watched a giant SNAKE race down the subway line, but I was the only one who could see it. Recently, they've gotten worse though since I found that."

“A...snake?” Takato asked, eyebrows rising. “That’s...really weird.” Running his hands along his knees, his brows knelt back down in deep thought. “What...What do you think is causing it?” A thought occurred to him just then. “I saw Guilmon… A digimon I created. Do you...think that maybe the snake and the blue eyes are the same thing? That they’re...digimon? What did the snake look like?”

It seemed like a crazy idea, but the more he thought about it, the more right it felt. He didn’t know why, but it just...did. It settled itself in his mind and refused to budge at any other possibility.

_I had digimon on the brain for way too long…_ he berated himself.

"Maybe," she admitted, chewing on her lip as she tried to recall the snake in her mind's eye. The thought of a Digimon was something which had come to her mind quite a few times, but she had shooed it away with each of the visions as she tried to pretend to ignore what she saw.

She hadn't told anybody - not even Henry - least they insist what she felt was truth; that she was stressed. She was going crazy. She needed to meditate some more. That her active imagination, her love of the game had permeated her conscious so deep that she saw things which weren't even there.

However, if Takato saw them ... maybe ... maybe she wasn't crazy after all.

"It ... was a large white snake. A cobra. It took up the entire subway station," she said slowly before she furrowed her brow. She had no idea what caused it, but she knew what made it worse. "Ah ... wait here for a moment."

Standing up, she jogged to her room, making sure her mother wasn't lurking around the corner as she did so, before pulling out a small little box of important things she kept over the years.

Her Digimon deck. A pressed flower father had given her when she was small. Little clip on earrings she had wanted as a child when she wanted to be more like mama.

However, none of them was what she was looking for.

Removing a white and blue device about the same weight and size as a smart phone, she hid her box again before returning to Takato and sat down next to him, placing what she brought with him on the table.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked plainly even though the answer was already formed in her head.

Takao’s eyes widened in shock as, unexpectedly, recognition rocked him. He opened his mouth, the name for the device sitting just on the tip of his tongue...and then it was gone. Clenching his eyes shut, he pressed a hand against his head, trying desperately to remember, but the butterfly of memory fluttered just beyond his grasp.

“Sorry,” he said finally, lowering his hand and cracking his eyes open. “I...don’t know what it is.”

He gave her an apologetic look, feeling a bit ashamed that he couldn’t be of much help to her.

"It's fine," she said as she pressed a button as a holographic compass appeared, circling before pausing to point in a certain direction only to start searching again. No matter what she did, it never stopped rotating. "It's called a D-ark."

“How do you know what it’s called?” Takato asked, scooting closer to get a better view of the strange device, fascinated by the rotating holographic circle. _It kind of looks like a digivice... only with a compass function? Weird...but cool._

"Honestly, I'm not sure," she admitted as she pressed the button again causing the compass to disappear. "I found it in my room one day when I was looking for something else, and when I picked it up ... the name sort of appeared in my head. I've played with it a lot, but I haven't figured out what it does for the life of me."

Turning it over, she pointed to a slot on the side of the device.

"It looks like some sort of card reader though, doesn't it?"

Takato nodded. “Yeah. Kind of like the old ones the game had when we were kids. Only, well, obviously it’s got a digivice attached to it. Have you tried any cards with it?”

"Ah ... yeah ..." she admitted as her grip tightened around the D-ark as she brought it closer to her heart. "It ... I really don't know how to explain it. It didn't do what I thought it was going to do."

She searched for an explanation that made sense besides she somehow broke physics before breaking the D-ark - at least she was pretty sure she did. She was unable to bring herself to repeat the experiment, the memory of the yellow kitsune - Renamon - smiling gently at her was too much for her to bare.

“Can I try?” Takato asked.

She looked at him for a moment before down at her D-ark and then slowly nodded her head, handing it over to him carefully.

Takato took the digivice in his hand and carefully looked it over. _It looks pretty straight forward. Just slide a card through. Oh… Except I don’t have any cards with me._

Yet, for some reason that didn’t feel like a problem to Takato. Instinctively, his hand went to his pants pocket and withdrew his notepad. Flipping it open, he produced his Guilmon drawing and…

. _..set it to the card readers slot. Outside, thunder boomed and lightning lit up his bedroom. He pushed, only for the notepad to get jam._

_“Oh. Ohhh…it's stuck! Don't tell me I broke it already!"_

Takato blinked as he found himself pausing. “What…?” he began. “Did I just…?” Once more, his hand went up to his face. His head was throbbing a little. “I...I remember...doing this before, only...with a red one?”

The pain flared briefly, and he dropped the digivice, notepad stuck in its slot, onto the couch. He sat there, teeth sucking on his lower lip as he fought through the pain.

"Hey, you OK?" Rika asked as she rested a hand on his shoulder, frowning slightly before her eyes flickered downward as her brow furrowed.

A row of numbers was on the notepad facing upward. They looked completely innocent to the untrained eye, but ...

"Did Henry give you my phone number as well?" she asked.

“Huh?” Takato cracked open an eye as the pain began to subside. “Uh...no. He only gave me your address.” He glanced down at where she was looking and raised an eyebrow. “Wait… That’s your phone number? I’ve been wondering about that. I remember finding that there and not remembering where it came from. I thought it was just a prank like what guys sometimes like to write on the bathroom walls.”

He blushed lightly at that, but didn’t attempt to apologize for it.

"That's ... weird," she said as she picked up the notebook, and wiggled it out of the card slot. She didn't remember meeting Takato prior to the other day, but she did have a rather terrible memory when it came to meeting people.

_Still, I don't exactly give my number out to anybody. Besides my mother, grandmother and Henry, I don't remember giving it to anybody. So how did Takato get it?_

Her brow furrowing, she flipped through the notebook to see if she could find something else.

“Yeah, I don’t really get it. I’m...um...pretty sure I would remember if you gave me your number. You’re…”

Another flash of pain, though not as bad as before. With it came a glimpse of him being outside, his drawing flying away from him as a sudden sharp wind caught it, only to be caught by a red-haired girl.

“Just what is going on here?” he asked, more to himself than anyone else.

"I'm not sure," she admitted with a frown, closing the notebook after finding nothing but drawings of Guilmon with the sole exception of the dinosaur fighting a Renamon.

Putting the notebook down and cradling the D-ark in her hand, she turned it over thoughtfully before smiling slightly.

"Still ... good to know I'm not the only one," she admitted. "So, thanks for that."

“You’re...welcome? I think?” Takato scratched the back of his head, wincing slightly as the pain slowly relinquished its hold on him. “So...what happens now?”

"Who knows," Rika drawled, stretching across the couch like a lazy cat. "Something to think about for another time. Anyway, you staying for dinner? Grandma is probably going to come home soon."

Takato blinked. “Um… Aren’t you worried that your mom and grandma will think that...you and I...are…” He coughed, feeling his face start to heat up again. “...you know.”

 "Ah, mama already thinks that," she complained. "Plus it doesn't really matter - it's not like you are the first friend I had eat over. Henry has stayed for dinner plenty of times before. So don't worry about it."

 “Oh. Uh...okay.” Takato gave an embarrassed laugh. “Well, at least you won’t have to suffer alone, right?”

 "Exactly," Rika said as she stood up, smirking at him. "But I should probably get dressed, least mama gets on my case throughout dinner."

 ###

 Night was rapidly falling as Takato exited the gate that led to Takato’s home, the doors clicking shut behind him. Turning, he looked at the property, feeling complete and utter confusion as to what had transpired.

_It’s almost like there’s some conspiracy going on, like on TV._

 It was a ridiculous notion, but a few hours ago seeing a past version of himself running around with a digimon he imagined seemed fairly ridiculous as well. At this point, everything was on the table.

 Turning away, he was about to head home when he froze, feeling a strange sensation of being watched. Craning his head, he could only find a lone figure standing a ways off near an alley, just...watching.

 Shivering, Takato tried to shake the sensation off, but it stuck with him.

 As he headed home, he took out his cell phone and notepad, texting Rika’s phone number.

_Stay safe._

 


	3. Broken Hearts

A small beautifully store-wrapped black box of chocolates was unceremoniously dropped on Henry's desk.

Other girls were chasing down some boys, nervously handing them boxes both large and small that Thursday morning, all part of the St. Valentine's Day tradition. Some had romantic interests in mind, but the way Rika crossed her arms and the way the chocolates were so lovingly delivered clearly insinuated those thoughts were not at all what she had in mind.

Looking up from his desk at the violet-eyed girl currently looking at him with an expression just _daring_ him to challenge her that the feelings wrapped in the box were anything other than candy-coated platonic, Henry smiled.

“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, Rika,” he said. “You seem happy today.”

"Ecstatic," she drawled as she sat in the chair in front of him. It wasn't her place, but she doubted whoever sat here would complain - being feared as the Demon Queen had SOME benefits in the form of whiny complaints not being uttered in her presence.

"You know how it is. I just absolutely adore all," she paused and gestured to the awkward sexual tension which seemed to get worse every year on Valentine's Day as girls and boys alike did an awkward mating dance. Except using feathers, chocolate was the weapon of choice to attract a mate. "This."

“At least they’re having fun, even if you aren’t,” Henry said in amusement as he gladly accepted the chocolates and tucked them into his school bag.

"They are slaves to corporations who are using humanity's lust to make money," she complained throwing up her hands. "Honestly, I don't see what is so fun about this whole pretentious dance-"

"Happy Valentine's Day, Henry!" Rika's rant was cut short by Jeri, who was smiling widely and holding out a bag of chocolate to the half-Chinese boy. Unlike Rika, whose chocolates were clearly store bought, it seemed Jeri had taken the time and effort to make hers from scratch. “Thanks Jeri,” Henry said, grinning in amusement in Rika’s direction. “You’ve made my day a little brighter just now.” Taking the bag, he pushed it open to look at the chocolaty goodness held within. True to form, Jeri had put her heart into her feelings, and it showed in the form of little lion-shaped chocolates.

"You're welcome," Jeri chirped smiling brightly before turning to look at Rika, who seemed flabbergasted to see the other girl there.

Wriggling uncomfortably under her gaze, she tried to offer her a friendly smile.

"Isn't Valentine's Day the best?" she asked, forcing herself to say something.

"No," was the immediate reply.

“Don’t mind her,” Henry said, waving a dismissive hand. “Rika thinks that Valentine’s Day is some giant conspiracy to make us spend money.”

"It is," Rika protested, turning her attention back to Henry, completely missing Jeri's horrified look of the fact that anybody could hate what she considered literally the best holiday of the year just after Christmas. "It's a corporate money grab which plays off sentimentality-"

Rika paused mid-rant as Jeri's hands had reached out and snatched Rika's, enveloping them in her own.

"Who hurt you?" Jeri asked with wide eyes, "that made you hate Valentine's Day so?"

Henry glanced at Rika, curious as to how she would respond. Despite the past, Rika was more cynical than anything else. The question that concerned him more was how she would react to Jeri’s serious question.

_She’s changed, but just how much?_

He remembered her chewing him out about his giving Takato her number, but her heart hadn’t really been in it. That much, at least, was a good sign.

"Eh?" Rika asked flabbergasted as she pulled her hands from the other girl's grip. "What sort of question is that? Nobody 'hurt' me."

"But you hate Valentine's Day," Jeri insisted. "If you're embarrassed, don't be. Love is a cruel mistress, but it is one which we need."

"Are you some sort of masochist?" Rika asked dryly as she leaned back from the passionate girl.

"Everybody is a masochist when it comes to love," Jeri replied, nodding sagely.

“Um…Jeri?” began Henry, deciding to intercede. “Rika just has her own ideas on what love means. Just because she doesn’t like Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean she hates love. It’s more that she doesn’t like the superficial nature of the holiday.”

"Really?" Jeri asked looking between Henry and a rather disgruntled Rika before smiling and clapping her hands together. Well if that was the case, she had no need to worry then. The Demon Queen may be terrifying, but nobody should close their hearts out to love. "Well that's OK then. Keep your heart open to love, Rika!"

"Uh ..." Rika said, looking toward Henry for some of guidance before looking back at Jeri. "O...K?"

Nodding happily, Jeri spun before doing a pose.

"Now if you must excuse me, I must finish spreading the love to our homeroom!"

“She’s certainly a barrel of fun, isn’t she?” Henry asked as the girl pranced off, humming merrily to herself. “Sometimes it makes me feel worried about whatever guy she snags.”

"Yeah," Rika agreed as she watched her hand out chocolates to some other boys, some of them flushing while others were easier going about it. "She seems ... intense."

She wasn't sure if that was the correct word to describe her or not, but it seemed like the one which fit the best. She still didn't know what to make of it when she grabbed her hands or the fact she seemed absolutely sincere in telling her to keep her heart open.

Seeing her uncertainty, Henry offered her a small, comforting smile. “Well, don’t worry about it too much. Jeri means well. I sometimes think she’s really big on love right now because she rejected it when she was a kid. Her mother died.” Henry winced, remembering how all that turned out. “It didn’t work very well. Not when she’s the sort of person who can’t help but love the people around her. When she lost a friend later…” Henry paused and then sighed. “Sorry. I’ve said a little more than I should have. It’s kind of personal for her.”

"Oh," Rika squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. "I didn't know."

She felt slightly bad now for her abrasive attitude. While her own father was still alive and she could hypothetically see him whenever she wanted, the sting of betrayal after he left her and mama still ached even after all these years.

So she could understand, in a way, the pain of losing a parent. Then losing a friend on top of it ... she supposed it made sense that Jeri would seek out the comfort of others to make up for what she lacked.

She made a mental note to be more considerate toward the brunette in the future.

“It’s fine,” Henry said. “Like you said, you didn’t know. Anyway,” he chuckled, “don’t you think you should be getting to your own seat now? I think class is about to begin.”

He indicated the arrival of their teacher, an old, gnarled-looking man with heavy glasses. Despite appearances, he was rather kindly, though he maintained a firm hand on the class whenever things became disorderly.

“If you want,” Henry shrugged. “I’ll be getting out late after all, if that’s okay with you.”

"I'll just text you later," she replied with a lazy wave of her hand as she walked to her seat, the boy who sat in front of Henry quickly taking back what was his once Rika had left.

Henry smiled at Rika for a moment longer before turning his attention to the teacher as he began the roll call.

 _I’m guessing today is going to be interesting,_ he thought to himself.

**###**

There were three bags of chocolate left carefully saved for the three boys who she had grown closest to - Kazu, Kenta and Takato. She had kept checking in on them periodically throughout the day to make sure nothing happened to them, silently thankful that Valentine's Day didn't fall in the throes of summer where the chocolate melting would be a rather large concern.

She hummed happily to herself as she walked through the park, imagining the looks on their faces when she presented them with her gifts. They would be pleased, no doubt. She had spent a long time on the chocolates and wanted the boys to tell her how it tasted.

 _I hope Takato likes it,_ she hoped wistfully.

Out of the three, Takato was the quietest and while he didn't shine like Kazu did, there was a charm about him that made her heart warm.

Continuing on in curiosity, Jeri spotted Rika at the far end of her view of the park path with a boy, the two of them looking like ants. Giggling at the sight while remembering the morning, she picked up her pace in order to get a better look.

It didn’t take long for the identity of the boy to reveal itself, and Jeri’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the girl holding out a box of chocolates similar to what she gave Henry earlier that in the morning. Jeri’s feet stopped dead in their tracks as she thought of all the possible ramifications of this. She hadn’t expected this, especially after this morning.

 _I knew that they were hanging out together since Hatsumōde,_ she thought, remembering the disastrous day, _but I didn’t think they would be…this friendly already._  
She swallowed nervously. _W-Well… It’s just…it’s just obligation chocolate after all. And Rika hates Valentine’s Day after all._

Yet, the thought was of no comfort to her.

_She’s very pretty…_

Spotting that the pair were getting closer, Jeri gave a low eep before frantically looking around her. Panicking, she found she didn’t want to face them just yet. Leaving the path and hiding herself behind a tree.

**###**

"So, here's your culturally expected chocolates to confirm the basis of platonic friendship," Rika told Takato as she held out the chocolates as the two hung out in the park. She didn't feel like she could just throw the obligation at him like she did Henry - she wasn't sure how he would react to it. She had been friends with Henry long enough that the other boy just sort of expected the behavior from her and anything else would require an immediate call to the police since she had been kidnapped and replaced by some sort of other life form.

True to form, Takato flushed from the offered gift. However, in the one month that they had been friends, Takato had learned a few things about her; one being that while an act such as this was important and meant a great deal, it was best to not look too closely at what it symbolized. This did not stop his mind from going in strange directions, but he accepted the chocolates with a flustered “Thanks” without making himself look spooked by the gesture. Or at least too spooked anyway.

At least I have a whole month to figure out what to get her for White Day, Takato thought, scratching the back of his head distractedly. “Um…so… What do you want to do now?” he asked. The chocolates almost felt like they were burning his hand from the question, as though they contained the obvious answer to it.

 _It’s just platonic… It’s just platonic…_ he told himself repeatedly like a mantra. _Only obligation chocolate…_

"Well I want to get out of this uniform for starters," Rika complained, hitting the skirt almost as it offended her. "I hate wearing the girl's uniform. I wish we could wear whatever we wanted."

She always felt frustrated by the fact that schools had dress codes and uniforms, and while her school was a bit more lax on their rules than some others, it was rather insistent she wear the woman's outfit.

Takato nodded in understanding, feeing the noose that was his uniform’s tie. He didn’t understand its purpose and given the choice would have preferred to just leave it out. Just putting the thing on was frustrating as he could never quite remember how it went. “Ah… So do you want to go home then?”

"Yeah," she said before looking at him. "Maybe you should go home and change out of your uniform as well. Plus that way you can put all those chocolates away if you haven't eaten them already. We can meet up before you need to work - or do you have off today?"

Rika didn't think for one second that she was the only one who gave Takato chocolates. Honestly, she would be shocked if she was.

“I don’t have to work today,” Takato replied with relief. He tapped his chin as a thought occurred to him. “Come to think of it, they’ve been giving me Valentine’s Day off for the past couple years now…” He furrowed his brow as to why that could be before shrugging, unable to think of a reason why. “Anyway, um… Do you want to meet at the bunker again or somewhere else?”

"Bunker is fine," she told him. "Henry has cram school, so when he gets out it'll probably be dark."

“Oh.” Takato blinked at the mention of Henry. “Does he know…about…you know?”

"No," she admitted. "I haven't told him. Really haven't thought a way to bring it up to be honest. Sort of impossible to do in a sane conversation, you know? Plus ... I dunno ... I'm not sure he'd understand."

She grimaced slightly. It wasn't like she distrusted Henry, but he tended to be more on the logical side. Telling him that she had been seeing things - seeing Digimon - would no doubt result in him telling her she needed to meditate more.

She hated meditating.

“Hmmm…” Takato frowned again. “I’m sure he will. I mean, I haven’t known him as long as you have, but he’s always been a good listener. Maybe…Maybe if we show him something, he’ll believe us! What do you think?”

"I guess," she acquitted. "Maybe we should just drag him around the city and hope they show up."

 _And that he can see them,_ she added in her head. It was one thing since Takato could see them, but nobody else has acted as if they could. She wasn't sure why this was the case.

The timing of them seemed to be odd as well - there was no rhyme or reason to it. To make matters worse they disappeared as quickly as they came.

Henry may be a good listener, but Rika didn't want him to think she had any more issues than she already had.

“We’ll figure something out,” Takato promised, sensing that she didn’t quite feel that Henry would believe them. “I mean, we have to. How else is anyone going to believe us?”

Rubbing the back of his head again, Takato took a look at the time on his phone. “We’d better go get changed. We need to make the most of the day.”

"Yeah," she agreed, waving her hand lazily. "See ya soon, Takato."

“Later,” Takato answered back, taking off at a fast pace, unknowingly running past Jeri, who continued to observe from behind her hiding tree.

###

Her heart constricted in her chest as she remembered to breath for the first time in the past two minutes since the two started talking.

At first, she thought the two were in some sort of secret sordid affair. However, as the conversation moved on, the likenesses seemed to take a drop as something more grand on the scale of the Illuminati took place.

There seemed to be something that the two of them knew about - some deep, dark secret that Rika didn't even feel comfortable telling Henry about despite their rather close friendship.

A million possibilities crossed her mind, each of them seeming more likely than the last.

Aliens. Ghosts. Alien ghosts.

_Takato shouldn't be in that sort of stuff though, she fretted as she stepped tentatively out on the path. Rika is strong, so she's one thing. Takato though ... he's weak._

Shaking her head, she reminded herself that she didn't know exactly what they were hunting. It could be something harmless. Like Bigfoot.

All the same, worry gnawed at her. Biting her lip, she made up her mind to learn just what they were talking about.

"Takato!" she yelled as she sprinted after the boy before he got too far away. "Wait up!"

Takato did indeed ‘wait up’ at the sound of her voice, though partly by accident. Taken aback by the unexpected call, he looked over his shoulder and promptly tripped up on a rock protruding in the middle of the path, causing him to fall face-first into the ground with a loud squawk.

“Owww…” he groaned, letting the pain run through him as Jeri ran up to him, eyes full of concern.

"You okay?" she asked as she held out her hand for him, confidence in him being able to stand up to alien ghosts dwindling even more.

“Oh yeah,” Takato laughed, managing to pick himself up and missing the offered hand. “Just me being me, that’s all.” Dusting himself off, he smiled at Jeri. “Um… Fancy seeing you here!”

"I suppose," she said as she rubbed her arm a bit nervously, feeling slightly guilty about spying on him and Rika.

 _It wasn't like I planned on doing so,_ she justified to herself. _They were just ... there. Besides the park is a public place. I have every right to be here as much as they do!_

"So, Takato," she took a deep breath before steeling herself. "Are you hunting alien ghosts with Rika?"

There. She said it.

Takato’s eyes grew wide at that. “Hunting alien ghosts? What are you…?” Takato caught himself. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea _what_ they were hunting. He thought digimon, but was that really what they were?

Either way, he didn’t think he could tell Jeri. He felt Rika would prefer a certain degree of privacy and only tell people she felt comfortable with.

“Uh…no! Alien ghosts? That’s real funny, Jeri. Whatever gave you that idea?”

He beamed a smile at her that shouted _lie_ a thousand miles away.

"I overheard you and Rika talking," she admitted, looking down at the pavement, scuffing her shoe in the dirt path before looking up at him earnestly. "I didn't mean to, I swear! But Takato, I don't want you to do anything dangerous!"

She bit her lip, not sure if she should continue on or not. She didn't want to hurt Takato's feelings, but she just didn't think he was that tough; that masculine.

Takato felt his heart lurch in his chest. _She overheard?! Oh man, oh man, oh man…_ His brain went into warp drive then, but he forced himself to keep it at controllable pace. Taking a deep breath, he kept right on smiling.

 _“Dangerous?”_ he laughed. “Jeri, you’re crazy. Rika and I aren’t doing anything dangerous. We’re just…um…hanging out, that’s all. Rika just can’t believe that…” His mind raced again as he fought for a half-believable excuse. “…that there’s a new version of the digimon card game coming out. She thinks that it’s all just a bunch of photo-shopped cards online. We’re going to go to a game shop to check it out. I don’t think I can get hurt from that.”

Yes. That sounded legit. There had been rumors of the new card game circulating for a while now, but nothing concrete. Hopefully Jeri would believe him. As far as he knew she didn’t pay attention to anything involving digimon.

"You're lying, Takato," she said sadly, her shoulders slumping. She didn't know much about digimon, but just the way their conversation went and from what little interaction she watched between Henry and Rika since realizing the two were friends, she knew that wasn't it.

Clenching her fists, she squared her shoulders and looked Takato in the eyes.

"So please tell me the truth. We're friends, aren't we?" she pleaded with him.

Although, even as she said this, she couldn't help but feeling in the last month or so Takato had been drifting away from her and the group as he chose to spend more time with the admittedly much prettier girl. She had tried to push it out of her mind - Takato wasn't a shallow guy - but a voice kept on whispering in the back of her mind that he was a guy.

It was only natural he would want to be with someone who was as pretty as Rika over someone who was planer, like her.

Takato’s face fell at Jeri’s expression and he looked away, not trusting himself to respond properly otherwise.

“I…can’t tell you,” he said before clarifying. “I don’t think I should. You might think I’m crazy.”

"No I won't," she insisted earnestly even though she had no idea if she could keep that promise.

Summoning his strength, he forced himself to look at Jeri’s eyes. He wanted to believe her. He felt that in some deep part of him he _should_ be able to trust her, but the doubts kept running through him, playing keep-away. He opened his mouth, ready to tell her everything and…

There.

He wasn’t sure what it was that made him stop, but he saw something in her eyes—some glimmer—that caused him to close his mouth and look away in shame.

“I’m sorry, Jeri,” he said. “I…” He pressed his lips together, uncertain as to what to say. His mind had suddenly gone from warp speed to mud, crawling along at a snail’s pace. He didn’t even have to look to see the hurt flash across Jeri’s face. He knew deep in his bones that it would be there.

"Why?" she asked softly. "Do you not trust me this much ... even after all this time?"

She wasn't sure what hurt more - that Takato didn't trust her to let her know what was going on or that he held a secret with Rika, the Demon Queen.

What was it about Rika that made Takato trust in her? Part of her feared that the other girl was manipulating him for her own purposes but that seemed farfetched, even for Rika. Maybe she was threatening him? Even though Jeri felt like this could possibly be the case, something inside her whispered that wasn't true either.

 _He just prefers her to you,_ a treasonous voice whispered in the back of her mind. _After all, she's much prettier than you. Even when she isn't trying, she is radiating. She's had over a 100 confessions from boys and girls alike. It's not like you haven't stopped and stared yourself either._

“I-It’s not that I don’t trust you!” Takato protested. “It’s just… It’s way too weird. I’m not even sure I believe it! I-I might be hallucinating or…or something! Rika and I just want to get evidence so that…you know…we can be sure we’re not going crazy!” He glanced away uncertainly. “I don’t… If there is something wrong with me…I don’t want you to be a part of it. You might get hurt. I don’t think I could forgive myself if that happened.”

He meant it. He cared a great deal about all his friends, even Kazu although his relationship with the teen had become increasingly rocky over the years. He didn’t want to see any of them hurt. He wanted to be certain—100 percent—that nothing bad would come from him or Rika before revealing this to anyone else.

Jeri nodded glumly, not at all feeling placated. Still, there was nothing which really could be done but pray for their safety and hope that despite her nickname, Rika had some angelic qualities and would protect Takato if something bad was happening.

"Just promise me you'll be safe," she begged.

Takato offered her a wan smile. “I’ll do my best,” he said. He couldn’t do any more than that.

She nodded and as she looked down at her bag, she remembered what she initially was looking for him for. Reaching in, she pulled out the chocolates and pushed them in his hand.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

With that, she fled.

###

Takato watched her go, raising a hand as if to stop her, but it was too late. She was too far gone and his voice just refused to come out. Dropping his arm, he looked down at the box she had given him. Obligation chocolate, only homemade. Takato dry-swallowed, feeling a heavy, painful lump forming in the back of his throat. He stood there for what felt like an eternity, staring at the chocolates before finally turning and resuming his trek, only with considerably less enthusiasm than before.

I’m such an idiot… he berated himself, wishing that a hole would just appear out of nowhere and swallow him now so that it would save the world the trouble of having to deal with him.


	4. Unravelling Threads

Pulling her scarf closer to her body as she jogged through the park, Rika’s violet eyes darted around looking for Takato as well as keeping an eye out for anything else. While mama had slowed her down, asking with a mixture of excitement and a knowing glint in her eye how her day had been, Rika was able to shake her off by saying she was meeting up with Takato.

While it did the trick, she wasn’t sure at what cost.

Finally, she saw the brown-haired boy and she picked up the pace, breaking from a jog to a full out sprint.

“Takato! Hey! Sorry I’m late!”

Takato blinked at her, turning his eyes away from the sky and at her. “Huh?” he asked distractedly before pushing away from the concrete bunker he leaned against. “Oh. It’s no big deal. So...um...where do you want to start off?”

“Let’s just walk around,” she suggested as she stuck her hands under her armpits despite having gloves to protect her fingers from Jack Frost. She always hated the cold - she never could remember why - but there was always a sense of relief when the trees began to bud and bloom with the arrival of spring. “I’ve seen them in the park before - as well as in the city - so there isn’t any particular place where they seem to congregate”

Takato scratched the back of his head, not really sure if that was the best idea available. If there was no rhyme or reason to their appearances they could wander for months before they found anything. However, he couldn’t summon up the will to suggest or even think of anything better.

“Okay,” he shrugged noncommittally. “Um...lead the way.”

“Mnn,” she hummed, her lips pulling into a slight frown as she watched him for a moment before turning her attention forward and began to walk down the path, Takato’s footsteps falling in step beside her. They had been barely separated more than an hour, but Takato seemed a lot less energetic than before.

Reaching up, she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as they walked through the park, her eyes moving up and down, looking for the signs of something about to happen. It was a bit different, actually looking for them. Before she just saw them, and she always seemed to know where to look when they happened. Like something was pulling at her, demanding her attention.

Now when she wanted to see them, all she saw were couples.

 _Geez, couldn’t they go to a hotel?_ she thought irritably, pulling her hat down so the wool covered her eyes when they passed a rather passionate couple. They were intertwined with each other, their hands exploring each others bodies and their lips were never separated for more than a moment.

Takato barely noticed the couples and their attentiveness to each other. He barely noticed much about the world around him. He tried to keep an eye out for something - anything - that could be considered out of the ordinary. A monster, something that looked like either of them from the past…

_Although now that I think about it, I don’t know what Rika looked like when she was a kid…_

The thought was barely a distant echo for his mind though. Try as he might, he kept going back to the sad, amber-eyes of Jeri as she ran from him - pleading for him to tell her the truth and be safe. He couldn’t remember when she was like that before, and now…

 _Why…?_ He shook his head, feeling like a heel for not talking to her; not trusting her, and that was the center of it all. He hadn’t trusted her. They were friends, but at the same time it didn’t feel like they were particularly close.

He coiled his fingers around the hem of his jacket, inadvertently scowling at a couple kissing.

_Why does it hurt so much when she realized I was lying to her?_

“I thought I was the only one who hated Valentine’s Day,” Rika said lightly as they walked around the bend. “But you’ve been scowling more at people sucking faces than me. What’s up?”

“Bwa…?” Takato’s face jerked out of its scowl and became surprise as he turned back to Rika. “Hate Valentine’s Day…? I don’t…” Stopping, he glanced around him, realizing that they were surrounded by a swarm of couples, all engaged in varying degrees of expressing their love to each other from gentle kisses to hugs and flowers with candy.

“Where...did all these people come from…?” he asked.

“From their mothers, I’d assume,” Rika replied back, a slight impish smirk playing on her lips before her features straightened and became more worried. “But this is the park on Valentine’s Day. It’s going to be full of sordid affairs. Something bothering you?”

Takato stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep from fidgeting. “It’s...nothing. Not a big deal.” He looked around them, keeping a close eye on the tree line. For some reason, he felt that he would see something there. “I haven’t seen anything weird yet. What about you?”

“No,” she admitted as she looked forward again. “Normally I just know where to look when I’m out walking. It just sort of pulls at my conscious, you know? Like when you know you’re getting watched.”

She could tell something was bothering her friend, but if he didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t force him. Still, she couldn’t help but be curious what put him such a foul mood that he looked angrier than her. The fact he didn’t even realize his own surroundings was particularly worrying - if only because if she wasn’t there, he could get into some sort of accident.

“Maybe the park isn’t the right place?” Takato suggested. He wasn’t sure if that was a better idea or not, but so far it was better than just keeping to the park path, surrounded by all these people. Now that he was aware of them, he could feel his body temperature warming up, causing a light flush to creep across his body.

“Mn, probably not,” she agreed.

_If only because of all these people here. Exhibitionists._

Turning her attention again, she noticed now that Takato had noticed their surroundings, he seemed rather embarrassed.

 _Oh, that’s right. We probably look like a couple ourselves,_ she noted, the thought only occurring to her now. Two teenagers of the opposite sex being together on Valentine’s Day no doubt would lead to such assumptions, and them being in the park would only further the misconception.

“Where do you think we should go?” she asked, before deciding it would be well worth it just to see his reaction as she uttered the next sentence. “Hotels are off limits though.”

Takato cocked his head to one side in confusion at first before understanding dawned on him, causing his blush to darken considerably.

“R-Right. That… Why would…? I wouldn’t…” Takato just couldn’t stop his sentences from falling apart, so he finally just settled on nodding and resuming their trek as hurriedly as possible.

Rika, for her part, covered her mouth as she tried to hide the silent laughter. Her shoulders shook up and down in silent convulsions, and tears began to sting at her eyes as she forced to keep the mirth down. Gasping for air was harder, and when she did so, she barked out a laugh.

“I’m _joking,_ Takato,” she finally gasped.

“Uh...sure,” Takato said, quickly glancing at her before looking away almost as quickly. “I knew that.”

He left it off there, hoping that the train of discussion would die off fast so they could get back to their mission - the mystery of the strange hallucinations that they saw walking the world.

 _That would be the ultimate hallucination though,_ he assured himself. _Rika and me? Yeah… Right. Like that would ever happen in a million years…_

Bringing his attention back on their surroundings, he scanned them for a sign of something that could be defined as strange, but so far nothing but couples remained the most consistent feature of the landscape.

“It’s alright. I know I’m attractive,” she assured him. Since she was a child, she was well aware that she had good genes - especially with a model for a mother. As she grew and went through puberty, she was well aware that her body had shaped to a more feminine figure; perfect for modeling, according to her mother.

While in the past she was willing to at least amuse her mother sometimes by putting on a dress and posing in front of a camera, she no longer did such things. She already felt the thousands of unwanted eyes on her on a daily basis. She didn’t want more.

Pausing as they reached the crosswalk, she watched the cars race back and forth across the street, the neon signs beginning to overtake the setting sun as the prominent source of light. Chewing on her lip, she wondered if there had been some sort of pattern that she hadn’t noticed before. She had been so busy trying to ignore them, she never considered she might not be the only one.

 _“It’s alright. I know I’m attractive.”_ Takato looked at her in confusion at her words before looking away again, wondering what she meant by telling him that before deciding it was best to brush it off. Whether he found her attractive or not didn’t matter. They were friends and they were on a mission together to solve a mystery. Shaking his head as if it would shake loose the jumble of confusing thoughts that clattered around inside, he tried to focus.

It didn’t do much good however. All he saw in his mind was the accusatory look in Jeri’s eyes. It made him feel like a horrible person on the inside, twisting his stomach into knots. He...

A flicker of movement caught his attention, and he looked up at the top of a building. For a second there, he thought he saw what looked like a figure bounding from rooftop to rooftop. Without thinking, he stepped out into the street, only for a loud honk to jerk him back to full attentiveness and onto the sidewalk with a surprised yelp, heart hammering in his chest like a cannonball.

“Okay Takato,” he gasped. “There’s traffic there…”

“Were you somebody who needed a leash as a kid?!” Rika demanded as she pulled him further on to the sidewalk, her own heart thumping loudly in her chest. Her attention lapsed only for a moment, and he nearly gets hit by a truck. Placing a hand over her chest as she made sure that Takato was physically fine from his own brush with near death - or at least physically critically injured - she took a couple of deep breaths before hitting Takato on the back of the head. “You gave me a heart attack!”

“S-Sorry,” Takato quickly apologized. “It’s just...I thought I saw something running around on the rooftops over there.” He pointed over to the buildings he had seen the figure. It was gone by now, as phantoms tend to do when spotted, but it served to illustrate where his attention was. “And no, I didn’t need a leash or anything. I was just...not thinking right now.”

“Clearly. Jeez!” she grumbled as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the D-ark and with a single push of the button, the compass function popped up. Like before, it just spun around, only pausing for a moment before deciding to point in a different direction.

The light turned red, and the crosswalk began to beep, letting them know it was safe to walk.

“Come on,” she told him as she began to walk forward. “I don’t think I need to hold your hand to make sure you don’t get hit by a car. Really though, what is with you. You’ve been out of it this entire time.”

At the mention of holding hands, Takato’s own pushed themselves into his jacket’s pockets unconsciously. Sighing heavily, he realized he needed to get what was weighing on him off his chest.

“I…” he began, joining her. “After we separated I ran into Jeri… Well, more like she ran after me. You remember her, right? The brown-haired girl?”

"Yeah," she agreed. "The one who goes to my school. What about her? Did she ask you out or something?"

“Ah...no,” Takato replied, perplexed and becoming mildly frustrated with how this day - and this girl - just seemed to be doing everything that could be done to put him in an awkward position when it wasn’t trying to kill him. _Does everything have to be about being a couple?_ “She...um… She overheard us talking and…” He looked away, ashamed. “I...wasn’t really telling her the truth when she asked me what we were talking about and then… I didn’t tell her anything, but…” His shoulders sagged. “It made her upset that I didn’t tell her. I feel...awful.” He pressed his lips together as he wrestled with his warring emotions, finally out in the open. “I...don’t know what to do or say. I don’t want her to be hurt in case whatever we’re doing is going to get dangerous but…”

He struggled for words, but they slipped away from him now when he needed them the most. Years of being the more silent member of his group of friends had left him bereft of the means to express himself as his more talkative friends did.

Not for the first time did he realize how chaotic and limiting that made him when he tried to string words together.

"Oh," Rika said simply, not quite sure what else to say. It wasn't like she had many friends, and before Takato came into her life, it was just her and Henry. "Hmm."

She scratched her nose as she thought about how the situation could be amended. Honestly, before Takato bringing it up, she didn't think of what they were doing as dangerous if only because how could things they only could see as something that can hurt them.

"Well, if she asks again, you can tell her that I would have been upset or something," she suggested. "Or I could talk to her at school. I can ask Henry what homeroom she is in. She was in my homeroom today, but..." she paused a bit as her nose scrunched. "Wait is she in my homeroom?"

Takato shrugged. “Jeri’s always talking about some old guy in her class and how funny and nice he is. Do you have a teacher like that?”

“Maybe?” she gave a sheepish smile. “Henry always chides me for not paying attention to the people around me. Anyway, I can try talking to her if you want. I’m not sure how much good that would do considering I’m pretty sure she’s terrified of me.”

“It’s okay,” Takato shrugged. “Maybe I should explain things to her. I mean, it’s my fault after all.” He looked at Rika. “Is it alright if I tell her? I mean, I don’t think she’s ever seen anything.”

“Sure, I guess,” she agreed, somewhat hesitantly. While she wasn’t that wild about somebody else knowing about her - their, she corrected herself mentally - oddities and seeing things which couldn’t be seen, if it eased Takato’s sense of guilt, she supposed to being thought insane on top of dangerous couldn’t really make things worse for her at school. The rumors circling her were ridiculous as is. “Hopefully she believes it.”

Takato made an alarmed face. He wasn’t sure which would be worse; her not believing him or actually believing him. The former at least would be the most natural response and had a sense of reality to it. The latter made him worry if he would even notice that he really was going crazy because so many people believed him.

 _Wanna be the biggest dreamer_  
_Running full speed through_  
_both the future and the present-_

“Ah!” Rika shot her hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone, flipping it open in one fluid motion. “Hey - oh hey Henry. No … nah, not much. Hanging out with Takato. … Right. Where are we?”

She paused and looked around, before her eyes found the nearby street signs.

“Seventh Avenue and Cherry Blossom- mn, yeah, we’re close to the coffee shop. Yeah, I’ll ask.” Covering the mouthpiece with her hand, Rika turned to Takato. “Hey, you want to grab some coffee with Henry?”

“Ah… Sure,” Takato nodded. He had a feeling that they were going to need the energy if they expected to find anything tonight.

“He said yes,” she informed their other friend over the phone. “We’ll meet you over there. Want me to order for you? Yeah - OK. See ya.”

Shutting her phone closed with a snap, she placed it and her D-ark back into her pocket. Sighing, she rubbed her hands together before grinning at Takato.

“So Henry will be with us in about 15 minutes,” she informed him as she began walking again. “Maybe we can let him know about what is going on, and ask him for advice on this Jeri situation. Henry is better at this interpersonal stuff than I am.”

Takato nodded, following after her glumly. He hoped that something could get worked out, but he wasn’t holding out much hope for the time being.

###

Jeri leaned against the well weathered machine as beeps, taunts and explosions surrounded her.

Her eyes watched the screen where two pixilated fighters - a rather buff man and a woman with a well endowed chest - were beating each other up. Well, the man was beating the woman up - it was a rather sad one-sided fight.

"K.O.! Player One Wins!" the machine roared as the man landed an uppercut, the woman falling to the ground, motionless.

 “Awww _yeah!”_ Kazu exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air as he celebrated his victory. On the other side of the machine, Kenta moaned in his defeat – the fifth time since starting this game - and slumped forward in his seat. Grinning, Kazu looked at the boy from around the corner of his side.

“Hey dude. Don’t be sad and just bask in my awesomeness, because I am _just_ that good!”

Kenta just looked up at him with a pitiful, defeated face. Once upon a time, he would have said something about how Kazu was a lousy winner, but those days were long gone. Instead he glared at the arcade machine and searched around in his pockets for more yen, determined to go at it again.

“Go down swinging, huh?” Kazu cracked his knuckles. “All right. I’m happy to beat you for a sixth time. Now let’s see… How about you pick a fighter who won’t distract you?”

Jeri watched quietly as the game roared to life again, but even though her eyes followed the two fighters, her mind was elsewhere.

All she could see in her mind's eye was Takato and Rika talking in the park. Rika giving Takato chocolates. Takato lying to her.

It played like a broken record, again and again. Her heart grew a little heavier with each reminder that Takato chose Rika over her despite their years of friendship.

 _He doesn't even know Rika that well,_ she thought a bit angrily to herself. _Sure she's pretty, but she's not stable either. She punched Kazu! Yet, he decides to go hang out with her anyway._

She sighed a bit as she pulled her school bag closer to her chest.

_I never thought Takato to be the shallow type._

She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt - she really, really did. However, she just couldn't see why Takato would willingly hang out with someone like Rika after that disastrous first meeting and then lie about what they were doing.

 _Does Rika even like Digimon?_ she scoffed. Something in her wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Jeri’s memory wasn’t the only thing that played like a broken record, as Kazu quickly laid into Kenta’s fighter, utterly decimating him before he could even react. The boy groaned again and gave up on even trying to defend his fighter before his hit points even reached halfway to their death mark. Crying out in frustration, he shoved away from the game and stormed off, leaving Kazu to sit in his seat, arms outspread in mock surprise as he smirked at Kenta’s retreating back.

“Hey! What’s going on, Chumley? The fight’s not finished!”

Seeing that Kenta was in a mood, he relaxed and folded his arms behind his head. “Man, he really needs to get a grip on himself.” He glanced at Jeri, smiling a bit curiously at her. “You want to try and beat the ever-awesome BlackWar Kazumon?”

"Huh?" Jeri looked up, Kazu's voice shaking her out of her thoughts before looking over to the machine. "No ... not really in the mood. Sorry."

Kazu raised an eyebrow at her, his smile falling away. Man… Two people sad now… “What’s eating at you?” he asked. “You’ve been in the dumps ever since you hooked up with us.”

Jeri bit her lip, wondering if she should tell Kazu about what she saw at the park. If anybody would understand her position and what was going on in Takato's head, it would be Kazu. After all, the boy had known Takato way longer than she had.

"Well ... it's just that Takato has been hanging out a lot with Rika," she started slowly. "And on my way home ... I overheard them talking ..." she wrestled with telling Kazu that Takato got some obligatory chocolates from Rika, but decided it wasn't necessary for the story. "I asked Takato what they were talking about, but he lied and said it was something about Digimon, and when I pressed him again, he refused to tell me."

She sighed as she pressed her back against the machine.

"And ... I don't know what to do Kazu. I never thought Takato to be the kind of guy to blow off his friends for a girl, no matter how pretty she is."

Kazu pondered this for a moment. Jeri was so naïve when it came to guys it was almost amusing. “Jeri… Of course Chumley would blow off his friends for a girl. Especially for pretty girls like Rika. What guy wouldn’t? C’mon. You’ve been around us for how long now? You know what he’s like just as much as me. He was alone with her for a few minutes last month and she probably complimented him. He’s never had a girl look his way before you know.” He chuckled and winked at Jeri. “At least not one that he’s aware of.”

He frowned slightly however, remembering the time that she busted his nose. He was still sore about that, and he unconsciously touched the bridge – it was only slightly crooked, having not healed right from the punch, but barely noticeable unless one was looking for an imperfection.

 _Of all the girls though, why would he pick her?_ He looked at Jeri thoughtfully. _She’s pretty cute too, and she’s obviously in love with the guy. Well…obvious to everyone else but Chumley that is. That guy is one crazy fruitcake. Then, he’d have to be to go after Rika the Demon Queen…_

Jeri blushed and ducked her head at Kazu's words. She thought her hints that she liked the boy had been obvious enough, but Takato never seemed to pay them much mind, and she struggled with how else to hint she liked him without coming out right and saying it.

 _At least Kazu gets it when I flirt with him,_ she noted as she pulled slightly at her clothes.

"I'm just worried they are doing something dangerous" she admitted. "I mean he lied to me, Kazu. It's like ... I don't know." She puffed out her cheeks in frustration, unsure how to fully articulate herself when she didn't know how to describe what she was feeling.

"It's like ... he _lied_ to me," she said finally. "I thought that they might be dating in secret at first ... but the more the conversation went on it seemed like they were chasing something. Something Henry didn't even know about, and well ... Rika and Henry are best friends right? Why didn't she go to him? Why Takato? It just doesn't make sense!"

“Maybe she just gets off on the fact that Chumley won’t ever talk back to someone if his life depended on it,” Kazu chuckled. “Henry isn’t exactly a rug you can walk on, you know.” He thought a bit about Jeri’s words. “Chasing something? Like what? His missing gym socks?”

“I don’t know,” Jeri admitted. “I think maybe it’s ghosts or aliens. Or ghost aliens.”

“Seriously?” Kazu asked, pulling away from her. “That’s your big theory? Ghost aliens? We’re not kids anymore, Jeri.”

Jeri cheeks puffed out like an angry chipmunk.

"Well, what else could it be?" she demanded. "They were talking about proof. Maybe they got caught up in some sort of gang war then or something. The point is I don't know and Takato refused to tell me! And I don't know what to do about it!"

“You could fight Rika for Takato’s hand,” Kazu grinned. “That might actually get his attention since you want it so bad. Aside from that, I dunno Jeri, but I’m thinking you got too much Chumley on the brain. It’s making you think all kinds of crazy stuff. Maybe we need to hook you two up so you can finally calm down or something.”

"I doubt that's going to happen," she frowned. "Takato barely acknowledges it when I flirt with him. It gets tiring after a while being ignored.

"Besides, between Rika and myself, I don't think I would win."

If there was one thing that was for sure, when it came to a fight of any kind, the deck was heavily stacked in Rika's favor between the two girls.

Rika was stronger, more confident, prettier and smarter; while Jeri was in the top 20 of the grade, Rika was in the top 10. There was a lot of contention if it was the fact Rika was naturally smart or cheated or bullied the answers out of other people.

If this was a manga, this sort of thing wouldn't be a problem. Rika would be the obstacle that she, the average protagonist, would need to overcome to shine. Perhaps they would even become friends, depending on what the manga was.

 _Of course, she would need to acknowledge my existence too,_ Jeri noted. Rika seemed like she couldn't even be bothered to look her way in class.

“You really shouldn’t say that about yourself,” Kazu said, scowling a little. “You’re cute as hell. So what if you don’t hold a candle to Rika? She’s the Demon Queen! You’ve talked about her rep before. There’s no way someone like her can hold on to Chumley for long if you’re on the case. You’ve just got to put the work into it, that’s all.” He pointed a finger at her. “Henry once told me that if you think you’d be defeated in a fight, then you’re already beat. Why do you think Kenta and Chumley are the way they are and I keep clobbering them in games like this?”

Kazu kicked at the arcade machine for emphasis. “The Demon Queen is nothing. You really want to quit because of how you think you stack up to her? ‘Cause if you do, then maybe you shouldn’t be with him period.”

Jeri blushed at Kazu's compliment, wringing her uniform in her hands slightly as she squirmed. While it wasn't like she never got complimented before, the way Kazu said it with such force made her heart skip a beat.

"You really think I have a chance?" she asked quietly, glancing up at Kazu from underneath her bangs.

“I wouldn’t joke about stuff like that, Jeri,” Kazu replied. “What do you say? You still want to keep your hat in the ring?”

"Ah," she blushed as she worried her bottom lip before biting down on it and nodded her head resolutely.

Kazu was right. She just couldn't give up without a fight.

"Yeah." She nodded her head again, a little bit more sure of herself. "Yeah, I can't give up without trying, right?"

She looked at Kazu for confirmation.

“That’s right,” Kazu grinned. “If you like someone, you should fight for them. At least until the fat lady sings anyway.” Clapping his hands together he turned toward her more fully. “So what do you say? You want to figure out a plan to get his attention?”

"A plan?" she asked, curious what was going on in Kazu's mind. "What do you have in mind?"

She didn't want to embarrass herself and ask Takato out herself. Especially if he had noticed her flirting but simply pretended not to as he wasn't interested. A confession on her part would just be awkward for both parties.

 _That should be the boy's job, to ask out a girl,_ she thought resolutely. _I've been giving him more than enough hints. The ball is in his court._

Kazu’s grin broadened. “I’ve got some ideas…”

###

Henry turned the blue-trimmed D-Arc over in his hands, looking rather impressed with the piece of technology. Pressing the center button, a holographic circle materialized above the screen – the compass function swinging wildly around, not settling on anything – before finally receding down to nothing.

“This is incredible,” Henry said, returning the device to Rika. “And you’ve had it all this time and never said anything about it?”

"I only found it recently," she said, once again failing to define "recently," as she took it back, running a hand over the cool plastic as if stroking it would let her know the rest of its secrets. "It was stashed away with the rest of my things I kept over the years. I don't even remember having it, let alone what it does. I think it's some sort of card reader though."

“It certainly has a slot for reading a card,” Henry nodded in agreement. “I take it you’ve already tried to test it out?”

"Yeah," she said as she scratched her cheek. "I think I broke it or physics though when I did it."

“Seems to be a lot of that going around from what you’ve told me,” Henry said, taking a sip from his coffee cup. It was bitter, but he had developed a fondness for the taste since starting cram school. “And you’re both seeing…visions?”

“Yeah,” Takato bobbed his head up and down exuberantly in response. “It was really weird, like, I saw myself from when I was a kid and…”

“So you said,” Henry interrupted, raising a quieting hand. “Do either of you have an idea what it might be?”

“Ah…” Takato looked over at Rika. “Somehow I don’t think the government can pin a gas leak or a really bad drug on that D-Arc. Maybe we’re having shared…I don’t know…craziness?”

“Most people would describe that as a sign that something is not normal,” Henry replied, taking another sip. “But you definitely have a physical object that’s not like anything I’ve ever seen. Most people would pass it off as a toy, but I’ve never seen a toy do anything quite like that before.” He smiled at the pair and hid it behind his coffee cup. “I suppose the next question is where do we go from here?”

"Well we've been trying to track down these ... apparitions," Rika admitted, deciding to fall on a word that made them sound less crazy for seeing them. "But looking for them seems to be a lot harder than stumbling upon them. When you want to see them, they're nowhere to be found. When you want nothing to do with them, they seem to be around every single corner."

She groaned and rested her face on the table.

"It's maddening."

“Hmmm…” Henry took another sip, his eyes becoming thoughtful. “Maybe you should approach it like when you’ve gone to get something but forget what it was you wanted. The more you focus on it, the harder it is to remember. Maybe the problem here is the same.”

“I…guess that makes sense?” Takato said uncertainly, tilting his head. “Let me see if I got this right,” he continued, leaning forward. “Are you saying that we shouldn’t be trying to find these…whatever they are?”

“Something along the lines of that, yes.”

"Well that makes sense," came Rika's muffled, albeit sarcastic, reply. Lifting her head, she rested it in her hands. "Also, we have another problem."

Still hiding behind his cup, Henry took another sip. “And that is…?”

Rika turned to Takato and gestured for him to tell Henry. After all, this was more of his problem then hers.

Seeing that he was up at bat, Takato rubbed the back of his head uncertainly. “Um… Jeri overheard a little of me and Rika talking and…well…I guess now she thinks I’m in some kind of trouble. I mean, not that we might not be, but…I…kind of gave her the wrong impression by not telling her the truth.”

“I…see.” Henry furrowed his brow slightly. “Maybe I should have a talk with her.” He glanced at Rika. “Are you okay with that?”

"Sure," Rika said waving her hand lazily. "Go for it."

Henry or Takato dealing with it was much preferable than her having to deal with that bag of issues. Honestly, she much rather just stay out of the whole mess.

 _This is why I don't talk about things out loud,_ she reminded herself as she took another sip of tea. _Because people can't mind their own business, and things get awkward for no fault but their own._

“Um… I really should be the one to do it,” Takato began, shifting uncomfortably. “I mean, it’s my fault after all…”

“Are you going to tell her the truth?” Henry asked, his eyes flickering back over to Rika.

“I should, shouldn’t I? I mean, sure it sounds crazy, but…what else am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe we should talk about this,” began Henry. “This is something that’s not easy for anyone to believe. You’re talking about seeing things that aren’t there, or at least no one else can see. Although…there is the digivice…”

"You know, before you and Takato called it a digivice, I didn't even think it as such," she said as she held up the D-ark to the light. "Since it sounds really farfetched, like the shows and games being real."

 _Although at times I wished it was. Digimon being real ... a Renamon as a partner ... I wonder what that would be like,_ she wondered.

The blue glowing orbs flashed in her mind again and she closed her eyes.

Putting it back on the table, she looked between the two boys, her brow furrowing.

"But I'm not sure how showing her this would help her believe an already hard to believe story." she said bluntly. "Yeah, they happened more frequently since I found the thing, but ... I don't know. If we can't find them by looking, what good is it?"

“She’s got a good point,” Takato said, resting his head in one hand and looking frustrated. “We need _some_ kind of proof. Something…I don’t know. Concrete? That’s what Rika and I were talking about…looking for proof, but if it doesn’t want to show up because we’re looking for it than…I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

Henry took another sip from his coffee and then got up. “It’s only been one day, not to mention it’s not even over yet. How about we try again, only this time with three pairs of eyes?”

“I suppose that can work,” Rika agreed before turning to Takato. “So you mind waiting a bit I suppose before telling Jeri to offer her proof? So you know, it sounds less absurd?”

She would prefer honestly if they had sort of tangible proof in general - less likely to be considered crackpots that way. While she was well used to the rumors surrounding her, she didn’t actively look to add more to the mix.

Takato hesitated, not sure if he should point out that he already told Jeri he wanted to get proof for what he and Rika were seeing - given that had been the topic of their conversation - but maybe..just maybe...if they _did_ bring evidence then she would see that he was right to hesitate to confide in her.

 _I know I had a hard enough time believing it myself when I first saw me and a digimon I created,_ Takato thought before nodding. “Yeah,” he said. “Ok. Let’s do that.”

“All right so we have a plan,” she announced finishing off her tea before wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand, ignoring the inner voice of her mother admonishing her that it wasn’t very ladylike. “Hopefully we’ll get something sooner than later for your sake.”

Henry nodded as they all stood up. “For all our sakes,” he added.

**###**

The train car was nearly empty, save for the three and some other couples - both old and young. As a result, there was plenty of room to sit down without crowding each other, nor was there any worry about uncomfortable pushing and prodding.

The neon lights would light up the interior of the car, casting shadows on their faces, before it would disappear again. The car rocked back and forth in a gentle lull, the scenery melding together in a blur. The only sound was a small hum, and the whispered nothings of the other occupants.

Takato looked at his two traveling companions with a certain degree of concern. Footwork had been the regular feature of their ventures since leaving the coffee shop in search of the ‘hallucinations’ - for lack of a better description - and the journey had been long and hard. Takato himself shifted on his feet to ease the warm buzzing in his knees, but it did little to alleviate his discomfort.

He could only imagine how Rika and Henry felt. More so with Rika due to how important this particular trip was to her, and here they were, traveling by train, late at night, with nothing to show for their troubles. No hide nor hair. Not even a ghost of a whisper. Just people as far as the eye could see.

 _This is the smallest number of people we’ve seen all day,_ he thought, taking a look around the train car. He resisted the urge to heave a sigh, only for it to transform into a yawn.

 _Oh nuts…_ he thought, shaking his head. “Well…” he began, hoping to break the quiet that had fallen between the trio since boarding. “Today’s been...quite the trip.”

He regretted the bad pun almost immediately, wishing that he could just find a hole of quicksand and bury himself in it. The day was a wash and he highly doubted bad jokes would improve anyone’s mood.

Rika merely grunted, her arms crossed against her chest as her foot tapped irritably against the floor. The pun was awful, and did nothing to improve her move. The only good thing to come out of today was to know at least Henry believed their story and would be helping with this whole Jeri business. Heavens knew it could only end badly if Rika was expected to step in as well - she lacked the necessary sort of tact to deal with such issues.

Slipping her phone out of her pocket, her lip pulled into a slight frown as 9:07 flashed back at her. Mama would be worried, or worse, think something was happening when it wasn’t. Putting it back into her pocket, she slunk further down into her seat and stared sullenly at the window outside, doing her best to ignore the couple a bit further down who decided to start sucking each other’s face off.

“It’s only been the first day,” Henry said to Rika, not looking at her as he rested his eyes along with his legs. “I wouldn’t get discouraged about not finding anything this early.”

Takato smiled at Henry’s words. They didn’t do anything to reduce the bodily irritation that was muscle soreness or the worry and frustration that they all undoubtedly felt, but they had to keep perspective. Shinjuku was a big place after all. They really _couldn’t_ expect to find anything on the first try.

Or so it seemed.

In the row of seats directly on the other side of the car, Takato’s mouth fell open as he saw what he could only describe as ‘human-shaped television snow’ materializing out of thin air before taking form and color. They were sitting - three of them. Two were boys, one that Takato knew all too well with his blue-hoodie and yellow-rimmed Goggles strapped to his forehead. The other, with slightly darker skin and hair, bore a striking resemblance to Henry, only he had a Terriermon seated on his lap. Seated just slightly away - not so close as to look like they were friends but just far enough to show that she wasn’t quite with them - was a red-haired girl with a ponytail and a broken-heart t-shirt. They just sat there, doing nothing, appearing almost like dolls at first glance, but they breathed and looked as real as anyone else on the train.

“Uh...guys?” Takato asked, pointing dumbly in their direction. “Does that look like...us, only...I don’t know...younger?”

Turning, Henry looked in the direction that Takato indicated, but furrowed his brow. “I don’t see anything,” he said. “Rika?”

“Ah,” Rika said dumbly, staring at the sight in front of her, her face pale and eyes wide. It was definitely her - the long hair, the broken heart shirt, the sullen attitude - she would recognize herself anywhere. “Yeah … it is. I don’t believe it.”

She had felt something pulling at her attention at first, but she thought it was her increasingly lowering tolerance for the couples which surrounded them. However, this …

 _The proof we need,_ she realized albeit slowly before smacking Takato on the arm.

“Quick! Take a photo!”

Takato was already fumbling his phone out of his pocket - nearly dropping it to the floor in the process. Fortunately, due to desperation and a touch of fear at being yelled at for his clumsiness, his tired reflexes rose to the challenge and kept a strong grip on the phone and quickly flipped it open.

“Say cheese,” he said, snapping several photos in rapid succession. He glanced at his friends after a moment. “Um...one of you should get in front of them so we can say that there’s no funny business or something.”

“Guess that would be me considering Henry is blind as a bat,” Rika said as she pushed herself off the seat and walking across the aisle and made herself quite comfortable between her and Takato’s younger self.

Takato followed the girl and got in front of the four. The younger versions didn’t seem to notice their presence at all, an oddity. “Um...can you...touch them?” he asked, taking a photo.

Rika reached out toward herself, her hand glossing over her shoulder only for her eyes to go blank as her mind went blank. Closing them, she opened her eyes again and shook her head. Turning her head to the right she could still see Takato sitting in his seat, bouncing up and down excitedly despite not learning anything about the mysterious blue card and Henry leaning back and thankfully staying quiet with Terriermon on his lap.

 _This is so stupid,_ she thought sullenly as she looked forward again. How did these losers manage to convince her to come along with them again?

“This is so awesome!” Takato said next to her excitedly. “It’s like we’re detectives, chasing down a mystery!”

“This is serious, Takato,” Henry replied. “Let’s not get carried away.”

“Aw, c’mon! Let him get carried away!” giggled Terriermon. “Watching him goof up and put his foot in his mouth is way more exciting than sitting here and being all _serious!”_

 _And having that stupid rabbit shut up would be way better for my nerves,_ she thought, but for once, hadn’t voiced the opinion out loud. She was working on her personal skills - at least being polite - which meant she stayed quiet more often than not to keep the scathing replies at bay.

“Terriermon…” Henry began in a warning tone - a dance with his partner that now felt as old as time itself.

“What?” Terriermon laughed. “I’m just saying that it’s boring just sitting here doing nothing. Momentai!”

Takato turned toward her, still smiling his ever eager smile that, for some reason, gave the impression that he had completely forgotten that she had tried to kill his partner some weeks before. “Are you all right?” he asked. “Hey...Rika? Can you hear me?”

The scene dissolved, Takato’s more childish lines being replaced with the more mature ones brought by puberty. His sunny, smiling face replaced with a darker one full of concern. He turned to his side where Henry stood. “Hey, I think she’s coming out of it.”

Sweat dripped down her face as she took a couple of large breaths, her heart beating faster than she remembered it. Her head felt fuzzy, almost as if she had pulled it out of a bucket of ice water. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked around for the apparition, but it was gone.

“I … what happened?” she asked.

“You touched the other you and then you...um...just kind of went all weird in your eyes,” Takato replied. “Like you had gone somewhere else or something.”

“It only lasted a minute,” Henry said, kneeling down and placing a hand on her forehead. “You seem okay. How do you feel?”

Henry’s cool hand felt good against her forehead as she tried to gather her thoughts and her wits about just what happened. Licking her lips, she forced herself to calm down as she leaned back, not one to lean on others even when her entire body felt weak.

“The Terriermon talked,” she said finally, that particular detail sticking out the most. “I don’t know what was going on, but Takato was talking about it being like a detective and Henry … you were less than amused. The Terriermon was goading you and Takato on though.”

She leaned forward and buried her head in her hands and groaned.

_What was that? Why do I feel so sick? This never happened before._

“What else did the Terriermon say?” asked Henry.

“It found Takato making a fool out of himself hilarious,” she mumbled, not exactly disagreeing there. “I was thinking it was annoying.”

“Anything else?” Henry prompted, causing Takato to scowl at him.

“Hey, take it easy. She just went through some...weird...thing.”

“She’ll be fine,” Henry said matter-of-factly. “Momentai Takato.”

“Uh...what?” Takato blinked, not knowing the word. Henry chuckled.

“Just what you said. Take it easy.”

“The Terriermon said Momentai too,” she said as she looked up, well used to the word, having Henry saying it to her nonstop since they met. “I didn’t think anything of it … it seemed so natural coming out of it’s mouth.” She pursed her lips. “It had to have learned that from you, considering you are the only one who actually says it on a constant basis.”

Henry gave another light laugh. “Not constant,” he replied. “Well, it looks like we have our proof. This was...most informative, wouldn’t you say?”

“It’s certainly something, that’s for sure,” Takato nodded. “So I guess the thing we do next is...what? Do we tell the police or something?” He looked at his phone and flipped through the images. Yes, they were there still, and not just an illusion he and Rika dreamed up.

“I don’t think so,” Henry said, standing up and placing his chin in one hand. “This is only the first step. We have proof for us. Now we need proof for the rest of the world, and that’s not going to be easy to get. There’s a lot here that we don’t know after all.”

“Besides, what can the police do?” Rika asked as she rested her head on her knees. “It’s not like it’s causing any public panic. We don’t even know what this means or what this is, or what is going on. Just focus on Jeri for now.” She paused and looked up at Takato. “Don’t tell her though about the whole … zoning out thing.”

She didn’t know what else to call it, but either way seeing things invisible to the naked eye was one thing. Being influenced by them was another. It would be her luck somebody called an exorcist or something.

“Uh… Okay,” Takato replied, nodding reluctantly. “Well, this should solve that anyway. I hope.”

“If it doesn’t, we’ll work something out,” Henry said. “There’s not much that can be done right now anyway. Not at this hour.” A small smile crossed his face. “I suggest that we all start working on our excuses for why we’re coming home so late.”


	5. Disappearing Shadows

_“Primary colors_  
_We're still primary colors_  
_Afraid of mixing with each other_  
_Primary colors_  
_Everything is up to our future selves_  
_When we join hands_  
_We'll be infinitely expanding colors…”_

Kazu was singing. Kazu was singing horribly.

Jeri giggled as she took a drink from her fruit cocktail, feeling the warm buzz of the alcohol working its way through her head and sinking down to her toes. She shot a quick glance at Takato and smiled at him, or began until she saw that he was watching Kazu with a quirky expression, his own drink still untouched.

 _I don’t think it left the table since he set it there,_ she thought before shrugging her shoulders. Well, it wasn’t a big deal. That they were able to even get him to show up for a night of karaoke had been a miracle in itself.

That caused a slight scowl to cross her features, giving her amber eyes the appearance of still glowing coals. That they had to really push him to join them on their night of merriment was frustrating. Her conversation with him yesterday after spotting him in the park with her – with Rika – remained fresh in her mind.

She caressed her glass with worry. _I wish he could have trusted me enough to just tell me what’s on his mind… We’ve been friends for so long and…_

She glanced at him again, her thoughts pausing just shy of the direction they were going, remembering something her stepmother told her some years back. Relationships were built on trust, but if Takato didn’t trust her…

 _Maybe this was a bad idea,_ she thought, letting her eyes slip down to her glass. She tightened her grip. _No. I can’t think like that. It’s like Kazu said yesterday. I have to fight! This could be the last chance I get to wake him up! Ohhh… Why did he have to be so…so…dense?!_

The thought was uncharacteristically frustrated, but that was the spot she was in and had been in for years when she first started to feel that Takato liked her. He had no poker face to hide his feelings behind. That was one of the things she liked best about him. He gave her an open view to his heart and…oh…what a heart it was…

 _Even if he’s not very confident,_ she thought, a small smile drawing on her face as she returned her gaze to the boy and shifted, scooting just a little bit closer to him.

She bit down on her tongue when he still didn’t yet notice.

Kazu finished his song, Kenta clapping loudly and roared for an encore. Smirking, he threw himself back on the couch as he finished what remained of his third beer, wiping the drink off his lips with the back of his hand.

Getting Chumley to come had been difficult, but nothing a guilt trip couldn't handle. Takato was so easy to manipulate - he wore his heart on his sleeve. He was lucky that Kazu wasn't the type of person to take advantage of that.

 _For the most part,_ the teen thought as he placed the glass back on the table, noticing Takato's drink remained untouched. Pursing his lips, he frowned slightly.

"Yo Chumley, you haven't taken a drink since you got it. It's probably gotten warm by now," he said as Kenta staggered over to the television screen, pawing at it as he flipped through the songs. "What gives? You shouldn't waste good beer."

Takato shrugged and offered the teen a small smile. “Sorry. It’s just…not my taste. Plus if I came home smelling like it, my Mom would probably ground me until I turned 18.” He gave a light laugh. While underage drinking wasn’t considered that big of a deal in Japan, his mother was very strict about that rule. So much so that even on the rare occasion that his father slipped him a little something on the side, it was both away from her eyes and with the understanding that he was not to get drunk at all.

There had been mumbled references to dark clouds of doom and being made to clean pans with a toothbrush should he cross that forbidden line, but the point was made. Knowing her as well as he did, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Killjoy," Kazu grunted, reaching over to take Takato's glass as Kenta began to sing - although Kazu didn't exactly feel singing was the proper adjective; a mix of howling and screeching as the words bled together seemed more appropriate.

Still, he supposed he could understand. His own mother gave him more than enough trouble for trying to live life, his sister gleefully adding to his misery whenever possible.

"Oi Kenta, shut the fuck up!" he turned, snapping at the spectacled boy, his head throbbing. "They'll come in here thinking someone is being murdered."

"Like you were much better," Kenta shot back, the alcohol giving him a bit of liquid courage - which quickly shriveled up when he found himself on the receiving end of Kazu's glare.

As Kenta slunk over to the couch, Kazu picked up a box of chocolate pocky sticks and rattled them.

"Oi, anybody interested in playing the pocky game?" he asked, shooting a glance at Jeri.

“Sure!” the girl chirped, seeing the chance Kazu had given her. “How about it, Takato?” she asked, looking over at him. “Would you like to try it?” She inched ever closer to him. “You and I can go first if you’d like.”

“Ahhh…” A sharp blush rose upon Takato’s cheeks and spread like wildfire. Fidgeting, he looked down. “I…ah…um… I don’t…” he stammered, unable to find any particular words to answer her. Instead, it seemed like the entire dictionary was spilling out of his mouth.

"Guess it's you and me then, Jeri," Kazu interrupted, opening the box and shooting a glance at Takato.

 _Snooze you lose,_ he thought as a smirk crawled across his face as he stuck the pocky into his mouth and grinned, flashing his teeth.

Jeri looked back and forth between the two boys, a look of disappointment flashing across her face before finally focusing on Kazu. “I guess it is,” she said stiffly. She forced a smile and stood up from her seat, heading over to where Kazu sat and set herself down next to him. Composing herself, she brushed her hair away from her face and looked more fully at the boy.

“Ready?” she asked.

Kazu nodded - the pocky stick already in his mouth - and placed his hands on his knees and straightened his back. After all this was a competition with a serious contender, and, well, he had a promise to keep.

Jeri took the other end in her mouth, wishing that Takato had showed just a little more courage so he would be here on the other end of the pocky stick instead of Kazu. Not that Kazu wasn’t bad but…she just preferred Takato instead. His red eyes held warmth in them. Kazu’s grey ones were brash and intense…like a storm.

 _Well… Even in a thunderstorm you can find comfort,_ she thought distractedly, remembering a time when she was thirteen when one such storm had hit Japan with tremendous force, frightening her little brother badly. Her stepmother had been there to comfort him. She remembered that dark day – one of the darkest days she had after starting puberty – and the scene left an impact on her; enough of one where she found herself striving to provide the same comfort for her brother that had been absent since losing her birth mother.

 _Such a weird time to be remembering that,_ she thought before giving one last look in Takato’s direction to check his reaction. She hoped Kazu’s plan worked…

When Jeri's lips wrapped on the other end of the pocky stick, Kazu's fingers grasped his jeans tightly and both of them began to quickly nibble toward the middle.

The point of the game was a game of chicken - the person with the longest piece wins.

Kazu's heart thumped in his chest the closer she drew.

 _What is Chumley's deal,_ a stray thought drifted through his mind. _Jeri is really cute. She doesn't deserve being ignored. I'll show him really what he is missing out on._

Without a second thought, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Jeri's.

Her lips were warm and he could taste the fruit cocktail on her breath, mixing with the chocolate. While he had kissed other girl's his age before - he wasn't some sort of virgin like Kenta or Takato - he rated this mentally as the best one, even if it was stolen.

Jeri mind froze at the contact as Kazu’s lips met her own. It was a bit forceful, owing to Kazu’s impulsive nature. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. Through the haze of her shock, the idea that he was doing it to deliberately provoke Takato drifted up to her consciousness and she relaxed a little. Yes, that had to be it. He wasn’t just trying to steal a kiss. He was trying to help her, like a friend sh…

Her heart skipped a beat as, quite to her surprise, she found herself starting to return the kiss. Through sheer force of will, she broke away from Kazu, blushing just as badly as Takato had before – and still was now that she could see him again. Emotions stormed through her, mixing together with her cocktail.

“K-Kazu…!” she began, one hand going to her lips. _So soft… No!_ “That was my first kiss, you…you…”

There. Some anger leaked in and dominated the swirl of emotion in her heart. She seized it, or tried to. It proved to be a slippery thing in the whirlpool raging within her. She couldn’t find the words to describe what she was feeling. Instead she settled on giving Kazu a sharp glare, promising punishment for his boldness.

Kazu just grinned, victorious, riding on the thrill of the kiss. Especially since she had kissed him back - that hadn't been something he expected.

 _Especially since she likes Takato,_ he thought, jealously roiling around in his stomach for the crimson-eyed boy wondering exactly what he did that made him so attractive.

The thought of Takato though reminded who he was doing this for, and it wasn't for the boy.

"Ah, but I won though," he crooned, giving her a cheeky wink, before turned to Takato. "You want to give it a try now, Chumley?"

Jeri looked at Takato expectantly – hopefully – and their eyes briefly met, but within short order his dropped. She saw something move within them, jealousy she thought, something that she should have been glad to see since it would have told her that he was interested in her, but another emotion lurked behind it.

Surrender.

“I’m…fine,” Takato reiterated again, looking back up with a forced smile. He didn’t know what to say really, but having seen the two kiss and having seen Jeri actually return it, he felt something break within him.

For years he had nursed a crush on the brown-haired, amber-eyed girl but never had the courage to say anything. Indeed, he never truly believed that he had a chance with her, and that all her teasing and playfulness was just that – just friendly banter. He knew full well he didn’t exude confidence the way Kazu did. His nerves worked too much against him. What girl could like someone like that?

 _It was nice to imagine it I guess,_ he thought, recognizing what was breaking to be his heart. _But it’s like I kept telling myself in the end. There just…wasn’t any way…_

He dry-swallowed, his gaze falling on the empty glass that Kazu had taken from him. For the first time since it had been filled, he almost wished that he had drowned himself in it when the chance had been there.

 _Make sure she’s happy, Kazu…_ he thought, clasping his hands together tightly, as if by doing so he could keep a hold on his feelings before they spun out of control.

"What? Are you chicken?" Kazu balked amazed that his friend kept letting opportunities slip through his fingers. It was like Takato was oblivious to the fact Jeri was interested in him. While a man might have taken Kazu's bold actions as a challenge, Takato was more than willing to let things stand as they were.

"Or maybe you would like to play with Kenta?" he snorted, gesturing to the other boy who looked up when he heard his name.

"What am I doing?" Kenta slurred, his eyes crossed as his head dipped forward before he pulled it back again.

"Playing the pockey game with Takato," Kazu informed him. "Since Takato doesn't seem interested in playing with cute girls."

Takato frowned at Kazu, his hands tightening a little. “Very funny,” he said, rising a little to Kazu’s bait. “You know me better than that.”

This was true. In spite of his more prudish nature compared to Kazu, they had both had their fair share of porn that they had shared between each other. Takato loved cute girls.

 _I just don’t feel comfortable playing that game with the cutest and prettiest out there because she’s not interested in me,_ he wanted to reply, but he _couldn’t_ say that out loud. He was the only one hurting right now, and if he said that he would only make things worse. Better to hurt alone than to make others feel the same.

Jeri looked back and forth between her three friends, sensing a dark cloud building in the room, but unsure what to do about it. Her hands tightened on her dress. She felt that she should go over to Takato – say something, maybe even laugh off the game and how it wasn’t important just so Kazu would stop and things could go back to normal.

Yet something in her held back the words and the act. It was almost as if she wanted to see what would happen when Takato was pushed enough; as if she wanted to see if that would be enough to break him out of this distance that he kept putting between them.

"Well how about Rika then?" Kazu sneered. "You seem awfully chummy with her. I told you before man, she ain't going to bone you. Besides, you shouldn't stick your dick in crazy."

Kazu hadn't been happy to learn about Takato's continued relationship with the Demon Queen after she broke his nose. He wasn't sure what he saw in her - besides she was drop dead hot - and despite trying to figure out what other reasons he could have to continuously hang out with her he drew a blank.

He hadn't ever mentioned it before - the buzz in his brain made it impossible for him to remember why - but he was getting quickly sick of Takato's shit.

At that, Takato nearly _did_ lose control, only just barely managing to hold himself back from adding his own marks to Kazu’s face. The fact that Kazu _still_ thought that the only reason he was friends with Rika was because he wanted to…to... Red clouded his vision; his entire body shaking just barely noticeably, Takato _willed_ himself to have some degree of self-control, if only out of memory for the friendship they had for so many years.

In his mind though, he heard the whispered memory of Rika talking to him about his friendship with the teen and why he stuck with him despite his attitude which he knew full well had only gotten worse with each passing year. _Just… Why? He mocks you. He tears you down and you let him! Why do you do it?_

“Kazu, the only reason she’s _crazy_ at all is because…” He bit down at the last minute on saying _“because of people like you.”_ No, he _still_ wasn’t quite ready to throw aside years of friendship. Clutching the sides of his head, he growled in frustration. “Look!” he snapped, turning his gaze back up at them. “She has a lot to deal with in her life. She gets mad about it sometimes and she tries to keep it in check. The night she busted your nose Kazu? _That_ was because you made that stupid remark about her _mother!”_

Kazu blinked as he touched his nose again, the echo of pain from that night vaguely haunting him. His mind tried to sift through the murk and the haze, but try as he might he couldn't remember insulting the girl's mother at all.

Besides, even if it had, that sort of reaction was totally unwarranted. A dumb remark didn't mean she had any right to slug him.

"But she broke my nose Chumley," he protested. "Marred my beautiful face." A slight exaggeration, but before the Demon Queen had her way, his face was completely free of blemishes. "Besides, you just said it yourself. She's crazy! She clearly has anger control issues - she isn't called the Demon Queen because she's a saint, I'll tell you that right now."

“So _what_ if she’s not a saint?!” Takato half-asked, half-demanded. _“I’ve_ gotten to know her. Not you! Yeah, she left a bad first impression, but so did you! You’ve left nothing but bad first impressions ever since I met you!” The words were coming out of his mouth faster than he could stop them. Strangely enough, he found himself caring less and less as he went on. “And you’ve only been getting _worse…”_

Kazu stood up, knocking some of the food to the ground, the pocky which started this whole mess breaking and leaving crumbs on the floor.

That wasn't his problem though. His problem was Takato, and his sudden attitude.

"Dial back the attitude, _Chumley,"_ Kazu growled. "What could you have possibly been doing with her to get to know her better? Hm? You've only known her for a month! Yet all you want to do is spend time with her! You've totally ditched us!"

Jeri’s breath caught in her throat. The atmosphere that had been building was now threatening to break. She was definitely starting to regret this now. She had to put a stop to this before it was too late. “Um… Maybe everyone should just calm down…” She looked at Kenta, pleading with her eyes for him to do something to help her.

Kenta, however, merely shrugged. He had learned long ago to keep quiet - and he had no intention of getting between two friends fighting. It was better to keep your head down in situations like this and hope the shrapnel didn't fall your way.

"No!" Kazu roared, slamming his hands on the table as he glowered at Takato. "Chumley has been ditching us, and then says I'm the one been getting worse?! Besides, weren't you bothered that he lied to you! What kind of friend fucking does that!"

Kazu wasn't supposed to bring up the fact Jeri had talked to him about the situation yesterday. However, between his rage and inebriation, that little fact slipped away in the raging storm of his mind.

“I…” Jeri looked away guiltily, clutching at her skirt while her heart banged away in her chest. _This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Why is this happening?!_

A pall of quiet fell over the room and for one, long moment, Takato just sat there, staring angrily at Kazu while he glared back. Finally, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “You want to see why I’ve been spending so much time with Rika?” he asked, flipping it open and quickly bringing up the photo he took on the train last night. “Here.”

Kazu reached out and took the phone and stared.

There was nothing there. Just an empty train seat, taken late at night under terrible light conditions. Pressing the button to flip through the photos, each one was the same. An empty train car seat, until - ah!

One with Rika, who was slouching in the photo, her lips pulled back into a slight grin. The photo wasn't centered on her though, and while Kazu was drunk, he knew a terrible photo when he saw it.

"Man, you are terrible at taking photos," he said finally. "You take a photo of an empty seat so many times, she felt sorry for you and actually sat in the picture. That's just sad."

“What…?” Takato blinked, surprise mixing with the smoke of his anger. “Empty seats, what are you talking about? _They_ were there!”

"Dude, check it for yourself. Nothing is there," he said, handing the phone back.

Snatching the phone from his hand, the first thing he saw was Rika sitting alone in an off-center shot of her. This sudden realization – that something was very, very wrong – went off like a bomb in his mind.

“No…” Takato whispered almost desperately as he flipped over to the next photo, only to be greeted by an empty train seat. “This… This isn’t real! It _can’t_ be!” He looked up at the others frantically before looking through the other photos he took at a rapid, desperate pace.

“They were there! In the photo! On the train! Even _Henry_ saw them! Well, not on the train but in the photo! They…we…”

Gone. Gone, gone, gone. All the strength went out of his words in one mad rush and his shoulders slumped as he tried to process this sudden betrayal by reality. Had it really happened at all? _Maybe I am going crazy… Maybe Rika was just humoring me after all so she could have a good laugh…_

The corners of his lips twitched in an almost insane smile as tears began to well up at the edges of his eyes. It was all turning against him. How could he have been so stupid?

_That’s me after all… The Gogglehead. Easy to get a good laugh out of. I practically live with my feet in my mouth…_

But it had seemed so _real…_

Kazu watched Takato's performance with shock and then the rage, which had been boiling under the surface slowly turned into amusement. It seemed he thought something was there.

 _Holy shit, maybe they were chasing after some ghost aliens,_ he thought as laughter bubbled up in his chest as he burst out laughing from the sheer absurdity of it all.

"Chumley, you've been hanging around with her chasing _ghosts?!_ Kami, I knew I said she was crazy, but I didn't think you were too," he sobbed between laughs, hiccupping slightly as he fought to catch his breath.

Jeri, for her part wasn’t so sure. Looking at the desolate expression on Takato’s face, she felt a ping of sorrow and pity. He _really_ believed that he saw something, and to find absolutely nothing… It had devastated him.

 _He’s falling,_ she thought. Stepping forward, she reached out to touch him, but as if her movement had been a signal, Takato pushed past Kazu, not saying a word. The sound of his laughter felt like walls closing around him. He had to get out of there.

"Where you going Chumley?" Kazu called after him, his laughter echoing as he continued to mock him. "Going out to find more ghosts with your girlfriend?"

“She’s not my girlfriend, Kazu,” Takato replied heatedly, stopping at the door and glowering at him again. “Just...be quiet about things you don’t understand.”

He was no longer confident about whether what he had seen was anything at all. He didn’t know _anything,_ but Kazu’s laughter stung every step of the way. It was really starting to wear thin.

“Yeah, like you would get anybody like that, crazy or not,” Kazu snorted. “What things don’t I understand? I think it’s perfectly obvious what’s going on. You see things that aren’t there, and are now realizing that you are out of your mind. It’s a perfectly natural reaction, buddy.”

“Kazu!” hissed Jeri, still hoping to contain the situation.

Takato’s hand fell on the door, shaking violently. _He’s right…_ a part of him whispered. _He’s right…_

 _But...Rika saw something when she touched them,_ said another. _Henry saw the photo! They...They couldn’t have been messing with me, could they? Henry’s never done that before…_

“You weren’t there,” Takato said finally, seizing on that second voice like a life raft. “That’s what you don’t understand. I don’t know what it was I saw, but if I am going crazy, I’ll find proof of that too!”

“You got the proof that you need right there on your phone,” Kazu pointed out. “Come on man, your head is always in the clouds. Aren’t all artists crazy? Wear it like a badge of honor! Just don’t cut off your ear.”

Takato tilted his head to one side in confusion at Kazu’s remark. _Why would I cut off my ear?_

“I need to talk to Rika,” he said, shaking his head and pushing the door open.

“There you go, ditching us for Rika again,” Kazu sneered, sort of annoyed how even now he was ditching them for the Demon Queen. “I literally had to drag you here, and you’re bailing on us already. Real classy.”

“This coming from the guy who said he would have sex with Rika’s mom,” Takato said, a deadpan expression on his face, unable to believe how dense Kazu was. Not that he had much to be proud of himself, but he picked up on it quickly - or something approximating quickly - after meeting the woman. “I think there’s a saying in the west. It goes something like pot calling the kettle black.”

“I’m not the one leaving friends for a psychopath now am I?” Kazu shot back, not denying he wouldn’t have sex with her mom - after all, those genes had to come from somewhere right - but more annoyed how Takato ignored the fundamental issue of his ditching them again.

“Rika’s _not_ a psychopath,” Takato replied as evenly as possible. “Which you’d know if you didn’t spend every second being awful to your friends.”

“Excuse _me?”_ Kazu bristled as he stood up, cracking his knuckles. “Me? Awful to my friends? Chumley, you are talking some straight up shit right now. You want to go?”

Much to his surprise, he shut the karaoke room door with a soft click before strolling over to Kazu. The boy was only three inches taller, but to Takato he might as well be a foot. For some reason though when he looked him dead in the eye it felt as if they were on even footing.

“I remember what you did to Ayaka,” he began slowly, his worlds picking up speed and force with each passing second. “Back when she tried to be your friend because Jeri was our friend. And remember Jeremy? What about Tadashi?” He jabbed a finger into Kazu’s chest to drive the point home. “They both left because they couldn’t _stand_ you anymore! And don’t think I haven’t seen how you’ve been treating Kenta - your _best_ friend! Half the time it’s like he either doesn’t exist or he’s just...I don’t know. Like you can just whip him or something and you don’t care! You _never_ care about what you say or who it hurts! Half the time it seems like you want someone to hurt! And every time someone gets mad you blow them off! Like it’s _their_ fault! Has it ever occurred to you that for once in your life _you’re_ the one with the problem?!”

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. There was muffled noise from other karaoke rooms in the bar, but nobody - least of all Kazu - had expected … _this_ from Takato. Kazu wasn’t used to anybody standing up to him before, let alone someone weak willed like Takato. He never even voiced any sort of issue before, but now he just went off.

 _What …_ Kazu could only stare dumbly at Takato, the words taking a moment to sink in and his brain to process them. However, when he did the confusion made way for anger. Shoving Takato away from him violently, he pulled back his teeth and snarled like an angry dog.

“Me? The problem? You’ve gotten an attitude since you started hanging out with that dirty half,” he growled. “You oughta look in the mirror since I’m not the one who goes around lying to people who care about me and stomping on their feelings.”

“You’re drunk, Kazu,” Takato said simply. His anger bristled again at the ‘dirty half’ comment.

“Not drunk enough to know you’re being an ass,” Kazu shot back.

“Yeah...well, this place only has enough room for one, so I guess I’d better hurry up on that leaving,” Takato returned, stepping away on shaky legs. “You need the space.”

That was quite the surprise to Takato. He tended to try his best to never be rude to people, but Kazu really had his blood boiling right now and it was taking all his self-control to just stay remotely civil. As much as he hated to admit it though, seeing the look on Kazu’s face actually felt...good.

Takato hated himself for feeling that way.

“Then get the fuck out!” Kazu roared, throwing the nearest thing at Takato, which ended up being a bag of gummies. “Run back to that half breed! Just don’t go crawling back to me when-”

Upon later reflection, Takato would be unable to remember crossing the distance between himself and Kazu. One moment he had backed up to the door, the bag of gummies pelting him, but in the next he was in front of Kazu, hands splayed and shoving Kazu with enough force to send him slamming into the wall, cutting his words off mid-sentence. He heard himself breathing heavily, his lungs sounding like cannons firing as his veins throbbed and pulsed with unspoken anger.

“Don’t you _dare_ call her that again!” Takato said in a voice that, while surprisingly low, carried enough force behind it to cause Jeri to gasp behind him. “Do you hear me?”

“What are you going…” Kazu started before the rest of his sentence sort of fell into nothing as his eyes interlocked with Takato’s. The crimson orbs normally were warm if not welcoming, but now they seemed almost feral. His throat felt dry as his mouth opened and closed dumbly in an attempt to finish the rest of his sentence only to find his head nodding in defeat.

For the first time in his life, he was scared of Takato.

Taking this nod, Takato stormed out of the karaoke room, slamming the door shut behind him with a loud bang. Kazu slid down the wall as he watched him go and fell to the floor, shaking slightly.

Jeri stood there, completely stunned by events. Like Kazu she too found herself horribly frightened by Takato’s outburst. Never... _never_ had she ever expected something like that to come roaring out of him like a dark, twisted monster. After several long seconds, during which only the sound of their breathing could be heard, she remembered Kazu and hurried over to him.

“Are you okay?” she asked, dropping down next to him. Her voice was shaking and her hands felt unsteady as they quested around his face and chest to see if there were any injuries. Takato had actually shoved him into the wall hard enough to crack it!

“Holy shit,” Kenta said as he stumbled over to where Kazu was, hovering around uncertainly, not sure what to do, feeling he should have intervened when Jeri asked him to.

“I’m fine,” Kazu said, trying to keep his voice steady even as his body rattled. “I just didn’t see that coming.”

He tried to laugh it off, but it was weak and forced.

Jeri made a face at him. “Kazu… _I_ didn’t see it coming. Takato… He… He doesn’t do things like that!”

Her hand crept again to Kazu’s face and cupped it gently. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked. She could feel him trembling beneath her touch. Her eyes softened. _This is...my fault. He just wanted to help me…_

“Yeah. Sorry though that it ended this way,” Kazu said, finally remembering that this was to help her get together with the other boy. Instead of hooking up his two friends, he had instead caused a rift.

 _That was all Takato though,_ he thought, a bit of anger seeping back into his body now that the danger had passed. Still, he did feel sorry for Jeri - she really liked the boy, and at the very least he wanted to see her happy.

“I know you really liked him … but I guess he’s too much of an idiot to see what he had.”

“Oh Kazu…” Jeri whispered, impulsively kissing his forehead. Tears slipped out of her eyes, the emotional turmoil finally starting to let loose. She almost missed the kiss in the heat of the moment, but it registered half a second after she did the deed. As she knelt there next to Kazu, cradling his head in her arms, quietly crying, she thought about the boy who had left her and the boy who had stood by her side.

_Kazu… He’s been there all along… Supporting me… Helping me… Oh Kami..._

She shuddered as quiet realization began to warm her body, and then, reluctantly released the boy’s head to loop an arm behind his back. “Here, let’s get you standing. I think we should clear out of here before someone asks what all the noise was.”

“Good idea,” Kenta agreed as he helped her as he slung Kazu’s other arm around his shoulder. “I don’t think we have the money to fix … that.”

He looked pointedly at the crack in the wall before digging into his pocket and dropping some yen on the table, feeling a bit better about leaving the mess for whatever worker was unfortunate to pick it up.

Kazu wanted to say he was perfectly able to walk, but his legs wouldn’t move properly, paralyzed from the alcohol and fear still coursing through his system and each time he made a movement it was more of an awkward stumble.

Tears bristled at the corner of his eyes.

He wasn’t sure if they were that of rage or sorrow.

He would learn that in the morning.


	6. Awakening

Chapter 6: Awakening

Kenta couldn’t breathe.

That wasn’t accurate of course. Kenta could breathe, but he felt as though he were suffocating all the same. His whole body was tense as he sat at his desk. The teacher was calling attendance, and each name sounded like a tick of a timer counting down to an explosion. The air felt thick and heavy. It was all in his head, he knew that, but all the same, he felt as though the atmosphere of the room had become oppressive and dark; threatening to strangle him if he so much as moved or spoke.

“Kenta Kitagawa.”

“H-Here!” he croaked, his knees banging his desk in surprise, startling his two neighbors and earning him numerous raised eyebrows, particularly from the teacher.

“Is something the matter?” the teacher – a brown-haired woman by the name of Ms. Kamiya. Kenta cursed in his mind. He swore that she was the spitting image of Ms. Asaji – his teacher from elementary school. If he could trust his memory, he could put them side-by-side and mistake them for sisters; the resemblance was that close.

_She even sounds like her… I swear the universe has it out for me or something!_

Kenta swallowed and nodded. “S-Sorry,” he muttered. “I…um… Never mind.”

Ms. Kamiya nodded, though she looked at him worriedly.

“Adachi Koizumi,” she resumed.

“Here,” was the reply, and down the checklist she went, going from student to student until…

“Takato Matsuki.”

“Here.”

Takato. Kenta snuck a glance at his…whatever he could call him now. Kenta wasn’t sure anymore, not after yesterday.

 _He looks the same on the outside,_ Kenta thought, watching him studiously ignore his surroundings as he scribbled in his notebook. But Kenta knew that he wasn't the same. He wasn't sure if he had ever been the Takato he knew. The light from the window framed him though, giving his appearance a darker complexion, causing Kenta to shudder a little. Before, the light from the window gave him an almost angelic appearance. Now, after his forceful confrontation with Kazu, it reminded him wherever there was light, there was also the shadow.

 _Takato…_ Kenta looked away, chewing on his lip as Ms. Kamiya continued to run through the names until finally…

“Kazu Shioda.”

“Here,” he replied, two rows down, his tone bored and uncaring. Kenta’s heart pounded in his chest and, almost against his will, he looked to his left where Takato Matsuki sat. The boy didn’t even look up.

Kenta quickly looked away, his stomach churning. He felt hot and sweaty. He…He…

_I can’t take this anymore!_

“Ms. Kamiya!” he interrupted, almost vaulting out of his seat. “I need to go to the infirmary! I don’t feel well!”

Ms. Kamiya looked up, a bit startled, but one look at the pale, bespectacled boy caused her face to set itself into concern and she nodded. “All right,” she said. “Takato? Will you escort Kenta to the infirmary?”

As one, the three boys blinked, and one, long, awkward moment fell over the room as Takato seemed to struggle with a response while Kenta and Kazu both looked stunned – in Kazu’s case just shy of furious.

“Mr. Matsuki?” Ms. Kamiya prompted, furrowing her brow at this unexpected hesitation. The two boys were friends last she knew. “Is there a problem?”

“No!” Takato said perhaps a little too quickly. Closing his notebook, he stood up. “Come on, Kenta.”

“Ummm…I-I’ll be fine on my own,” Kenta replied. “I can get there.”

Ms. Kamiya looked back and forth between the two students, feeling as though there were something going on that she wasn’t aware of. Closing her eyes, she sighed.

“Class, take out your textbooks and begin reading the next passage. Ayaka, as the class representative I’ll entrust their activities to you. Kenta, come with me.”

“Oh… O-Okay…” Kenta nodded reluctantly, clutching his stomach before following her out of the room.

###

Kenta lay on the infirmary bed, holding his glasses in one hand while the other shielded his eyes from the harsh glare of the light. Ms. Kamiya had, to his luck, chose not to question him about his sudden illness and instead just escorted him to the infirmary. He was starting to feel better now that he was out of the class and away from Takato and Kazu, but he still felt awful all the same.

Breathing a heavy sigh, he rolled over and tried to relax. It wasn’t going to come easy though. The tension that held his stomach all tied in knots continued to pull tight, just as a not-so-subtle reminder of the plague on his mind.

_“I’m not the one leaving friends for a psychopath now am I?” Kazu shot at Takato._

_“Rika’s not a psychopath,” Takato replied as evenly as possible. “Which you’d know if you didn’t spend every second being awful to your friends.”_

_“Excuse me?” Kazu bristled as he stood up, cracking his knuckles. “Me? Awful to my friends? Chumley, you are talking some straight up shit right now. You want to go?”_

_“I remember what you did to Ayaka… And remember Jeremy? What about Tadashi? They both left because they couldn’t stand you anymore!”_

_Stop it…_ The words had been on his lips, but where once he might have said something, he didn’t then. When Jeri looked to him for help, he simply shrugged and let it go. Stay down. Keep your head low. Don’t be noticed when Kazu went on the warpath. If you didn’t, you ended up becoming a target for his anger. So the words died a quiet death, and in the next moment their friendship exploded like the roar of a cannon.

 _It’s all your fault, Takato,_ he thought, grating his teeth. _You had to go and make him mad… You couldn’t just hang out with us like we always did. You had to go and be with…with that crazy girl! Even after what she did to Kazu!_

The thoughts sounded hollow though, and try as he might he could neither muster nor maintain the anger that would normally follow those thoughts. Instead he kept going back to Takato berating Kazu for his treatment of their friends.

 _We used to be a lot larger,_ he thought. _Ayaka, Miki, Jeremy, Tadashi…Yuji…_ He winced as he thought about how their group had just disintegrated over the past few years, leaving just himself, Kazu, Takato, Henry and Jeri. Now Takato was out. There was no coming back after this. Friends didn’t fight friends.

“Oh Kami…” Kenta thought, realizing he was shaking badly. “Things are just so messed up…”

###

The bell rang, signaling the end of school. While other children filtered out of class, two girls remained, stuck on cleaning duty for the day. A duty neither wanted to be on - especially with each other. However, without so much of a word to each other besides perhaps a few grunts, they went to grab the cleaning supplies.

Out of all the people she had to be stuck with today, it had to be Rika Nonaka. Watching her move over to the windows - it being unsaid she would clean them as the taller of the two - Jeri pursed her lips as she grabbed the rag for the chalkboard.

The fight from yesterday still weighed heavily on her mind until an echo from the dream she had that following night rang in her mind.

_“You’re horrible.”_

_It was a sea of red. Everything was red - the sky, the ground. Clutching at her hair, pulling at it slightly, it took everything she had not to collapse as she breathed in and out heavily. Her knees wanted to give out from under her, but somehow she remained standing._

_“Something … something like that. .. How could you? HOW COULD YOU?!”_

_A red light shone like a beacon. It was coming from one boy - Takato. Yellow goggles were nestled in his brown hair, his face contorted in an ugly rage. His eyes were narrowed and it looked like his canines were growing longer, more animistic._

_A red dinosaur, no, perhaps a cyborg? - lumbered forward, roaring menacingly._

_“What is this? What is it? What’s going on?” Her mouth moved on her own, her body shook and fear and horror gripped her insides. Something pulled at her arm, and she turned her head slightly to see Kazu._

_“Katou! It’s not safe here!”_

_“Don’t touch me!” she yelled, yanking her arm out of Kazu’s grip as worry overtook the fear exhibited on the boy’s face before she broke down crying, her heart breaking into a million pieces as a sea of emotions she couldn’t place - all of which were negative - swirled inside of her. “I don’t want anyone to touch me!”_

_“Katou...” Kazu said gently._

_“Heh, finally at Ultimate level. You’re bigger now, so what? I’ve evolved to Mega! You’ll just die for no reason!” The demon declared proudly, crouching down as he got ready to fight._

_“We’ll definitely defeat him,” Takato swore as the large red cyborg dinosaur roared again and jetted forward like a bull charging it’s target. However, the demon simply jumped over it, snarling victoriously._

_“Stupid cyborg!” he cried, pointing two large shotguns at it. “Vanish!”_

_One shot after another was unloaded into the cyborg but none of them seemed to phase him. Instead with another roar, it flew upwards and snapped its large jaws around the demon, squeezing down like a lion would its prey._

_“That’s it!” Takato encouraged viciously. “Go! Finish him!”_

_“Stop,” she begged as the demon pulled back its arm and slammed its claws into the cyborg’s head and sending it toward the ground._

_“You can’t lose, WarGrowlmon!” Takato declared. “Damn … you need to evolve more! Evolve! EVOLVE!”_

_At his command, the sky itself turned a bloody red, shining brightly as if it were coming from the depths of hell itself._

_“What?” the demon questioned as he lowered his guns as he landed. The hazard symbol on the cyborg’s chest began to flash red, and her heart dropped slightly._

_“The symbol on his chest is glowing,” Henry said worriedly as his arms wrapped around his younger sister, whose head was buried into his shirt. Next to him stood Rika who was also watching the events unfold in front of them with the same sense of horror as the rest of them. “What’s going on?”_

_As lightning cracked in the distance, a red pillar of flame surrounded the cyborg._

_“Is he evolving?” Henry asked._

_“Evolve,” Takato echoed. “Yeah! Evolve! Evolve to Mega level!”_

_Two clawed hands broke out of the fire, and Jeri took a step back in shock. Where the cyborg once stood, a monster had taken its place. Large red wings … a serpentine tail … cold, black eyes and white drool dripped down from its razor sharp teeth._

_‘It’s a demon,’ Jeri thought. ‘A demon born from Takato’s heart.’_

Jeri shuddered as the memory of last night’s dream washed over her and she shook her head, Tightening her hands into fists, she pumped them into the air, as if fighting the dream off.

 _Get a hold of yourself, Jeri,_ she told herself. _Keep your act together._ Looking over her shoulder, she frowned at the back of the red-haired girl as she washed the windows, seemingly oblivious to her presence. She wanted to be angry with her – for her part in Takato’s outburst from yesterday and for leading him on a wild goose chase…perhaps even lying to him about the photographs he took. She didn’t know what to think of her, but it didn’t seem fair that she should be so carefree while her friendship with the boy she liked – had liked – just fell apart, and all because of _her._

_And why? What is it that Takato sees in you? Why does he follow you around?_

Jeri narrowed her eyes slightly at Rika’s back as she brought the wet sponge to rest on the chalkboard once more and resumed her portion of the cleanup duties.

Breathing on the window, her warm breath fogging up the glass, Rika scrubbed a bit harder on a white stain which wasn't coming off. She supposed she could just give up and leave it, but that would mean admitting defeat.

Rika Nonaka didn't lose to anybody or anything, whether it be in Digimon or a particular stubborn piece of dirt which would not. Come. Off.

 _How did it even get here?_ she thought irritably as she scratched as it with her fingernail, hoping it would remove whatever it was.

In the reflection of the glass, she could see Jeri's brown eyes glaring into her back before returning to the chalkboard. Turning her head slightly to see what her deal was, she frowned slightly and wondered if Takato ended up talking to her yesterday.

 _Well, whatever,_ she thought as she returned her attention back to the battle.

Rika seemed to be very focused on that particular spot on the window. Turning back to her assignment, she continued her task, reaching the halfway point. Squeezing the sponge, she dunked it back in the bucket of water and went back to the board, finishing it off in short order. Turning back around, she saw that Rika was still stuck on that particular spot. She frowned, wondering if she should help her.

 _She might be doing it just to get me to do her job for her,_ she thought. She chewed over her lower lip. A part of her wanted to confront Rika about Takato’s behavior and the role she played in it; what they were doing. Placing her hands in front of her, she frowned at the floor.

 _It’s still dirty,_ she thought distractedly.

Putting more effort into it, Rika grunted slightly and it finally started to come off.

"Hah!" she said triumphantly, leaning back and grinning proudly to herself, not completely aware she had made a noise.

 _Take that! I never lose,_ she thought victoriously as she finished with the window finally before jumping down from the ledge from where she was perched.

Looking around the room to see what else needed to be done, she saw the floor was still dirty and her shoulders slumped slightly.

Looking up she noticed Jeri's eyes meeting her own and she arched an eyebrow wondering if she should confront her.

 _Not worth it,_ she decided, not wanting to really get into a fight with a classmate and Henry and Takato's friend as she made her way over to the closet where the brooms were kept.

Jeri’s eyes looked up at Rika’s movement, tracking her over to the closet. Again, that sense that she didn’t really see her or even care about her existence wormed its way through Jeri’s mind. Her breath caught in her throat as she thought of Takato, his anger at Kazu; his shock at his photos not being what he thought they were…and through it all this one girl being central to the whole situation.

 _You made him just like you,_ she thought, the visage of the terrifying anger erupting from the teen making her shudder again. This time anger flared within her, though it was tempered by her fear of the fiery-haired Demon Queen. _He was such a sweet boy and…and…look at what happened!_

Rika removed the broom from the closet and started to sweep around the room. It wouldn’t take long. She didn’t think Rika would be the type to do more than a quick dusting. Once she was done, she would go home and that would be that.

 _I don’t know how you can live with yourself,_ she thought a bit nastily. She wanted to berate herself for feeling that way, but yesterday had her all keyed up; angry and confused. So many unanswered questions. This girl held the answers…so long as she was willing to provide answers at all. She might answer…or just laugh in her face. Laugh at her about the boy she took for her own amusement and used. All for what? _For what?_ Oh, the question made the fire within burn even hotter.

“Why?” Jeri asked out loud before she could stop herself.

Rika looked up when she heard Jeri’s voice, blinking in confusion at the question. Looking at the broom in her hands and at the still dirty floor she wondered if she was asking why she was sweeping, but judging by the fact she could feel her eyes on her since the day began something told her she wasn’t asking about the dirty floors.

Stopping what she was doing, she leaned against the broom and eyed her cautiously as if she were a dangerous animal.

“Why what?”

“Takato,” Jeri clarified, her eyes narrowing. Was she playing dumb? Did she really think she was that stupid? “Why Takato? He hasn’t done anything to you.”

“I honestly have no idea what you are talking about,” Rika said truthfully, frowning. “I haven’t done anything to him, so you are going to need to clarify what you are going on about.”

“I’m talking about what you’ve been doing to Takato.” Jeri felt her anger flare a little. “This...ghost hunting game you have with him. Making him take pictures and telling him that there are ghosts in the photos. Why are you treating him like a game?”

_Oh._

Well suddenly Jeri’s abrasive attitude toward her made a lot more sense and Rika set her forehead at the end of her broom and groaned. She had hoped Takato talking to her would have solved any mess resulting in Valentine’s Day between them, but of course it seemed now the ire had turned to her.

_Just my luck._

“I haven’t made him do anything,” she snapped, looking up with a glare. “Not that it matters since you wouldn’t believe the Demon Queen, I wouldn’t toy around with people like that. I’ve been seeing these things for the past year now, and apparently Takato can see them as well. Do you have any idea how much of a relief it is to find out you aren’t crazy or at least not alone? All we wanted to do was find some proof that what we were seeing was real.”

Jeri’s scowl deepened. Under normal circumstances she would be willing to believe Rika, at least in regards to the presence of ghosts. However… This was the _Demon Queen,_ as she herself reminded her of. “A bunch of empty pictures isn’t proof. You made Takato a laughing stock, and he got into a fight with Kazu over it!”

She didn’t understand why Rika would do something like that. In spite of her claims to the contrary, it still looked too much like she had set Takato up to fail. She remembered seeing that sudden look of doubt in his eyes. _Why? Just...why?_

“Wha - empty photos?” Rika asked flabbergasted, straightening her back as she leaned against a nearby desk. “Fight with Kazu? I don’t understand. They definitely weren’t empty.”

She put a hand to her head as the memory of reliving … whatever it was … came back to her. The feeling still made her cold and she felt a bit faint thinking about it.

“It was definitely real. I touched it … me …” she muttered as the memory - rather blurry as she tried to recall it as if she were sticking her head underwater - bubbled to the surface. “It was us.”

That caused Jeri’s anger to burn all the more brightly. She _dared_ to keep the act up? “Just _stop it!”_ Jeri snapped. “No more of...whatever this is! I want you to leave Takato alone, do you hear me? You’ve hurt him enough already!”

Jeri stood there now, breathing heavily, her face flushed. “Please… He’s… He’s not strong enough. If you hurt him…” In her mind she had a nightmare image of Takato suddenly taking a more extreme course of action. He turned his friends against him and finding out that Rika had played him for a fool… He wouldn’t be able to take it. He already broke when Kazu pushed him. What would he be like if this girl - this girl who seemed to have captured his heart and mind so strongly - revealed herself as she truly was? What all the rumors claimed her to be?

_He wouldn’t be able to take it… He just couldn’t!_

Rika bristled at the accusations and the fact she insinuated she would hurt Takato. She gritted her teeth and a million things flew through her mind as her fist clenched, her knuckles turning white. Her first thought was to start a fight, but -

 _Takato would be hurt if I punched his friend,_ she thought with an internal sigh. Plus she was sure to get into trouble as well, so there was that.

Relaxing her fist, she straightened up and began sweeping the floor again.

“Look,” she said bluntly. “I would never hurt Takato, as much as you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t lie about that sort of thing either. I know nothing I can say will probably convince you, but when you have a reputation as terrible as mine that’s sort of thing I guess comes with the package.

“I understand you’re just looking out for him … but leave me out of it. I really don’t want to get into a fight with one of his friends over something as petty as this. It’s really not worth either of our time.”

She looked up at her and sighed. She doubted this would get anywhere, and she rather not finish cleaning duty with little Miss Wound Up over there.

“Anyway, why don’t you leave early? I’ll finish up here. OK?”

Jeri’s mouth twitched in frustration. That was it? That was all? She was just going to double down? _Well… She seems sincere…_

Her fears wavered, but she reminded herself that this was the Demon Queen; the breaker of a hundred hearts and bones. She wouldn’t put it past Rika to appear sincere just for her purposes, whatever they were.

 _I don’t think I can keep them from hanging out,_ she thought. _I’m not even sure if I can get her to promise to not hurt Takato._

There had to be _something!_ She had to protect Takato from this girl. If he wasn’t careful…

“No,” Jeri said defiantly as sudden inspiration seized her. “If what you’re talking about is real, you’re going to prove it to me. I don’t know if you’re telling the truth or not, but if you aren’t, I don’t want you even near Takato. I can’t stop you, but...I need to know if you’re telling the truth. If these ghosts or whatever are real, you have to give me proof!”

Rika groaned wondering what the heck she managed to get herself into. Or why she was even considering agreeing to such childish terms. It was like talking to a brick wall, but at least a wall would listen.

“Alright,” she sighed, giving in. “If I show you proof, would you leave me alone then and stop acting like I’m the devil itself?”

“Y-Yes,” Jeri stammered, having not expected that response. Her anger lessened considerably, the surprise serving to quench much of it. Suspicion still remained, having deep roots. “After we’re done here.”

Going over to the closet, she pulled out a broom herself and set to work. She gave Rika a sharp look. _If she thinks she’s going to come up with some way to fool me, she’s going to have to think twice. There’s no way she can come up with some fake ghost to play off as the real thing as long as I’m with her._

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled, hoping that the visions or … _memories_ as it seemed like they were would show up without much trouble today. Yesterday had been a miracle, but Henry had pointed out, looking for them could make them harder to find.

_Guess we’ll just wander around aimlessly then._

They cleaned the rest of the classroom in relative silence, which Rika was thankful for. Of course she had to ignore the occasional glare Jeri shot at her, but it was a practice she was well accustomed to.

Slipping on her outdoor shoes as she pulled on her coat, part of her wondered if they should stop by her house before making up her mind she would rather walk around the city in a skirt before letting Jeri know where she lived. Plus if mama was home for once, she might get the wrong idea. Or worse yet, if she learned the full extent of how much of a problem child her daughter was.

_I don’t want that._

“You ready?” she asked as she pulled on her gloves, adjusting her bag slightly as she looked at Jeri.

“Mm-hmm,” Jeri nodded, slipping on her outdoor shoes and pulling on her jacket. “Where are we going?”

“The park,” she said simply, hoping that they showed up there first, and they wouldn’t need to wander around the city awkwardly. The more sure she sounded and if things actually cooperated, the less annoying things will be later.

 _Please kami, just let it come quickly so I can get her off my back,_ she prayed.

###

Jeri loved the park. As a child she didn’t spend as many hours here like the more rambunctious boys did, but after becoming friends with them she found more time for the place. The sound of the birds chirping helped to calm her in those days; as did the quiet rustle of the trees and thick grass. It felt odd though, sharing that peacefulness with the Demon Queen, but it was what it was now.

“Is there anything we’re looking for?” she asked Rika, looking around her. She had walked these paths so many times she knew them almost as well as Takato and Kazu. In all her years though, she didn’t ever remember seeing something out of the ordinary.

_Then again, Henry once said that strange things can sometimes end up hiding right in front of you and you might not notice. Especially if you’re not looking for it._

“I wouldn’t say looking for exactly,” she said, her hands in her pocket as she looked up at the barren trees. “There isn’t anything like a warning - well probably not for you. I can feel something pulling at my attention. Each time they appeared, that feeling settled in my gut. It’s kind of hard to explain if you haven’t experienced it before.”

“I...see…” Jeri replied, her doubts strengthening a little. True, Rika seemed so sure of what she was talking about, but it was still hard to believe all the same, and a little too convenient, at least from her perspective, that she had to depend on Rika to be truthful. While she believed in spirits, she had seen ‘spiritualists’ come through her father’s business. Quite often they proved to have no powers except for the ability to spin a story well enough to earn the occasional free drink. Rika sounded very much like them. A vague feeling in the gut?

_Her and every other wizard out there, she thought a bit sarcastically._

Rika glanced over to Jeri, fully aware she didn’t believe her and her eyes returned to the path as she sighed. Well, if she didn’t experience it herself, she wouldn’t have believed it either. There was a reason she never talked about it before - she was well aware how crazy it sounded.

They continued on like this for quite some time, just wandering down the paths and only occasionally breaking away from it to chase down one of Rika’s ‘vague gut feelings’, but ultimately it ended in nothing.

 _Presently anyway,_ she thought as they drew to a stop near a stone stairway leading up to a concrete bunker. Jeri bit her lower lip, not wanting to show how annoyed and frustrated she felt. How it looked like she was losing hope. Not that she expected to find anything in the first place though.

That was when Rika stopped for a second and stared at the staircase before reaching into her pocket and pulled out a phone and holding it up, took a photo. She held it out to Jeri, a bored look on her face.

“There, proof. Now will you leave me alone?” she drawled.

Jeri raised an eyebrow before taking a closer look at the photo in question. She gasped. Sitting atop the stairs were two girls side by side. One was a girl with red-hair tied back into a ponytail and a broken-heart T-shirt, while the other...the other was someone who may as well be a ghost herself, for Jeri recognized her all too well. The small, side ponytail. The olive-green dress…

“That’s… That’s me. But...how…?”

Before Jeri could even finish, the photo blurred, and then...the two girls vanished from view, leaving only an empty staircase. Jeri blinked. “Wha…?”

“Really?” Rika asked as she went to look at the photo again, only to furrow her brow when she noticed it was empty. Raising her eyes, so was the apparition. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she growled slightly as she hit the phone. “Great, piece of junk. It’s gone now too.”

“But...how?” Jeri asked. “What happened to the picture? That...That shouldn’t have happened.” She shook her head. None of what she saw should have happened, but the last one seemed...oddly even more unrealistic than what had initially been there in the first place. That felt.. _.normal._ The other…

Jeri clutched the sides of her head, feeling as though there was something...approaching, like a train, for lack of a better description, but it vanished almost as quickly as it came.

“All right,” Jeri resumed, dropping her hands. “I...believe you now.” She looked at Rika apologetically and offered her a small smile. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Rika said as she sat down on the stone steps where her past self had been to take a short, but needed, rest. “If I was in your shoes, I probably wouldn’t have believed me either. So no hard feelings.”

Honestly, she was just glad to have that debacle over with. She was somewhat surprised Jeri had apologized to her, but some part of her told her that was normal behavior for Jeri. It was still a bit odd getting used to, having someone admit to her they were wrong.

Jeri nodded. “So...what happens now?” She glanced at the spot where her...self had been. “Is there anything I can do to help?” She wasn’t sure how, but she felt that Takato wouldn’t be enough. He was a nice boy, but he had the tendency to be a bit... _chaotic._

“Eh? Help?” Rika asked, taken aback, not at all expecting the offer nor quite sure to react to it in all truth.

“Yes!” Jeri insisted, getting into a determined stance. _“I_ was sitting right there with...you right?” Jeri tilted her head to one side questioningly. “The red hair is kind of a giveaway, but she looked a bit like you. Anyway, if I’m there, that means I’m involved too, right?” She blinked as a thought occurred to her. Or rather a memory.

_“They were there! In the photo! On the train! Even Henry saw them! Well, not on the train but in the photo! They…we…”_

“Takato was there too, wasn’t he? In one of these...whatever they are.”

The thought caused her heart to waver a little. Although she was sure now that Takato didn’t like her the way she liked him, the idea of him being involved in something potentially dangerous made her suddenly afraid for him.

“Yes to both of those questions. I mean it’s not like there are any other violet eyed halfs around,” Rika said as she put a hand to her chin, her brow furrowing slightly. “I don’t know what it means though … seeing ourselves in these apparitions. I only really began seeing people recently. Before …” she paused and scratched the back of her neck as she looked down, not sure if she wanted to say monsters or Digimon. Or if she even wanted to complete that sentence. “Well either way, I’m not sure what you can do to help unless you can see them too, to be honest.”

Jeri tightened her hands into fists. “I...I’ll find a way,” she said determinedly, although she had no idea how to even go about that. She just knew that she couldn’t leave this alone. Not if Takato was involved. “Just...tell me everything you can for now. If...If you want to.” Jeri found it suddenly hard to meet Rika’s gaze. “I know I can’t do much, and I wasn’t exactly nice to you earlier, but...I would like to help somehow.”

“I don’t particularly mind I guess,” she said slowly as she put her head in her hand. The fact they didn’t start exactly on the best foot either didn’t bother her in anyway either. That’s how she started most of her relationships - she was constantly getting into fights with Henry even though the Chinese boy would just smile it off each time she erupted on him. “But before I say anything … Takato didn’t want to tell you earlier about what we were talking about because he was afraid of putting you into harm’s way if there was danger doing this. I want you to understand that before I go any further. It’s your decision to make though in the end. I just feel like not telling you that would be wrong.”

Jeri nodded reluctantly. She wasn’t sure if she agreed with Takato’s decision to not tell her. The lack of trust still hurt, but she could understand his decision. The whole thing sounded crazy, and given Kazu’s reaction yesterday, she couldn’t blame him for hesitating. Especially since this was one big unknown. Who knew what they were getting themselves into?

She tightened her grip.

“Okay,” she said, bowing slightly to Rika. “Thank you for telling me. Thank you for telling me...so much.”

“It might be more comfortable if you sit,” she suggested with a sigh, pushing her hair back and silently asked Takato for him to forgive her for telling Jeri after he went out of his way to protect her from it. Still, she felt if Jeri wanted to know and understood the risks, it was her choice to make. “And to begin with, do you know what Digimon are?”

###

_Subjects Jeri Katou and Rika Nonaka are in positive contact._

Two black eyes watched from the distance as the two teenage girls sat next to each other, talking. While the distance was too far away to hear anything, just by reading the lips it was clear what they were talking about.

Digimon.

_Anomaly detected. Subject Rika Nonaka has been resistant to suggestions. This makes the third subject to exhibit such behavior. Further research required._

Obsidian eyes blinked and with a click, the memory of the two girls became immortalized in the Digital Realm.

_Priority one: repair glitches in program._


	7. Long Distance

The room was dark, save for the glow of the screens built into the walls, illuminating the three individuals seated within. Two women swiveled around from screen to screen on chairs attached to rotating pedestals, typing away on their control panels. Relevant information was fed to them via the visors that obscured their faces, though they in no way encumbered them in their tasks.

Below the women sat a man, wearing sunglasses – an odd choice of facial-wear given that the only light in the room was the dim screens surrounding them – and flicking a lighter in one hand, slowly, methodically, like a beat of a heart. It was an old habit, brought about by his other habit of quitting smoking, a quest that many assumed now to be impossible due to the stress his job entailed. He himself didn’t care. Whether his ultimate fate came by way of tar destroying his lungs or the bullet of a madman, he would meet it as he always did; on his feet and doing his duty to his government, despite their foolishness in believing in a world that allowed them to be free and safe so long as they stood vigilant against the slings and arrows of misfortune.

He studied the data being fed to him in the screen in front of him and he leaned back in his chair, his thumb once again flicking open his lighter before snapping it shut with a heavy click.

_There it is again,_ Yamaki thought, frowning as he finished reading the diagnostics report – one of many. _It can’t be just a simple glitch in the system anymore. Not with our recent upgrades. There has to be something more._

Still, this was only the beginning. They hadn’t yet finished testing everything. Perhaps this was only one glitch – something in the new systems not meshing well with older equipment.

Yamaki didn’t buy that theory however. The scanning equipment – a holdover from when their organization had run under the different name of _Hypnos_ – had seen its changes because of what they were detecting.

"We're getting another reading, sir," Riley informed him, breaking the silence of the clacking of the keys, whirling of the machines and irritating click of her boss' lighter. "Atmospheric readings are the same as they were five minutes ago ... there seems to be some clouds in the quadrant, but nothing that can affect our sensors."

She swiped her hand across the keyboard, pulling up some more graphs as she checked atmospheric conditions, weather patterns, electronic readouts ... anything which could possibly account for the abnormalities in the system.

Everything was the same. Everything was normal. There was no rhyme or reason for the abnormalities.

_There has to be something though,_ she thought as she furrowed her brow as she squinted at the numbers in front of her.

"Abnormality disappeared," Tally announced suddenly before sighing. "Again."

“Where?” Yamaki asked, looking up at the two. “West Shinjuku again?”

"Again," Riley confirmed as she pushed up her visor, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment only to see the endless numbers run in front of her eyelids, melding together in a confusing mess.

_I need a break,_ she grumbled to herself, knowing that it was very unlikely she was going to get one anytime in the near future.

“West Shinjuku…” Yamaki murmured. “Why is it always this city? It’s almost like…back then…”

No. Yamaki couldn’t afford to dig up that old file. It was bad enough that his superiors saw him as something of a crackpot for that incident. He came away with no solid, conclusive evidence then, resulting in millions of taxpayer money spent chasing ghosts. This was looking to be the same as well, which did not bode well for him.

“Very well,” Yamaki began, clicking his lighter shut once more. “Expand search parameters. We’ll begin as we did before the upgrade and compare searches with this… _glitch._ Tally, I want you to pay attention to drone and satellite images for any abnormalities we might be missing. Riley; your job is to cross reference cell phone and email communications within the targeted areas with areas outside of Shinjuku. We’ll be doing this by the book for the time being.”

_Our new superior should have nothing to complain about once she arrives,_ Yamaki thought, a part of him hoping that would be the case.

###

“She deserved to know,” Rika’s said, her voice quiet as so it didn’t carry throughout the large home lest her mother or grandmother heard her talking and started making wild assumptions. Her index finger wrapped around the black string which held the yellow ball of fluff to her cell phone - she had the charm since she was a child, she didn’t even remember who gave it to her - as she pressed the phone closer to her ear.

There was a heavy sigh on the other end, signaling a measure of frustration from Takato. “I don’t know,” he replied. “It’s just...I’m worried. We still don’t know much about what’s going on, and… I just don’t want her to get hurt, okay?”

On the other end of the phone, Takato ran a hand through his hair, feeling conflicted about the situation. He had wanted desperately to keep Jeri out of this if at all possible, and now that had been taken away. A thousand what-ifs ran through his mind, everything from aliens to Jeri hurting herself on purpose due to… But no. Takato’s mind refused to venture any further down that dark path. He was half-afraid that by giving voice to it, his fear would become a reality.

_Those versions of us… They’re from the past. But is that all there is to them?_

Rika had touched one of them and seemed to ‘remember’ something. What if that happened to Jeri? Who knew how that would affect her? She hadn’t exactly been happy when she was younger after all.

“I let her know about your concerns,” Rika assured him as she leaned against the wall, her violet eyes traveling upward at the ceiling. “She understood them, but made her choice. I don’t think you or I have any right to make a decision for somebody else, just like a decision shouldn’t be made for us.”

The freedom of choice … that was something she didn’t like taking away from anybody, knowing first-hand how awful it was to be denied to her. Mother meant well with all her instances, at least she knew that mentally. Still, she couldn’t help but feel furious and frustrated each time her mother suggested she try on another dress or model in front of another camera. No matter how many times she said it, mother just didn’t seem to understand _she didn’t want to be like her._

Takato sighed again. “Okay,” he said, surrendering to the fact that the decision was completely out of his hands regardless of his worries. “Thanks for letting me know. Is she okay?” He coughed. “The last time I talked to her...uh...was...a while ago.”

“She’s doing well enough. She took things rather well, you know, all things considering,” she said, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips as the memory of Jeri drifted through her mind as she leaned forward like a small child, hanging on to every word Rika said.

Her smile fell as she fell quiet for a moment, remembering what else Jeri had told her - even if it wasn’t completely unintentional besides to blame her for it - at least at first.

“She told me you had a fight with Kazu,” she said after a minute, unsure how to go about bringing up the subject matter. It wasn’t really any of her business who Takato had a fight with, but it seemed she was in the middle of it … and, well, she was curious of to how she was involved. “Are you doing OK?”

“I…” Takato hesitated, not enjoying the memory as it all came back to him. The harsh words. The actions that couldn’t be taken back. A friendship that had been there for years now in ashes. “I don’t really want to talk about it,” he finished, pushing his feelings to the back of his mind - at least for the time being. “I’m still kind of mixed up about it. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” He paused again before continuing. “I don’t think I can be friends with them again. Not after that.”

“You lost your temper?” Rika asked incredulously as an amused snort escaped her nose. She tried to picture Takato being mad, but she just couldn’t. All she could picture was a flustered chibi Takato flailing his arms as smoke poured out of her ears around before she grinned a bit. It was a cute mental image.

“Yeah,” Takato replied, his tone depressed. “Like I said, I’d rather not talk about it. I...didn’t leave them in a good light. I felt…”

Takato bit back his reply, remembering the heat of that moment and the aftermath as he stormed away, desperate to be anywhere where his now-former friends weren’t. The fear he had seen in their eyes… In that moment he saw how he looked to them. Out of control. A monster. He could feel himself starting to shake a little at the memory, but he clamped down on it with as much strength as he could muster and his body stilled.

“...never mind,” he finished finally.

“Mn …” Rika hummed for a moment, worrying her bottom lip and her body fell to the side as she sprawled across the floor like a lazy cat. And just like a cat, her curiosity wasn't one to be easily satiated - at least when she was possibly involved. “Was I involved in this fight? Jeri seemed to infer I was.”

There. Blunt. Straight to the point. Lacking in any social etiquette.

Takato pressed his lips together. Although he couldn’t blame Jeri, he found himself a bit annoyed that he would go straight to Rika about this and then blamed _her_ for it. Rika hadn’t done anything wrong.

_Well… She doesn’t think that anymore,_ he reminded himself. _Rika told her everything and managed to get proof for her to see._

“Kazu said...a lot of things,” Takato began carefully. “If I told you, you might try to kill him.”

“Takato, cleaning up murder scenes is a lot of work,” she told him with a straight face before remembering that he couldn’t see it before a small smile cross her lips. “I promise I won’t commit homicide if that makes you feel any better though.”

“It doesn’t really,” Takato said. “Look. I don’t think Kazu really meant anything that he said. He was angry with me and he was drunk. He’s...got a bit of a jealous streak to him. I don’t think he’d have said all that stuff if he had been sober.”

“You’re only making me more curious,” she said as she rolled on to her back and wondered what exactly Kazu said. She kicked her legs up and down, pondering what Takato meant as well by jealous streak and what that had to do with her?

“He...called you a half-breed,” he finally admitted, realizing that Rika was only going to pester him until she dragged it out of him. He could hang up, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t call him back up. For some reason it didn’t occur to him that she still didn’t know where he lived, preventing her from immediately seeking him out at his abode.

Not that it would have stopped her anyway, as the Internet and the phone book - as amazing as it was for such a thing to still exist in this day and age - would have provided her with all the information she needed to track him down should she have the whimsy to do so.

“Pfttt - hahahahaa!” Rika snorted before full out laughed, holding her stomach as the mirth ran through her and her body shook as her shoulders moved up and down. She was worried over a racist comment? She had heard worse too - it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to be ostracised for being a hafu. It wasn’t even something that got her riled up anymore. In the past, maybe, but she was a bit proud of her heritage - it made her different. _Special._ “That’s it? Oh thank kami. I thought …”

_You lost your friends because of me and the things only we could see. That my actions really did cause harm._

“I don’t know really. I’m glad it was nothing serious,” she said, her true thoughts not crossing her lips. It seemed trivial now, and a weight which had been resting on her chest felt as though it had been lifted.

“You’re...not mad?” Takato asked, perplexed by this unexpected behavior.

“Takato, have you seen me? I’m obviously not fully Japanese - I’ve been mistaken as a foreigner so many times I lost count already. I’ve been experiencing this stuff since I was a kid. You sort of get used to it real fast,” she said as she managed to regain control of her breathing. Her hand reached for her hair and threaded the short locks around her finger. While everyone always said she looked just like her mother with each passing year, it was always her bright red hair which her father gave her that she loved the most. “It’s something you just need to learn to deal with. Besides, I like who I am and being half. An idiot like Kazu making a stupid remark isn’t going to ruin that for me.”

“Oh… Uh… Okay.” On the other end, Takato scratched the side of his face in uncertainty. That Rika didn’t want to pound Kazu’s face in the ground because of this like she did the first time she met him just felt...odd to him. Still, he was glad that she seemed to be okay for the most part.

_Still… Does she have to put up with it?_ he wondered. _It didn’t seem fair._

“Don’t worry about me, Takato,” she said softly, blowing a piece of stray hair out of her face, a serene smile playing across her face. “I’m a big girl. Still, thanks. I do appreciate it.” She chuckled a bit as she closed her eyes. “They didn’t know how good they had it though. Even now, you’re worried about them. You’re an idiot, but I like that about you.”

Takato blushed a little, not sure how to take that, but decided to look no further than the surface level of her words. _“Um… You’re welcome and thanks?” Had it good?_ he wondered, shaking his head. _Just because I’m worried?_ It was a strange notion, but it didn’t matter. “Um… Anyway, I’ve got to go.” Even though Rika was on the other end, he still jabbed a finger over his shoulder to indicate the action. “I...guess I should give Jeri a call and apologize for, you know, not telling her the truth and getting into a fight with Kazu.” He sighed. _I am an idiot…_ “Thanks for letting me know and... you know. Stuff.”

“Mn. Anytime, Takato,” she hummed. “Pretty sure that is the sort of thing friends are for, right? Helping and listening to each other. Letting them know when they are being a complete idiot. I’ll talk to you later, OK?”

“Okay,” Takato nodded. “Later Rika.”

With that, the phone on his end went dead as he hung up.

Rika kept the phone next to her ear for about 10 seconds before pulling it back and looking at the time they had spent talking.

_An hour._

An hour … it took her forever to talk that long with Henry, and when she did it was mostly Henry dragging answers out of her to the best of his ability. However, since then, she had been slowly able to hold actual conversations and not one sided interrogations, and part of her was rather pleased about the natural flow of the conversation.

_Well … maybe it was natural once upon a time,_ she mused as the smile fell from her lips as she pushed herself back up. The fact there was an apparition of a younger version of herself hanging out with not only Takato and Henry, but Jeri as well, had been gnawing at her conscious for a long time now. Something about it bothered her, and if she was honest, scared her.

Making friends was always hard for her. If it wasn’t her half blood status, it was her power status. If it wasn’t that, it was her attitude. Sometimes it was all three. She was fully aware how difficult she was as a child … and even up until recently. The constant angry haze which had seemed to cloud her mind was finally beginning to clear through Henry’s meddlesome efforts. If anybody told her when she was 10 she would have friends, she doubted she would have believed them.

_But … what if I did have friends back then? What happened? What did I do to lose them?_

It was a question she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer to.

###

Takato stood there for a moment, staring at the phone in his hands before hesitantly dialing Jeri’s number, each button feeling as though his arms were tied to heavy weights. After what felt like an eternity, he finished dialing and he cradled the phone to his ear, listening to the ring tone.

_What am I going to say to her?_ he wondered. _Is ‘I’m sorry’ enough? What about what happened at the karaoke place?_

It would seem that one way or another he would find out.

“Hello?” Jeri’s voice came on after the third ring, a bit breathless as if she had sprinted to her phone.

Takato’s heart almost jumped out of his chest and he nearly dropped the phone, having not expected such a response. She seemed… Well, he wasn’t sure what she sounded like, but he didn’t expect this.

“H-Hello, Jeri? It’s me, Takato.”

“Takato?” Jeri echoed a bit uncertainly as there was a bit of a pause. “Ah … uhm … how are you?”

Takato dry-swallowed. That sounded a bit closer to what he expected upon her answering. He felt his hopes dry up and die a bit there but he persisted.

“Jeri, I’m...I just wanted to say I’m really, really sorry for what happened at the karaoke. I...I haven’t done a lot of smart things lately and...well, I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t sure what else to say really. This was the first thing that weighed the heaviest on his mind, and he had to know where they stood in order to proceed. Until then, there was a wall between them; one that was insurmountable until one of them made a move to break the first hole in it.

There was a momentary pause on the other line as Jeri looked at herself in the vanity of her room, her phone pressed against her ear. Clothes were thrown across the floor, laid on her bed, and she was holding the fifth outfit she was going to try on in her hands. Her face was still bare, and she hadn’t done anything to her hair yet, but all of a sudden all her thoughts from a moment ago had suddenly run into a wall.

Licking her lips, she tried to find the words to say. Part of her was wondering why he was apologizing to her, especially when the whole mess was her fault anyway. And right now, of all times.

_If Kazu hadn’t agreed to help me,_ _they would have never fought in the first place,_ she thought glumly. Really, the only thing good to come out of that night was to find out a relationship between herself and Takato was impossible - even now, her heart ached at the loss, but she supposed that you never really do get over your first love easily.

“No … it’s OK,” she said finally. “I’m sorry too … for … well a lot of stuff.”

Trying to make him jealous. Blaming Rika for the mess. Not stopping the fight when she should have. Takato wasn’t blameless, but she wasn’t either.

“Don’t say that!” Takato exclaimed. Catching himself, he took a deep breath to steady yourself. “It’s okay. I know you were just concerned about me and…I…haven’t really been a good friend lately. I can’t pretend that I can make up for that but…I want you to know that I’m still there for you…if you want me to be there.”

"You'll always be my friend, Takato," Jeri assured him, a small smile playing on her face as she decided that red wasn't her color after all and threw it to the floor with the others.

_He's still the sweet boy after all,_ she thought, relieved. She was worried ever since she had that awful dream she was becoming scared of him - that something inside him had changed. But he hadn't. Not really.

A relieved smile drew across Takato’s face and he felt some tension release from his body. Not much, but just enough to feel like a burden had just been eased.

“Thanks Jeri,” he said. “How’s…” he coughed. “How’s Kazu doing?”

"Mnn," she hummed as butterflies fluttered uncomfortably in her stomach. Talking about her current crush to her ex-crush somehow seemed _wrong_ \- especially when she was getting ready to go on a date with him.

Part of her wondered if she should tell Takato they were going on a date, but the memory of their disastrous last hang out stayed her tongue.

"He's doing all right," she said finally, not sure what else to say.

“He is?” Takato blinked, perplexed. That didn’t sound like Kazu. He thought that after the last time he saw him, he would be…well, sulking still. “Well…that’s good. Great.” He paused. “I really need to talk to him sometime and apologize. I just… I’m just not sure if this is a good time and if he’ll even listen. He’s been ignoring me ever since…you know.”

"Yeah," Jeri said. "I think he just needs some time to cool down. I'll try talking to him ... see if that will help."

She planned to bring up the subject anyway - at least on the ghosts which haunted Takato and Rika. Now that she knew that what both of them were telling the truth, and there was something bigger at play - or at least that is what it seemed - there was no way she could turn her back on them.

Not only that, but she didn't like that a friendship had ended just like that, and that she had played a major hand in it. If there was anything which could be done to make things right, she was determined to find it.

“Thanks Jeri,” Takato nodded. “Um…so… Rika said that the two of you talked and she…showed you evidence about what I was talking about at the karaoke? How…? Um… I’m not sure what to say. Um… How are you feeling about that?”

"It was really interesting!" Jeri gushed, glad for the change of topic and latched on to it like a lifeline. Finally, a safe subject. "I saw me and Rika - well a younger version of us. Well I didn't exactly see either - Rika took a photo of us, and I watched it disappear which was really weird. The photo I mean. She told me she had been seeing all this stuff for a year now. How about you? I wish I could see these things too ..."

“I only just started seeing these…whatever they are,” Takato replied, scratching the back of his head. “I know this already sounds weird, but it was right before I visited Rika’s house. I saw a younger version of me and I was walking with my made-up digimon, Guilmon. Only he was real for some reason. The photo on the train was supposed to be Rika sitting next to younger versions of myself, Henry and, well, Rika.”

Takato thought about it for a moment. He hadn’t seen anything new since the last time. _Maybe it’s like a weird disease that spreads?_ “I don’t know. You might end up seeing something eventually.”

"Oh I hope so. I would like to see digimon and younger versions of us too," Jeri hummed as she held up a green dress to herself, turning side to side in the mirror before deciding to try it on. Placing the phone on her vanity, she put Takato on speaker so she would be able to talk to him while getting ready.

"Also, you've been to Rika's house already?" she asked distractedly as she pulled the dress over her head wondering if the two were closer than friends before chasing the thought away.

_It doesn't matter. As long as Rika isn't hurting him, I shouldn't interfere with his romantic life,_ she reminded herself even though a smaller voice whispered in the back of her mind; _What is their relationship? Are they dating? Would he tell me if they were?_

“Yeah,” Takato nodded again. “I wanted to apologize for the…” He coughed politely. “…bad first impression Kazu gave her last month and Henry gave me her address. That was when I saw the other me with Guilmon and when I accidentally mentioned it…” He shrugged. “The rest is history. We’ve been looking to figure out what was going on ever since.”

"She mentioned something like that," Jeri said, remembering that the other girl said she was relieved to have someone to validate what she had been seeing. If she had to be honest, looking back, it sort of put into perspective how _alone_ Rika must have been. Guilt wrangled in her stomach again, and she suddenly didn't want to continue down this path of conversation either.

"... You've been keeping safe, haven't you?" she asked after a moment's pause, feeling obligated to keep the conversation going yet having no idea what to say.

“Oh yeah. I mean, besides me being myself, I’ve been safe.” Takato chuckled. “Actually, if anything else, Rika’s been keeping me out of trouble. She had to give me a talking to after I…ah…wasn’t paying attention once.”

He didn’t want to say that he nearly got hit by a car so as to not worry her, but he didn’t want her to worry all the same. Hopefully the notion that Rika kept track of him would be enough for her to feel relieved about Rika’s presence in his life.

"What am I going to do with you?" Jeri complained as she twirled around in front of the mirror, making sure the cloth accented her good parts and hid the bad. While it wasn't perfect, it was good as she was going to get as the clock ticked closer to the time she was supposed to meet Kazu. "Well at least _someone's_ keeping track of you when I'm not there."

Sitting down on a small tool, she rooted around for her brush. She wondered what exactly Takato had done that Rika had to keep him out of trouble. Even though it seemed she was nice enough despite the rumors, the fact remained she was a bit of a trouble child.

"Still ... kind of weird that Rika of all people is keeping you out of trouble," she admitted, meaning nothing malicious about it.

“How is that weird?” Takato asked, genuinely confused. “I mean, aside from the time she busted Kazu’s nose, she seems to be a pretty nice person. At least once you get to know her.”

"Well she does get into trouble a lot - at least she did in our first year. Her nickname didn't come out of nowhere - although I'm not sure if she actually sent someone to the hospital with a meatloaf anymore. I just remember thinking at the time it was impossible to believe that she was top of our grade," Jeri said quickly, trying to defend herself. She didn't want to seem like she was picking on Rika and making Takato upset again, now that they were talking. "She's calmed a lot down since then. I mean since talking to her, I do think she's nice and means well. Rather quiet though and seems to be completely oblivious to things around her."

Even if she was getting along with Rika - or starting to at least - a flicker of irritation of the fact she didn't seem to notice her existence even after being introduced still burned inside her.

“I see…” Takato scratched the back of his head, not really convinced. After all, he, Kazu and Kenta had something approaching bad reputations.

_Kazu’s is accurate though, so that’s probably a bad example._ “Well, maybe we just don’t know enough about Rika. I mean, you know how rumors are and everything.”

"Yeah," Jeri said, hoping to drop the Rika subject, as she finished combing her hair and turned on her straightener.

A pall of silence hung over the phone, leaving Takato uncertain as to whether or not he should keep her on. There didn’t seem to be much left to say except…goodbye.

“Okay… Well…it was good talking to you again, Jeri. I was really worried that I had messed up even worse than usual. I…ah…better get going. My mom is giving me looks.”

This much was true, as the Matsuki matriarch was just now poking her head into his bedroom, wondering what he could have been doing to be taking so long with joining them with the evening shift.

"Yeah. It was good talking to you as well," Jeri said truthfully. "I'll talk to you later?"

“Yeah,” Takato agreed. “Later.”

With that, they both hung up, and Takato leaned his head back against the wall of his bedroom. Mie was still standing at the door, eyebrow now raised in concern.

“Is everything all right dear?” she asked worriedly, seeing the odd expression on Takato’s face.

“Hm?” Takato blinked, remembering that she was there and wanted him downstairs. Pulling away from the wall, he forced a grin on his face. “Oh yeah! Everything’s fine. Just…peachy.”

Pocketing his cell phone, he brushed past his mother and hurried downstairs to change shifts with his father in the kitchen. Making more bread suddenly seemed exactly what he needed to clear his head.


	8. Rekindled Past

Quarter to seven.

The time flashed on her phone in bright white numbers, reminding her she still had 15 minutes before Kazu showed up. Putting the cell back into her clutch, she nervously smoothed down her dress as she fought to keep the butterflies fluttering in her stomach at bay.

Folding her hands, her brown eyes searched the crowd desperately as she hoped Kazu would come early as so she wouldn't have to spend another moment alone with the thoughts racing through her mind - thoughts which had wormed their way into existence with a simple phone call.

 _Takato, couldn't you have waited to call me after my date?_ she thought, slightly annoyed although she couldn't really commit to the feeling. She was glad that her friendship with Takato wasn't strained as well, and that despite his rather aggressive display, he was still the sweet boy she knew and had loved.

Still he had awful timing for these sorts of things, and instead of being focused completely on having a good time with Kazu, her mind was wrestling with how in the world she would sort out the complication she found herself in by keeping herself in good regards with both boys. She had no intention of throwing one relationship out to spare the feelings of the other - that wouldn't be fair to her or the other boy, whoever it may be, but still she found herself in an unique situation she wasn't sure how to deal with.

 _It isn't like how it was with the others,_ she thought a bit glumly. _They just sort of drifted away. Although I'm still friends with them as well..._

Still it wasn't the same how it was with say, Ayaka, who she had been friends with since childhood. Even with the other girl's falling out with their group, the two of them still hung out as long as they followed an unspoken rule not to talk about the three boys even after Ayaka got into the same class as Kazu, Kenta and Takato.

In the past, Jeri found that rule rather easy to follow, especially with other topics on hand such as movie stars and the latest manga or book that had come out. Gossiping was what the two girls did best, but now, she couldn't help but think back to Takato's words.

_"I remember what you did to Ayaka," Takato began slowly, his words picking up speed and force with each passing second. "Back when she tried to be your friend because Jeri was our friend?_

Jeri never quite knew what happened between the two of them - she wasn't around and nobody talked about it, and each time she tried to find out, Ayaka only shut her down. So she left it alone.

Now ... now she wanted to know.

 _Damn it, Takato,_ she thought slightly angrily as she checked her phone again. Only three minutes had passed.

###

Kazu strolled down the sidewalk leading up to the movie theater, a smile on his face and the ghost of a whistle on his lips – a ghost that he had to check due to the passing presence of a particularly good-looking girl.

 _Ease back there dude,_ he told himself, politely ignoring the girl. _You’re with Jeri now. She deserves your attention._

 _Jeri…_ He couldn’t believe that she had called him up with the intention of going out on a date. Ever since this problem with Takato began its roll toward its explosive conclusion, he could only think of how Jeri deserved better. He never paid attention to her despite her practically beating him over the head with her hints of interest, instead opting for a girl with a bad attitude. Hot or not, he never pegged Takato as being so shallow, and it only made him even more angry as time wore on. It made him angry now.

_Simmer down… That’s all in the past. Right now, it’s just you and Jeri. Chum – Takato… Takato has nothing to do with us anymore._

Reaching the end of the street, he saw Jeri waiting across the road by the theater, Kazu was about to call out to her only to abruptly stop when he saw her.

 _She’s so…so…_ Kazu shook his head, unable to put into words how she looked. ‘Hot’ tended to be his go-to choice of vocabulary, but that didn’t quite fit her. ‘Beautiful’ and ‘pretty’ were the kinds of words Takato would use, but for Kazu they were lacking. He didn’t have the soul of a poet, but in that moment he wished he did have one.

She wore a light green summer dress that fell just past her knees with a flower pattern that reached up to her sleeves; her hair looked to be about the same, only instead of a single ribbon tying off a small part of her hair, she used a larger one, pulling her hair up to expose her neck and leaving it somewhere between a bun and a ponytail as its tip dipped down, yet held aloft just enough so as to appear to defy gravity. Her shoes, while a little more fancy than what she wore to school, were no less simple, having only a touch of a heel to them. To touch it all off, she carried a small, yet cute-looking purse emblazoned by the face of a simplistic cartoon cat.

He suddenly felt very self-conscious about his own appearance. Would she appreciate him for his looks and dress? Or would she be disappointed? For the briefest of moments, Kazu felt as though he understood Takato’s hesitation. However he soon remembered that his former friend chose Rika over Jeri, and at once he recovered.

_Takato… I just don’t get you man…_

He cursed his former friend for occupying his thoughts so. Quickly crossing the street, he beamed at Jeri and waved. “Hey beautiful,” he greeted, a cheesy grin crossing his face. His face flushed lightly at the corny line, but he stood by it all the same. He was Kazu after all, and he couldn’t be anyone else.

Jeri looked up at from her phone where she had been checking a blog to keep her mind off things upon being greeted, a blush painting across her face at the nickname only to grow upon seeing her date.

She had known Kazu since they were children, but this was the first time she actually saw him look, well, handsome.

It wasn't to say he wasn't good looking before, but seeing him now, it was obvious before she was just looking at a rough gem - pretty to look at, but the full extent of it's beauty unable to be appreciated until faced with it.

 _I guess they were right - clothes do make the man,_ she thought as she put her phone back into her purse hurriedly as she smiled bashfully.

It wasn't like Kazu was wearing a tuxedo either. It was a rather simple, yet clearly effective, get up with a simple light buttoned up shirt and dark pants. His normally somewhat wild hair had been tamed somewhat - at least it looked like it was purposefully messed instead of the usual wonderment if he ran a comb through his hair that morning.

"You look great," Jeri complimented him as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Kazu grinned and laughed nervously, sweeping a hand over his hair, only to hesitate as he remembered the fearsome battle it took to tame the thing. “You look great too,” he replied, admiring her different hairstyle. “Ah…I didn’t keep you waiting or anything, did I?”

Kazu felt his heart banging in his chest. He didn’t remember ever feeling this nervous about a date since the second girl he propositioned for such an outing.

 _I guess Jeri’s the sort of girl who has that effect on a guy,_ he thought in wonderment.

"No," she said, feeling it would be unfair to let him know she had been waiting for 15 minutes since she arrived early. "I just got here myself. Shall we get going?"

While she would love to stare and gawk at Kazu some more, she wasn't sure how long she would be able to do so without looking and feeling awkward, especially since she felt she was quickly approaching that line.

Plus the movie was due to start soon, and she really did want to see it.

“Yeah!” Kazu said eagerly – perhaps too eager? He hoped not. The last thing he wanted Jeri to worry about was to think that he was rushing things and was interested in her solely for sex.

All at once he became painfully aware of the condom he had in his back pocket – a habit that his mother got him into once he started dating because, as she put it, it would be just his luck if he got a girl pregnant before he was out of high school because he was stupid.

 _Definitely not bringing that topic up,_ he decided.

Raising his arm for Jeri to loop around in imitation of what he felt was a gentlemanly gesture, Kazu gave her a small, comforting smile.

 _Dazzle the lady, Kazu,_ he told himself. _Let her know that tonight, she’s the one who’s special._

Jeri gladly took his arm, quite surprised - and pleased - how much of a gentleman Kazu was being. While she always knew he was a reliable friend, this was a new side to him she hadn't seen before. It was almost like he was some sort of chivalrous knight, like she read about in the stories.

I _f I knew this, I would have looked his way a long time ago,_ she thought, kicking herself slightly for not seeing things that were right in front of her.

"So I hope you don't mind, but I really wanted to see Jumper," Jeri said as they walked into the movie theater, glad to be out of the chill and into the warm embrace of the building. While the dress did its job in making her look good, it wasn't exactly the best protection against the chilly nip of February. "The trailer looked interesting."

Kazu smiled. “Whatever you want, just ask.”

 _I_ _hope,_ Kazu quaked inwardly. He had enough money for the movie and a small dinner, so he couldn’t promise the sky to her. Hopefully he didn’t embarrass himself by running off his mouth like that, as Takato often did.

"How about just the movie first, Romeo," Jeri laughed as she pulled him into the line to buy the tickets, standing on her toes to see how many people were in front of them as she bounced on her heels rather impatiently.

“You got it, Juliet,” Kazu joked, getting out his wallet. “I got this,” he winked at her.

###

Takato stood there, blinking as he stood outside of a movie theater, a sign above it labeled _Jumper._

 _How did I get here?_ he wondered, looking around him in utter bewilderment. _The last thing I remember is drawing and…_

He glanced down at himself to make sure that he wasn’t unexpectedly naked or anything. Seeing that he wasn’t, he pinched himself. He didn’t wake up, so that left him with the certainty that he somehow wound up here and he didn’t remember how he managed to do that.

Catching sight of movement out of the corner of his eye and saw an employee walking by, a bored expression on his face, uncaringly sweeping up some popcorn on the floor.

“Um…hey,” Takato began, trying to flag him down. “Can you tell me where…I…am…”

His voice trailed off as the employee continued on without even looking at him. Tilting his head to one side, he waved his hands a little more exuberantly.

_He doesn’t have any headphones or earbuds… So what’s the deal? Maybe he’s deaf?_

He was about to move in front of the man before he took pause again, taking note of… Takato furrowed his brow, uncertain as to how to describe what he was seeing.

The man appeared to have some kind of ring encircling him…akin to a barcode. _What…?_

Takato was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of the door to the theater opening behind him and a crowd spilled out into the hallway. At its head were Kazu and Jeri.

“Jeri!” he called out, but they walked on by, not even noticing him, engrossed instead in their conversation.

“I mean the story was a bit contrived, but I really thought the powers to jump to any point was rather interesting. Personally, I thought it might be better to jump to any point in time,” Jeri said, wrapping her arms around herself as they left the movie theater. “Although it makes you wonder if there are powers like that in our own society.”

“I doubt it,” Kazu replied, snorting slightly in disbelief. “I’m pretty sure that if there were powers like that around we would have noticed them by now. Stuff that flashy doesn’t stay hidden long.”

“Well maybe they are something more subtle?” Jeri suggested innocently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, watching him tentatively. “Things that escape the notice of most people? Like visions or something.”

“I dunno…” Kazu mused, still not entirely convinced. “How could you be sure that you weren’t going crazy then? I mean, like what kind of visions are we talking about?”

“I dunno. Maybe like Cassandra of Troy and how she saw the future. Or maybe like Ishizu Ishtar from Yu-Gi-Oh, and how she saw the past,” Jeri suggested, well informed on pop culture as she kept up with what was “in,” even on a casual level to have something to talk about and connect over. “Or that dude from those American comic books that could see all over? I don’t remember his name … ah it’s probably something really obvious like Mega Timelord or something …”

Kazu shrugged, not sure what else to say to that. He was having fun, but he just wasn’t following where she was going with this topic. Grinning, he chuckled. “I think I’d rather have the flashier powers. At least that way I’d know I wasn’t going crazy. Not to mention I’d look pretty cool with them.”

“But then you’d get found out quicker,” she pointed out, using the logic he pointed out earlier. “They might try to experiment on you as well at best, hunt down your loved ones and you at worst. I don’t know, I’d rather have the subtle powers. At least I and those I care about can be safe as long as I play it close to the chest …”

“Jeri!” Takato called again, completely confused as to why he was being so blatantly ignored. In desperation, he turned to Kazu, reaching out to grab him, only to gasp in surprise when his hand passed right through him.

He stood there, surprised at what just happened. Still standing there, he barely noticed as more people - other customers - passed right by him. Looking around, he saw that they all, Jeri and Kazu included, also had the same glowing, barcode ring rotating around them. Kazu and Jeri were unique in that there was a barely perceptible aura around them...growing brighter the longer he watched them.

Oddly enough, Jeri’s had holes pocketing it, great jagged things, like something had been torn right out from her. Takato gasped as an image…

_A blood-red sky and himself standing beneath it, screaming murderous rage as he felt something snap within him. Jeri’s own scream still echoed in his ears…_

...flashed across his mind, and he clutched at his face, staggering backward in shock.

“Don’t worry Jeri,” Kazu smirked. “If anyone tried to lay a hand on you, BlackWarKazumon would be on the case. I’d never let anyone hurt you.”

“I’d be more worried about you,” Jeri teased, giving him a slight smile although it didn’t quite reach across her face. “But I’ll hold you to that.”

“You’ve got my promise,” Kazu laughed as they unknowingly left Takato behind. “Now how about we go find some grub? You hungry?”

“Yeah,” Jeri agreed readily. “What do you have in mind?”

“I was kind of thinking a fast food joint, but I think I’d rather let you pick a place,” Kazu said as they headed toward the theater exit.

Takato watched them go until he could no longer see them. Breathing heavily, he looked down at his hand. He was shaking a little.

 _I just had a bunch of people pass through me… I couldn’t make anyone notice me. Can’t touch anything…_ Looking up, he headed over to the doors and passed right through them. _Yep. Definitely can’t touch anything. Am I...dead?_

A passerby walked through him, and it felt like a light breeze. Takato shuddered. “No…” he whispered, his hands clenching together into tight fists. “That...can’t be! It...just can’t!”

He shook his head and closed his eyes. “It’s all just a dream. I’m just asleep. When I open my eyes, I’m going to be back home and then…” His eyelids rose, but he was still there in front of the theater.

And it was then he saw that everyone around him had the same glowing barcode rotating around them.

What was more, flitting between them were strange, sparkling orbs with bird-like wings. Every so often one would land on a person and... _insert_ \- he had no idea how else to describe it - light into the bar code, or subtract a piece before moving on. No one seemed to notice this, and continued on their way.

It was at that moment that his vision of the city began to fade, replaced by an extreme closeup of his desk where he rested his head. Pushing himself up from the drawing he fell asleep on - missing the smudge of graphite that had imprinted itself on his cheek - and looked around him, blinking blearily.

“That dream again…” he muttered, holding one hand to his head. “...only...wait.” His brow furrowed. “Dream?” Something… He could feel something slipping away from his grasp. He struggled to hold onto it, but try as he might, he just couldn’t, and soon enough he shrugged his shoulders, deciding that whatever the dream was just wasn’t important enough to bother remembering.

“At least it wasn’t about Rika again,” he mused, getting up from his seat. He paused, scowling. “Wait… Wasn’t about Rika again? What am I talking about?”

 _My brain just goes in the weirdest places…_ he thought, shaking his head. Better not think about it too much.

###

“So to recap, every time we take a photo of these echoes, they simply disappear leaving the original scene behind as if photoshop has been taken to it,” Henry said, closing his eyes as he tried to ignore the pixelated music and sound of furious scratching in the background. “There is no distinguishable pattern we can make out; not for the subjects, time or even location. It’s as if they are some sort of gli- WILL YOU TWO PAY ATTENTION!”

Rounding on his friends finally, unable to take another moment of their blatant disregard of the severity of the situation he snapped. Rika, for her part, from her perch on his bed glanced up for a moment before looking back down at the screen when a loud crash came from his Nintendo DS system.

“Great, now I died,” she complained as her thumbs moved across the gamepad as Henry made strangling motions with his hands. “Still got the new high score though. Let’s see … R … I … K … A.”

“I was paying attention,” Takato said, looking up from his notepad, pausing in his sketch of Henry. The drawing was still rough, mostly outlines with no real details. However if one looked closely enough his expression could be seen - a combination of deep concentration coupled with frustration. And no wonder, as before him sat a small map with red marker inked on it, representing all the locations where an ‘echo’ - as the odd appearances came to be called - appeared. The lack of anything concrete - any understandable pattern left Henry a touch on edge.

He wasn’t used to dealing with things he didn’t understand.

“What about something like...um...those instruments used to detect ghosts on those ghost hunting shows?” Jeri asked from her spot a short ways off from Takato. The boy glanced in her direction and suppressed a wince. In spite of her affirmation that their friendship remained intact, she had become a bit more distance, both in terms of their friendship as well as physical distance. Where before she had no problem sitting next to him, she almost seemed to prefer to maintain a space between them.

 _That’s my fault though,_ Takato thought, glancing away and bringing his attention back to Henry.

“Hm … it’s possible,” Henry mused as he rested a hand on his chin as he rubbed it thoughtfully. “It’s hard only relying on Rika and Takato.”

“I, for one, think I make an excellent medium,” Rika replied, her violet eyes still glued to screen even if she was partially upside down with her feet on the bed with her back resting against the floor. Henry, long used to her occasional moments of vanity, ignored her.

“Do we know where they get those sort of things?” he asked. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. He wasn’t going to turn down any sensible idea now.

“I know of a few places,” Jeri replied. “I did some tarot reading a couple years ago.” She blushed, looking a bit embarrassed at the admission, though not for reasons that had anything to do with how strange the hobby might have looked. “N-Nothing serious, but I was curious about it. I keep up with the stores still, and at least one person that I met back then. If you want I can look into them after the meeting.”

“That would be appreciated,” Henry said with a smile, glad that at least one of the three friends he had in his room was paying attention and actually contributing. “Normally I would go with you, or at the very least ask our self-proclaimed amazing medium-”

“It’s not self-proclaimed if it’s true,” Rika interrupted.

“-go with you,” Henry continued, ignoring her. “But Rika and I have to leave soon as is. So just text or call us when you find out. We’ll give you a call back as soon as possible.”

Normally he would suggest Takato go with Jeri, but he couldn’t help but notice the tension between the two. While he would like for them to be as comfortable with each other as they used to be, he knew this sort of thing couldn’t be forced. Plus, he had a bit of an inkling of what the issue was judging by his talk with Rika, and later, Takato.

“I will,” Jeri nodded. _Whether or not Kazu is going to be okay is another question, but maybe I can convince him to go along with it…?_

She didn’t doubt that Kazu would do just that. He seemed awfully eager to please her.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Takato asked, but Jeri shook her head.

“I’ll be fine, Takato,” she said, smiling stiffly. “Trust me. You’d only be bored.”

“But…” began Takato, tilting his head to one side, only to be interrupted as Jeri got to her feet, her cell phone buzzing loudly like a large, angry bee.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, giving everyone a quick wave. “I’ve got to get going. I...ah...I’ll talk to you all later, okay?”

Takato frowned as the girl exchanged a quick goodbye with everyone and then hurriedly left the room.

 _Can’t say that I blame her though,_ he thought before turning to Rika and Henry. “So… I guess I’d better take off too, huh?” he asked. “You two have a...um...tai chi class, right?” He knew that was Henry’s gig, but he couldn’t remember if Rika did it as well. He thought Henry mentioned something about that but at the time he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Yeah,” Rika said as she closed the system finally before rolling off the bed. “You can tag along and watch though if you want.”

A smile spread across Takato’s face just then. “Sure!” he chirped, jumping to his feet. “When do we leave?”

“In a minute,” Henry said with a slight smile, glad that Takato had the ability to bounce back so easily. Then again, he always was the type to get excited over every single little thing. It often times took both him and Rika to bring Takato back down to Earth.

 _But Takato balances us out too, so that’s fair,_ he thought as he grabbed his duffel bag.

“Rika, toss me my gi,” he said gesturing with his open palm only for the fabric to sail through the air and hit his head before dropping to the ground. He turned slowly to stare at the redhead who was grinning impishly at him. “Really?” he asked as he put it in his bag, zipping it up before shouldering the black sack. “Alright, let’s go.”

###

“So then when Henry was stretching, he totally loses his balance and falls to the floor, landing as gracefully as one might expect a bird to after slamming right into a window,” Rika said laughing as they walked down the street, approaching the dojo as she relegated another embarrassing tale about Henry to Takato. Just his facial expression in her mind’s eye sent the girl into another set of hysterics like she did that day instead of kindly asking the half-Chinese boy if he was alright.

Henry eyed Rika with what could be called mild amusement, a small smile gracing his lips. “I seem to recall that you had that problem in considerable abundance during your first few months,” he replied, tapping his cheekbone. “I remember the amount of times you would faceplant yourself on the floor, or just fall backward and get the wind knocked out of you. Me? I can count on one hand how often that was since you joined.”

Raising just that one hand, he raised his index finger. “One hand and one finger. One time. That is all. You’d have to take your shoes and socks off to count your number.”

“Jeez you two,” Takato laughed. “Since when was it a competition to fall over?”

“I don’t know, you fell on your ass pretty hard when I got the drop on you that one time,” Rika shot back, failing to add it was an accident as her face turned red as Henry reminded her of her … shortcomings when she first started. Not that she was a master by any means now, but at least she no longer made a fool out of herself nearly as often as she did.

“Yeah,” Henry chuckled, reaching the door to the gate surrounding the dojo. “But that was just another ‘one time’. Make it a habit and then I’ll start bowing to you.”

“You better remember those words because you’ll need to honor them soon,” Rika said as she opened the gate to enter, holding it open for Henry and Takato like a perfect gentleman. Of course even she didn’t believe that she would be beating Henry anytime soon - he had been at this since he was a child after all - but they were verbally sparring and she had no intention of bowing out just yet.

Or ever.

“Yes,” Henry nodded, laughing again as both he and Takato passed by her and into the dojo grounds. “‘Never’ is always soon.”

Takato was struggling to contain himself at their verbal sparring. The two went back and forth, circling each other like fighters sizing each other up before throwing the first punch. He couldn’t help but wonder how they’d be in an actual sparring match. He knew Henry was good, having trained from childhood, but was that enough of an edge when dealing with someone like Rika?

_Wonder if I’ll find out…_

As the three entered the dojo, Rika paused in her tracks upon seeing familiar faces of the past - or perhaps better said - backs. While they weren’t facing her, she immediately recognized the scene and her stomach clenched uncomfortably.

“I’m here to sign up my granddaughter,” said an elder woman, wearing a traditional kimono, to an older gentleman with neatly combed greying hair sporting a mustache. The man was wearing a blue sort of traditional outfit that clearly had a Chinese flair - Rika never knew what it was called, but she had no doubt in her mind that mama would.

The man’s dark eyes slid over to the young teenage girl standing next to the older woman. Long red hair was pulled back in a low spiked ponytail, part of the bangs along with a single strip of hair was dyed a platinum blonde. Two metal earrings were in her right ear on the edge instead of the earlobe and her whole body was tense and coiled, almost as if it were a snake ready to strike at the first thing.

“Of course,” the man answered smoothly after a minute. “Name?”

“Rika Nonaka,” the older woman stated as the girl remained quiet. The instructor nodded and turned his head to the class who was practicing their stretches behind him.

“Henry, come over here for a moment!” he called before turning his attention back to the two women. “Henry is a pupil of mine who has been part of this dojo for a long time. He’ll help Rika ease into the class while you and I sort out the paperwork.”

“Is that...an echo?” Takato asked, stopping next to Rika, eyes wide as he took the group in. He heard everything too. This...This was Rika? How she looked however long ago when she first joined? She looked so...different. The hair, the earrings… Her body language practically bled tension.

“Huh?” Henry asked - the real one, and not the one bobbing up from down the other side of the dojo when his teacher called for him - turning to his two friends with a raised eyebrow. “There’s one here now?”

Takato nodded, digging out his cell phone and turning on the camera function - not to record since it wouldn’t matter - but to provide Henry with the live experience. Coming up next to him, Henry looked into the screen before nodding.

“Oh wow. I remember this day.” His smile from earlier spread across his face and he glanced at Rika. “You tried to punch my teeth in when I was showing you how to make a proper fist.”

“Tried, didn’t succeed,” she reminded him as she covered her eyes with her hands, rather embarrassed of her past self and actions even though they were merely a year ago. So much rage. So much _hatred._ She honestly couldn’t remember the source or reasoning why she felt so angry even though it honestly wasn’t that long ago.

As her grandmother left, leaving her with Henry, the two boys - and Rika who peeked out between her fingers mostly unable to stop watching the trainwreck she knew was coming - watched as the near future delinquent in front of them slunk after a rather chipper Henry of the past, her face plastered with a mix of a scowl and a sneer as if she couldn’t make up her mind on which one she wanted.

It started simply enough. While chipper, the Henry of the past was awkward in his attempts to engage the old Rika in conversation, describing some of the activity that she was likely to start with. Stretching exercises, learning of basic techniques… But soon enough, the fated moment arrived.

“Let me see you make a fist,” the Henry of the past said. All too happy - and eager - to oblige, the delinquent Rika shoved a fist in his face, the thumb awkwardly pressed tightly to the side as if she didn’t quite understand how hitchhiking worked.

The past Henry sighed. “You’re clenching your fist,” he began, instinctively reaching up to take her fist, just as his teacher did when first correcting his technique as a child. “You need to relax a little and curl your fingers to the base of your hand and…”

Touching her fist had been his first mistake. Her violet eyes narrowing, she yanked her hand back and then pulled her arm back.

“If you want a closer look, here,” she snarled as she threw her still improperly made fist at his face.

Although caught by surprise, years of training allowed Henry to react. Rika had pulled her arm fully back before launching her attack, which, while it was stronger, it was also considerably slower than a straight punch. Henry only had to bring one hand up to catch her wrist and pull it to her side toward her shoulder, causing the girl to stumble and unable to attempt a second attack as Henry had now positioned her body to block it.

Reaching over, Henry gently tapped his knuckles against her cheek using his free hand. “We’ll be wanting to work on that technique before you can even think about trying to punch me,” he began, his tone cool but patient.

“Um… That’s...different,” Takato said, looking over at the two friends, eyebrows raised in surprise. “How did you two end up becoming friends?”

The present-day Henry only smiled. “It’s actually a lot easier than it looks. But you already know that.”

“Um...not really.” Rubbing the back of his head, he shot another look over at the past versions of his two friends. “Rika didn’t try to beat me into the ground when I first met her.”

“You can thank Henry for that,” Rika told him rather bluntly as her past version growled like a cornered animal, struggling in Henry’s grasp as the echo began to fade into nothingness. “I used to get into fights a lot, and was on the fast track into becoming an actual card-carrying delinquent instead of a problem child. I was always so angry … I calmed a lot down since then.”

She ran her fingers through her hair, a slight grimace on her face. While she didn’t like talking about the mistakes of the past, she wasn’t going to shy away from them either.

“Well, I doubt I would have even met you though if Henry didn’t convince me to come along,” she said before turning to Henry and giving him a small grin. “Hahhh, I swear you must have had the patience of a saint. That wasn’t even the last time I tried to attack you.”

Henry shrugged nonchalantly, starting back toward the dojo to locate their teacher. “Except for the one time you caught me by surprise, you weren’t able to hurt me. Not that I wasn’t worried that you might. After all, the best advice my teacher gave me about fighting is to fear not the best but the worst. Mainly because you can’t predict what they’ll do and...well, the one time you did exactly what I didn’t predict.” Turning toward Rika, he grinned. “It made for great motivation. You always kept me on my toes, which was good.”

Takato now turned back toward Rika in amazement. “That’s… What did you do to Henry that he didn’t predict?” he asked.

“I did the move we were practicing right for a change,” Rika said dryly, rather embarrassed that she only managed get the drop on Henry was because he was so used to her messing up. “Neither of us expected it.”

“Life is full of lessons and the bruises from them,” Henry waved, reaching almost halfway to the other end of the dojo. “Come on. We shouldn’t keep sensei waiting. I’m sure he’ll want to meet you, Takato.”

###

The bags full of food bounced against her legs as Ayaka Itou cut through the playground, humming quietly to herself. She wanted to get home quickly so she could warm up and start work on helping her mother prepare dinner. She was looking forward to tonight. Excited really. After all, tonight was the night she finally got to introduce her boyfriend to her parents. She was eager for their approval and wanted them both to be at their happiest lest they nitpick over every minute detail of their relationship just to find an excuse to disapprove.

They had very high standards after all, and after the incident with Kazu those standards only got even higher.

As she went, she caught sight of a familiar figure sitting all alone at the swingsets and she paused, narrowing her eyes to get a better view.

 _Kenta…_ she thought, and she nearly resumed her course. She wanted nothing to do with Kenta or any of _Kazu’s_ friends save for Jeri. However, as her foot nudged forward, she got a good look at the teen’s face and she found herself drawing up short. His expression was forlorn and she suddenly felt a memory tugging at the back of her mind about Kenta.

 _No… Don’t you dare…_ she ordered her brain, only for it to ignore her. Her lead foot dropped back to its twin, before turning toward his direction.

Try as she might, and she had managed it for years through avoidance, she couldn’t help but go see what was up. She could probably guess why. She watched too many scenes unfold in the shriveled remnants of his _group_ to not have an idea. She knew the look on his face anyway. She saw it too many times as friend after friend abandoned the trio until only they were left plus Jeri.

 _Maybe it’s time to actually deal with this problem anyway,_ she thought approaching him.

_No one else will anyway..._

###

The swing creaked back as Kenta pushed his foot on the cold dirt back and forth, not quite swinging but not quite sitting still either. White condensation escaped his lips as he sighed, his face bright red from the cold and even though he couldn’t quite feel his fingers anymore, he didn’t feel like going back inside.

Ever since Kazu began to date Jeri - although Kenta used the term “date” lightly as the two were hardly exclusive yet - Kenta soon found himself alone with only his thoughts. With his best friend paying attention only to Jeri, and the only other friend he had now not talking to him since the fight, Kenta found himself having no one to turn to.

 _Well our group was a lot bigger once upon a time,_ he thought miserably, the memory of Takato calling out Kazu on his behavior once again drifting lazily through his mind. Each time it came up, Kenta had an increasingly harder time feeling anger at Takato on Kazu’s behalf. Especially when what Takato said was true - especially in regards to how Kazu treated the spectacled boy.

Being apart from Kazu recently had given him ample time to evaluate their friendship. While he still remembered the boy who would stand up for him whenever he got bullied, and protected him when nobody else would - _even now,_ he reminded himself out of habit - it seemed like most of the mocking recently came from Kazu. Pushing himself backwards again, he tried to remember the last time Kazu complimented him on anything.

Nothing came to mind.

Still, each time as of late he felt like he should let Kazu know much he was bothered by his behavior, something stayed his tongue. Whether it was loyalty or plain fear, he wasn’t sure.

 _Probably fear,_ he thought. _Besides, I really am nothing without Kazu looking out for me. I couldn’t even stop Takato and Kazu from fighting. What sort of friend allows two others to do that to each other? I just sat back and watched, and didn’t even help when Jeri asked me to. God, I’m pathetic. If I just said something, none of this would have happened._

“Do I even want to know why you’re out here freezing your ass off and looking like you got kicked in the gut?” came a harsh, feminine voice as a shadow fell over Kenta’s face.

Kenta looked up only to shrink down, trying to make himself smaller as he saw Ayaka looming down on him. Her long brunette hair was no longer pulled back into twin tails as it used to be when they were children as it had melded together in a single ponytail. Her brown eyes were harsh and made it clear simply by looking into them she had no time for bullshit. Looking down so he wouldn’t have to stare at them, he tried to string together a complete sentence that didn’t make him look like an idiot.

“Ah … uhm … I just wanted a breath of fresh air,” he mumbled. It was partially true. He was beginning to feel suffocated in his room; it was as if the walls were closing in around him.

“Right,” Ayaka replied, rolling her eyes. “I guess you would, considering the company you keep. You never had good sense.”

Kenta felt like he should defend Kazu, say something - like that he wasn’t that bad or something - but instead he kept his mouth shut. Again. Especially when part of him agreed with her. Keeping his eyes down, pushing the swing back again with his foot, he bit his lip as conflicting thoughts fought him on what to say, the moment to say them drifting past swiftly with each passing second.

Ayaka stood there, her glaring gaze shifting away. She tightened her grip on the bag she was carrying.

“You know… You have a bad habit of coming down here whenever you’ve had a bad fight about something…”

Kenta glanced up tentatively, unsure really how to respond to that, let alone how to process that Ayaka knew that about him. They were friends once long ago, but to remember habits about him … he always thought he was invisible, especially next to Kazu. The fact she not only knew about this but remembered enough to comment on it honestly floored him.

 _Would Kazu know where to find me after we fought?_ he thought a bit distractedly, although he supposed it didn’t matter since it was always Kenta who was apologizing in the end.

“I guess,” he said finally.

Rolling her head to one side, Ayaka sighed in exasperation. Turning, she headed over to the next swing and its chains rattled as she planted herself roughly between them.

“I hated it when you did this when we were still friends,” she remarked. “You always looked like a lost puppy. You _still_ do. Makes me want to do something. So...what boneheaded thing did... _Kazu_...do this time that’s got you all worked up?”

Kenta stopped swinging to look at her in surprise before looking down, biting his lip. He supposed it would be OK to tell her. Besides, keeping it bottled up inside him with nobody to talk to was starting to drive him insane.

“It wasn’t so much Kazu as it was Takato,” he said before pausing and shaking his head. “No … that isn’t quite right. It’s just … Takato and Kazu fought, and some things were said, and it got really ugly. Thing was, if I just stepped in and _stopped_ it, Kazu and Takato would still be friends and none of this would have happened. But I didn’t. Because I’m a fucking coward.”

It felt better when he admitted it out loud. While it didn’t make the situation any better or any less real, to admit that he was someone who couldn’t do anything right made it an easier reality to face. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he found the words spilling out faster as he talked.

“Jeri practically begged me to as well. But I didn’t want to. Since you don’t get involved when he’s angry, you know? You keep your head down and wait for the storm to pass. But I mean how was I supposed to know Takato would get violent too?” he looked at Ayaka, begging her silently to understand something she had no possible way of comprehending. “It was like a _demon_ possessed him. He cracked the damn wall Ayaka! Takato! And now … and now ... Kazu started dating again, but this time it’s Jeri, and now I’m alone. And … I don’t know what to do.”

While Kenta had many words to say, Ayaka was fewer by comparison.

“Wow… So Takato _finally_ grew some balls, huh? Took him long enough.” Leaning forward in her swing, she brushed aside her hair and sniffed. “I can get that though. I felt like a demon possessed me back when I left your little playgroup. It was kind of the same way too. Kazu pushed and pushed and pushed until I finally snapped and let him have it.”

Turning toward Kenta, she pointed at her eye. “Remember the black eye he had after winter break? The guy doesn’t know when to shut his mouth.”

“Mn,” Kenta hummed, agreeing with her but not wanting to fully express it. “Still it isn’t exactly the same. You’re more …” Kenta paused and searched for the word, unsure what the best way to describe the magnitude of the scope of difference between the two incidents before finally settling on one. “...expressive than Takato is. Was. I never saw him get angry before he started hanging out with that half girl who goes to Henry and Jeri’s school.”

He kicked his foot in the dirt, trying to direct his anger at Rika for the situation only for it to fail miserably. Again. Still, he managed to bring up some irritation.

 _She totally has some blame to take too. I may have failed to stop the fight, but she was the one who started it,_ he thought. Some of the self-loathing he felt toward himself melted away as he pushed the blame off himself, feeling a bit better as he did so.

“You probably heard Jeri talk about her, right? The Demon Queen? Takato had been blowing us off to go hang out with her which is how the whole stupid thing started in the first place,” he complained. “I mean what kind of friend in his right mind would go hang out with someone so dangerous over those he had been friends with since forever? She broke Kazu’s nose the first day she met him! Then she got him to chase around ghosts or whatever, I don’t know.”

“I do remember hearing something… Jeri complaining about Takato blowing her off for some other girl.” She snorted. “Can’t say I’m surprised. I saw this coming a mile away. So...what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know,” Kenta admitted with a sigh, wondering idly if Takato was the only one who didn’t see the way Jeri looked at him. If Takato was less oblivious, things probably wouldn’t have gotten to this point either he bet. “I don’t know what I can do. Things are so tense, and I don’t want to lose the remaining friend I have. But ...” he looked down. “I just can’t help but keep thinking that maybe … I dunno … I should do the same thing. Not blow up on him, but … let him know how I feel. About us, and how he’s been a jerk. I mean friends should be able to talk to each other honestly, right?”

“That’s what they’re _supposed_ to do,” Ayaka snorted derisively. “Kenta, I’m going to level with you. Kazu hasn’t been your friend in years. I don’t know if he even realizes how he treats you and treated everyone else - he’s dumb enough to not notice - but if you’re that afraid of being straight with him, then there’s something wrong in your relationship.” She turned to look at him more fully. “You may have to show him some tough love, but I don’t know if he’ll even notice _that_ and get the hint.” Turning away, her knuckles grew white beneath her gloves as she tightened her grip on the swings chains. “I don’t even know if he’s worth it. I gave my all when I was with you guys. I _tried_ for Jeri, and that didn’t work out. And ever since I’ve had to sit there in class and watch you guys and it’s like...there was nothing I could do except watch the train wreck.”

Sighing again, she dropped her hands and flexed them, wanting to get rid of the tension. “You may not like it, but you’re probably going to have to deal with some pretty ugly stuff from him - more than usual. Might be better to just rip off the bandaid and get it over with.”

“Then what?” Kenta asked quietly. “Then what do I do? Where do I go? I’m practically invisible. Nobody notices me, and-”

“And _whose_ fault is that?!” Ayaka cut in angrily. “You just stood there taking it and taking it, never talking, never standing up for yourself!” She looked at him furiously, eyes blazing. “Of _course_ no one was going to notice you! _You_ made _yourself_ invisible!”

Kenta withered underneath her fury, his eyes once again finding the ground as he bit his tongue, subconsciously furthering her point as he did so.

 _I just hate conflict,_ he thought, but the protest didn’t come out of his lips. It was easier after all to just take whatever came his way and wait for the storm to end.

“You’re doing it again,” Ayaka said, giving him a dark look. “That’s another problem you have. You always look away whenever you feel cornered. You never meet anyone’s eyes. People like Kazu can pick up on that you know. You make it too easy for them. You and Takato both. At least Takato got mad enough to make himself be seen.”

"What do you know?" Kenta snapped, his hands tightening on the chain as he clenched his teeth, red creeping into his vision. "And the fact you noticed this - what does that say about you?"

Ayaka gave Kenta an annoyed look and appeared to be ready to respond in kind to his anger, but then smirked, noticing something. “So you _can_ bark back. I knew you could. You used to do it every now and then when you were a kid. So what did Kazu do to make you forget to do that to him whenever he took a crap on you?”

Kenta looked at her, his stomach turning uncomfortably as the blood drained from his head. Looking back down, he began to push himself back and forth, unsure quite to answer her question. It wasn't like he never stormed off or snapped like that before, it's just that Kazu pointed out he was being unreasonable.

He didn't ever feel like he was being in the past but ...

Kenta's shoulders lifted and fell back into place, slumping as they did so, the anger melting out of his system as quickly as it came.

Ayaka raised an eyebrow, seeing his sudden change of posture. “You okay?”

She looked him over. “If you don’t want to be seen, fine. But you shouldn’t complain because you aren’t if that’s how you’re going to be. You want to tell Kazu he’s wrong, you’re going to have to get up and start putting yourself out there. The thing is, you can do it too. You just forgot you could. That’s what makes this whole mess sad.”

Kenta looked back at her, this time forcing himself to meet her eyes. He was honestly sorry when Ayaka fell out of the group - he was that way with all of his friends - and the feeling bubbled back up in his chest. Especially since she was here trying to help him when nobody else was.

"I'm fine," he told her, the words feeling like ash on his lips. He didn't feel fine, but what did he know? He reacted unreasonably to a lot of things, didn't he? "Sorry. I just..." Just what? The words seemed lost on the tip of his tongue. "Sorry."

Apologize. It was easier.

Ayaka gazed at him thoughtfully for one long moment before finally looking away. “I’m starting to remember why I liked you and Takato as friends,” she said quietly, a touch of regret in her voice. “You don’t have to apologize to me though.”

"I snapped at you," he pointed out, worming in his seat a bit uncomfortably. He wasn't sure what to make of the admission, especially since she had been avoiding him as well since that day. Not that he blamed her, all things considering. "I shouldn't have. That's reason enough."

Ayaka pressed her lips together before finally nodding, deciding to accept it. “Okay, fine. So...where do things go from here? Are you going to keep moping, or do something?”

"I wasn't moping. I was thinking," he protested, pressing his feet together. "There's a difference."

Although he wasn't sure what the difference was, but moping made him sound like he was nothing without Kazu.

 _Well I'm not,_ he reminded himself. _Otherwise I would be with friends._

“Well, given the conversation it’s not too much of a stretch to say that what you’re thinking about is making you upset. And you still haven’t said where things go from here. Are you going to do anything?”

"I don't know," Kenta admitted. He wasn't sure what the correct answer was. What were the right actions. What was the correct things to say. He didn't want to mess it up since it wasn't like he could start over from the last save point. "It's just so ..." he struggled for the words to explain what he was feeling. "Confusing."

“Hmmm…” Ayaka could understand that. She had been in his position before. Not the _exact_ same one, but close enough. “Well,” she began, checking the time on her cell phone. “If you want to make sense of it or you need a listening ear or something...talk to someone.” She looked at him more fully now, her eyes contemplative. “And if you want to talk to me, I’ll listen.”

Kenta looked at her and rocked back and forth on the swing before nodding his head after a moment. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about this, and kami knew Kazu wouldn't be a listening ear all things considering, and he really didn't feel comfortable turning to Jeri. He supposed there was always Henry, but honestly, it always felt like he was Takato's friend and with the falling out between them ...

"OK," he said finally. "I will."

He looked down at her bags, his lips pursing together in thought as he felt the conversation lull to an end. He felt somewhat disappointed by it, especially since it was the first conversation in a long time he didn't end up feeling like complete crap at the end of.

"Ah ... do you want help with those?" he pointed to the bags, feeling he should at least offer.

“Bad idea,” Ayaka stretched. “I’m having my boyfriend come over later. If he sees you, he’s going to start getting some funny ideas. Besides, it’s not like I’m carrying lead weights or anything.”

 _What wrong idea could he possibly get?_ Kenta wondered, not understanding how anybody could misconstrue someone helping another with groceries. However, he didn’t comment on it, lest she get annoyed or angry at him after they seemed to reach some sort of understanding.

Getting up from her swing, she picked up her bags and looked at him, pressing her lips together into one thin line before awkwardly nodding at him.

“Catch you later,” she said before heading off, her ponytail bouncing off her back as she went.

“Bye,” Kenta said quietly to the empty night air.


	9. Revelations

As the year slogged lazily into March, the school year ending at the end of the month as well as their youth before they would be studying for entrance exams for college when they became third years in April, Jeri Katou woke up like she normally did to the obnoxious screech of her alarm.

All things considering, it was a normal day. The weather was beginning to warm up, although the wind this morning was particularly fierce as it hit against the restaurant, making the building creak and groan in protest.

Hitting the wailing clock, missing it a few times as she blearily pawed around to make the thing shut up, she slipped out of bed and dragged her tired bones to the bathroom.

Grabbing her toothbrush, she opened the medicine cabinet to look for her toothpaste only to swear when she noticed it was gone.

 _Masahiko must have used to last of it before he went out with Shizue this morning,_ she noted grumpily, still unable to call the older woman "mother" even after all this time.

Shutting the cabinet, she blinked in surprise when she looked in the mirror attached to it only to see a long box sitting on the cabinet behind her. Turning around, she saw a new box of toothpaste innocently resting there.

 _Odd,_ she mused before shrugging it off. Her half-brother had the tendency when he was replacing things to never put them back where they belonged, whether it was the toilet paper or the soap, or in this case, the toothpaste.

Opening the box and sliding the tube out, she brushed her teeth as her hand moved up and down robotically. After brushing off her tongue and nearly activating her gag reflex again, she spat out the toothpaste and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. If Shizue was here, she would probably chide her for the unladylike gesture, but this early in the morning and with nobody watching, Jeri made some allowances.

Partially awake now, she slunk back into her room and threw off her nightgown and pulled on her winter uniform - it was still much too cold to put on the summer one - she grabbed her book bag only to pause when her keys fell to the floor. Bending down to pick them up, she looked at the metal objects in confusion.

_Could have sworn I left them downstairs..._

However, deciding not to dwell on it, she shrugged her shoulders and slipped the keys into her bag as well.Besides, it was possible that her stepmother or father had put them there before dealing with the family business.

Heading downstairs, she was greeted by the familiar sounds and smells of said business as her father got it ready for opening. Familiar that is, save for one. Cursing.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs that led into the kitchen area, she looked around to find her father cleaning up broken glass bottles lying on the floor in a puddle of what appeared to be orange juice. Jeri stepped forward hesitantly.

“Um… Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Watch where you step,” Tadashi said, looking up at her. “I’m not sure that I got all of the glass.”

“What happened?”

Tadashi grunted, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I thought it was a burglary but there’s nothing missing. All the money is still in the safe. Nothing from the business seems to be missing so far. I need to double check to make sure but I think we’re still fully stocked up. The only thing was…this.” He looked at Jeri. “You weren’t down here last night were you?”

“No,” Jeri shook her head. “Maybe Masahiko?”

“He is rambunctious enough for it…” Tadashi sighed in exasperation. “But he knows better than to just leave broken glass on the floor. I nearly stepped in it.” Running a hand through his graying hair, he suddenly looked deathly tired. “I’ll have to have a talk with him.”

“Hmmm…” Jeri shrugged her shoulders before giving her father a tight hug. “Anyway, I’m off to school Dad.”

“All right,” Tadashi replied awkwardly, his lips twitching ever so slightly, obviously desiring to smile. The man however had difficulty expressing his feelings openly, but he still managed to give her a small hug in return. “Stay safe when you get on the train today.”

Jeri gave him an extra tight squeeze. He told her this everyday and she heeded it. Not that anything bad happened to her but he often worried. It was a common occurrence that some women would be groped on the subway trains – perverts using the lack of room to their advantage. She regularly took the sections reserved for women but due to how crowded the trains could be – often necessitating assistance cramming people in as tightly as possible – it was inevitable that she would have to be placed elsewhere to get to school.

“I will,” Jeri smiled, breaking away from him and heading off. Nearing the exit she heard a heavy creak up in the ceiling and saw dust fall in front of her. She paused, looking up uncertainly before shrugging.

 _Well, the house is old,_ she thought stepping outside and closing the door behind her. _Not to mention windy…_

As if to prove her point, she was blasted by a powerful gust of wind. Grey clouds hung menacingly in the sky, but today they promised only sound and fury; little else was in the forecast. Unconsciously she adjusted the strap on her bag, pulling it closer. She hated the grey sky. It was always so depressing to look at. Winters were hard for her to get through for just that very reason. Fortunately spring was coming.

 _Just a little bit more, and then I’ll feel alive again,_ she thought, starting off.

_“Jeri…”_

“Dad?” Whirling about at the voice, the girl spied nothing that signaled her father’s calling to her. She waited just to be sure, but when it became apparent that he wasn’t coming or going to call her again – if he had at all – she resumed her course.

Try as she might, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched.

###

Yamaki’s lighter clicked open and closed at a faster pace than normal, indicating his frustration.

 _This is it,_ he thought. _This is what all my work comes to. How it all ends._

Hypnos. His brain child. The government response to all the other information gathering organizations that were out there in the world. It hadn’t been called that in a while now - a few years in fact - but today made it all the more...permanent. Like a burial. The final shovel-full that ended an era.

 _How grim,_ he mused, clicking his lighter closed once more. _All I need now is a tombstone carved in my honor. How long will it be before I’m put out to pasture for my...unique views?_

He looked up at the screens embedded in the walls around him out of habit. Every one of them was open, displaying a glowing _M_ and the icon of the world directly in front of it. The data of the world… Its memory. All there.

He clicked his lighter open as the door to the control room drew open, spilling light inside, broken only by the lithe figure that was shrouded in shadow the light cast.

“Welcome to Mnemosyne headquarters,” Yamaki said, turning toward the woman as she stepped inside.

She was a rather young woman - somewhere in her late 20s or early 30s if one had to guess. Wearing a black suit which seemed to just scream “government” agent - only made worse by the lanyard with the security card hanging loosely around her neck - her obsidian eyes roamed the the inside of the building from underneath her black “may I speak to your manager” haircut. Heels clacked on the cold floor as she approached lazily, her hips swinging slightly until she came face to face with Yamaki. Clasping her hands in front of her, she gave a slight bow.

“Hata Himiko,” she said curtly. “From the intelligence division. I hope that our relationship will be a pleasant one.”

Yamaki nodded, flicking his lighter closed. “Hello, Ms. Hata. I hope your trip was a pleasant one.”

The greeting was a mere formality, and he doubted she believed he was at all being sincere - not that he was - but their working relationship required that things run smoothly between them even if he didn’t appreciate her presence or the fact she was being put in charge. He gripped his lighter all the more tightly. _Young… And still so new to the job. To think she could simply take over this project and expect to run it in spite of all the years of work I put into it?_

“Pleasant enough,” Himiko replied as she looked around the building and the flashing screens. She didn’t know what each of them meant - _yet._ However, she had no doubt by the end of the month this drain on resources would be running smoothly and actually producing things of value to the government like it was supposed to. So much yen had been wasted with nothing to show for it, and she drew the short straw to fix up this mess.

 _Well, no matter. If I want to climb up the ranks on my own merit, I need to get my hands dirty on projects like this,_ she noted.

"So where do you keep all your records?" Himiko asked, already briefed before she came on the past director's, ah, assertions. While she didn't want to give credence to any mad ravings by a man who could be a conspiracy theorist in the making - if he wasn't there already - it wouldn't hurt to check all her bases.

Yamaki raised an eyebrow at that, taken aback by Himiko’s sudden hitting the ground running attitude. Nonetheless, he ran with it.

“Our digital records are on a secure server that you can access. As you are now the head of Mnemosyne, you have administrative authority to access them whenever you wish. However, we also maintain hardcopy backups. Most of it is before the year 2000, but obviously we continue to add to it. If you’d like I can detail someone to show them to you.”

"Please," Himiko said, preferring the hardcopy back-up to the digital. While the digital was more convenient, it was harder to make notes and was easier to tamper with. Of course she would be comparing the digital copy to the hardcopy for any discrepancies.

Yamaki nodded, pulling out his cell phone. He was just about to dial a number when a familiar face walked in for their work shift, one with deep-scarlet red hair and pale skin. Riley Ootori.

“Riley,” he began, snapping his phone shut. “Our new Head of System Operations is here and would like to be shown our hardcopy records. Show them to her before reporting for duty.”

Riley looked over at the other woman over the rim of her coffee cup, the black liquid the only thing which kept her operating like a functioning member of society on most days.

"Of course," she said after taking a sip, wondering if it would be enough to get through the day. "Follow me."

###

Rika loved spring.

It was when the cold began to disappear and life began to move again. Even though March just began and they were still a far away from the first official day of spring - which she felt deserved more celebrations than some other holidays - Rika was not going to be kept indoors.

Sitting outside with Henry and Jeri - the later of the two had been joining them for lunch as of late - she shoved a straw into her juicebox that she had bought from the school store. In her lap was the bento box her grandmother had packed her this morning.

"All right," she hummed as she untied the cloth, letting the blue fabric fall on her lap as she took a sip of the apple juice. "Let's see what grandma gave ..." she blinked as she felt something pulling at her attention just out of the corner of her gaze and she lifted her head and looked to the left only to spit out her juice all over Henry as she started to choke and cough at the same time.

Not in the least bit perturbed - being long used to the girl’s antics - he looked at Rika with a touch of concern before picking up his napkin and dabbed it all over where her juice had splashed him.

“Something go down the wrong way?” he asked, his tone betraying only curiosity and none of the amusement he felt bubbling beneath the surface. “Or did your grandmother pack you something you didn’t expect?”

“L-lion,” she gasped as she hit her chest, wheezing, pointing to a small grove of trees.

Jeri - who had patted Rika’s back, worried about the other girl’s coughing fit - followed Rika’s finger to the grove of trees, only to see nothing. However, just because she couldn’t see anything didn’t mean something wasn’t there. Taking her phone out, she flipped it open and turned on the camera. A bipedal lion with a sword attached to its pants was standing in the small grove, hidden poorly behind the trees.

_“Why ... don’t you understand? Why do you refuse to listen … This … might be my fate …”_

Her heart dropped to the pits of her stomach, the grip on her phone loosened and it clattered to the ground, rolling into the grass. Her fingers dug into her head and wrapped in the brown strands of her hair.

“No,” she moaned as she gasped for air, unable to keep her mind above the raging vortex of pain she couldn’t understand. “Nooooo…”

“Jeri?” Henry gasped, his eyes widening in alarm. Rika looked over worriedly as well, a branch breaking as the Leomon drew closer. For such a large creature, it moved silently as it ghosted across the small courtyard quickly until it was standing in front of the trio.

“Jeri?” the Leomon rumbled, his paw reaching out and resting on Jeri’s head as it attempted to pat it awkwardly. The teenager, however, upon feeling something brush against her hair jerked back, nearly slamming her head against the back of the bench where they sat.

Rika looked up at the lion, confusion painted across his face as his giant paw just hovering in the air awkwardly. She knew what it was - a Leomon. However, the fact it seemed to actually _interact_ with Jeri - with them - caught off her guard.

“You - you’re a Leomon … right?” Rika asked, finally finding her voice.

The Leomon turned his blue eyes toward her, still no less confused. “Of course I am, Rika,” he rumbled before returning his attention to Jeri. “I don’t understand… No one can see me. Her father didn’t. No one here can. Except you. You are the first to actually address me.” He glanced at Henry and then at Rika. “What’s going on? The last thing I remember is...we were meeting here after we discovered the digital portal that would help us go to the digital world. And then...”He shook his head. “And then...I’m outside Jeri’s home again at night. And she looks different. Older.”

“Shit.”

Rika wasn’t much for swearing. She found it distasteful and crude. However, no other words could really express the myriad of feelings coursing through her, the million of thoughts running through her mind as simply.

Letting out a shaky breath as she dipped her head, she pinched the bridge of her nose to get her feelings in order. She had a million of questions, all of them fighting for dominance. Why was a _real life_ Digimon here and what did it want with Jeri? How did it know her name? Did it know Henry’s? What did it mean going into the portal of the Digital World?

Her mind fluttered back to the D-ark, resting in her room.

 _A digivice … that’s what Henry and Takato called it? Do they know more than they are letting on?_ she cast a sidewise glance to Henry, biting her lip before shaking her head. _Nothing makes sense._

“Leomon, how old was Jeri the last time you saw her?” she asked finally before turning to the other two, Jeri’s eyes trained on her wide and afraid.

“She was a child,” Leomon replied. “I was never told her age but…” Raising a massive paw, he raised it to a certain height and held it there. “...she was this tall.”

“Hmm,” Rika hummed, scratching her cheek, not sure really what to make of that. Either way she must have been young, nor did it really help with anything. She didn’t look the size of a toddler, where maybe the lapse in her own memory would have been understandable, and with the echo at the dojo being something she actually _remembered,_ Rika wasn’t sure what to make out of the current situation. After all, how could _anybody_ forget if Digimon were real or not.

“R-rika, what’s going on?” Jeri asked as she clenched her hands close to her chest, trying to contain her pounding heart. She had seen Rika interact with the echoes before, watching her eyes become vacant and her body limp until the echo disappeared. It was both disturbing and fascinating to watch, but when she felt _something_ brush against the top of her head, knowing instinctively that it was that - that -

 _Leomon,_ a voice in the back of her mind whispered traitorously, making a shiver run down her spine again, she knew somehow she was getting her wish to become more involved. And suddenly, she cursed herself for making such a foolish wish, wanting nothing more at the moment to no longer be a part of _this_ whatever _this_ was.

 _You knew it could have been dangerous,_ she reminded herself as she tried to calm herself down with another deep breath. _Don’t back out now._

“Do you remember anything about a Leomon when you were about this-” Rika paused for a second as she looked at the empty space in front of her, bringing her hand up before turning her attention back to her. “High?”

“From the looks of things that would put her at around ten,” Henry said, scoping out their visitor with his cell phone’s camera, running a hand along his chin before turning to Jeri. “Do you remember anything?”

“I-” Jeri said as she looked between the two hafus as she clenched her eyes shut as another voice - her own - echoed loudly in her mind.

_“It’s destiny Mr. Leomon!”_

“Gnk.” Grasping her head again as she tried to make sense of the boiling pot of voices that seemed muddied, some clear and others blurry. Some she recognized instantly, others she felt if she reached a bit more she would remember. Her body burned up as her breathing became labored.

Leomon watched Jeri struggle before turning to Rika in concern. “Please… Tell her to relax. Whatever she’s trying to do, if she forces it, it will only do her more harm than good.”

Placing a massive, yet gentle paw on Jeri’s head once more, he looked at her proudly. “Time can only help her for now. I’m sure that this...mystery will reveal itself eventually, so long as we work at it, but for now this isn’t what’s needed.” Looking up from Jeri, he gazed at the trio. “It would seem that we have much to discuss. Will you help me, Rika?”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” she said as she looked back down at her bento box, peeking under the cover before blanching as she snapped it close. Peeking over at Jeri, she reached out and poked the other girl’s cheek, prodding it slightly. “And you calm down. Don’t think about it if it gives you that much trouble, jeez.”

Jeri turned over to Rika, her cheeks puffing out slightly like an angry chipmunk. Still, the storm inside her began to quiet as she shoved down the unwanted feelings into the depths of her soul; a practice she had become a master of in recent years.

It made her feel slightly better knowing she wasn’t the one who wouldn’t need to be figuring this out. Part of her felt bad she was dumping it on Rika, but she excused it, rationalizing that Rika had been acting as a “medium” for all this time anyway - besides it wasn’t like she could communicate with Leomon like Rika or even Takato could. It was best served to leave it to the professionals.

"So," Rika said after an awkward pause, scratching her nose not quite sure how to deal with these turn of events. Just from what little she gleamed it had to be an echo, but-

 _It's like it's ... self aware or something,_ she thought as she furrowed her brow. It sounded like something straight out of a plot of some science fiction mystery story, but here she was.

"What, er, exactly do you need help with?" she looked at Henry, cursing him silently for not being able to see the echoes like she could as well. He could probably deal with this new twist better than she possibly could.

Settling himself down - his massive body leaving an imprint in the grass between the human teenagers, causing Henry’s eyes to widen in amazement as he couldn’t see the source of the weight flattening them - he folded his legs and sat straight up at attention.

“The beginning,” Leomon rumbled. “Have you - any of you heard -of the _Devas?”_

###

Himiko snapped closed the black binder labeled "2008" in a messy scrawl. While there was only two whole months of data to go through for this year thus far, it provided a valuable starting point to compare to the previous year.

She had decided to start small today and compare the 2008 finances to the 2007, and track how much the money being spent has been fluctuating and on what. In front of her was a notebook, already filled with notes she felt were particularly interesting and required further study.

Chewing on her pen - a nasty habit she had picked up whenever she felt the urge to smoke - Himiko grunted a bit as she pulled the considerably larger binder of 2007 in front of her. Opening it up, her eyebrows shot up in surprise as she looked at the figures for January 2007.

_What do we have here…_

There were numerous sections here that dealt with what were called with the Digital Arms and Research Division with funds delegated to them simply under ‘detection’ and ‘program development’. Yamaki wasn’t trying to be coy however, as the labels were clearly defined as belonging to something called the Behavior Predictor Server 9 - otherwise titled as ‘Oracle’.

Threading her hands together, she read down the list of spending, fund requests and projected expectations of the project. It was certainly very involved. Almost _too_ involved, as the funding was disproportionate to other areas of research. That it was taking place with the Digital Arms and Research Division was also interesting. Yamaki tended to use them alongside his many ‘useless’ ventures in regards to his past ravings.

She was rather impressed, if not somewhat disappointed, at his audacity to label his expenditures so diligently. She had expected catching inconsistencies here and there after pouring over the numbers for days - if not weeks - on end before making her presentation.

 _This is just too easy,_ she thought as she removed the pen from her mouth. While Yamaki was a madman, surely he couldn't be stupid. After all if he managed to get this far, it surely wasn't due to incompetence. _Surely there has to be something more at play here. I shouldn't make any rash judgement until I have all the numbers compiled._

It was time to see how deep the rabbit hole went.

###

Takato could not believe his eyes. Every time he blinked he expected Leomon to be gone; that he was at home or wherever experiencing a delusion…what he feared for so long that this whole series of events was. Yet the Leomon refused to vanish. He and his friends were still there with him and they were all at Shinjuku Park’s concrete bunker that served their meeting place. Meeting there because, according to Rika, a short lunch period could not possibly have enough time for them to fit an entire dictionary’s worth of explanations and questions and she didn’t want to have to explain everything twice due to Takato attending a different school.  
Nothing appeared to be amiss.

  
“This is…so very weird,” Henry remarked, speaking what Takato felt in his mind while holding up his cell phone to capture the digimon that stubbornly remained invisible to him. “What you’re saying… It almost sounds like our entire lives have been completely rewritten!”

“Yeah,” Rika grunted, not at all pleased at the hypothesis - or perhaps better said, revelation.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have her suspicions. Ever since the incident at the dojo, the possibility had been swimming around in her mind. However, the reason why still eluded her and now she had even more questions than ever. Were these _Devas_ to blame? Why could only Takato and her see these echoes of the past? What _happened?_

“Who would do that?” Jeri asked, voicing the same concern as a feeling of dread settled itself comfortably in her stomach. The revelation that she - they - were - had been - _Tamers_ both intrigued her and terrified her. By the sounds of what Rika and Takato parrotted, they had only been children when Leomon had last seen them, her. “Why would they do that?’

“Maybe it’s some kind of conspiracy like what they show on TV,” Takato suggested. “Like aliens or something. Maybe the government wants to keep it all secret and we stumbled across it so they wiped our memories.”

“At this point any idea is as good as the other,” Henry said, rubbing a hand across his chin. “Although that is a good point.”

“Come on? Really?” Rika asked exasperated as she threw her hands up. She was irritated already, and ‘the government did it’ theories only soured her mood. “If the government wiped our memories, why do I still have the digivice? What happened to our partners? Why can we Takato and I see fragments of the past? How are we able to interact with Leomon as he is now? It makes no sense!”

“What part of any of this makes sense?” Takato asked quietly. “Since when does a card game become real? Or digivices?”

“The government would be in the best position to do this sort of thing,” Henry said, hoping to cut off Rika’s inevitable snarky response to Takato. “If the existence of digimon were confirmed and they were rampaging in the streets, it could cause a panic.”

“Unreal,” Rika growled as she slammed her foot against the metal bars of the bunker entrance, causing it to shudder violently. Watching it rattled, her violet eyes narrowed as she remembered something. “... Then they did a pretty shitty job, didn’t they. The government. Remember that snake in the subway tunnels I saw? You can’t hide something like that. There was probably other incidents as well. There would have had to be a mass memory wipe.”

“Like Men in Black!” Jeri suggested, only to shrink slightly under Rika’s sharp glare. While the violet-eyed girl truly did seem amiable of late, she didn’t want to press her luck and unleash the Demon Queen. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Does anyone else you know remember these Devas?” Henry asked Rika. “I’ve never heard anyone else talk about this before you. And remember, only you and Takato for some reason can see these digimon.”

“Well if we are going on the government did it, maybe that’s because Rika and Takato were experimented on,” Jeri suggested, her imagination beginning to run away with her. “Maybe they were caught and the relation between humans and Digimon were studied.” Somehow missing Rika’s incredulous, if not somewhat insulted look, Jeri’s eyes shone as she began to talk faster. “Or maybe, maybe we were able to go to the Digital World and something happened, but while there they got super powers because they fell into a vat of nuclear waste or something!”

“I dont even,” Rika said slowly, not sure how to put into words how incredibly stupid she thought these theories were.

Rika was not alone in this. Looking back and forth between the humans that he once had been thrown into arms with, he turned his attention on Rika. “None of this will really help us without actually looking for the source of all this. We can talk all we want about the what and the why, but in the end we still know nothing.”

Reaching behind him, he touched the hilt of his sword thoughtfully. “A warrior has to trust his eyes and his instincts or else he dies, but there are limits to guesswork. We need something more definite. We are blind otherwise. Our eyes cannot see. Our minds are thrashing about searching for anything but finding nothing.”

He retracted his hand from his sword and placed it on a leg. “We waste time and energy doing this. We _need_ to think of a better way.”

He closed his eyes. “Before we left to the digital world, there was a man… Light-hair… Wore sunglasses. You all knew him, or at least recognized him. He handed Takato something he called a ‘com-device’...”

“I don’t remember anyone like that,” Takato piped up, his face blushing a little as he remembered only he and Rika could hear Leomon. “Uh… He was talking about some guy in a suit giving me a communications thing for talking to people here.”

“Maybe it’s in your room,” Rika grumbled before furrowing her brow. A com-device … she didn’t know anybody who fit that description and that had to be some serious sort of technology if it was meant to communicate between two worlds. That would require serious access to capital, wouldn’t it? Let alone a great understanding on technology. “Wait … how old was this guy?”

“Perhaps as old as Jeri’s father,” Leomon replied. “I’m not certain as to how age is measured for humans except for height.”

“Well, at least we know he’s an adult,” Takato said with a touch of sarcasm. “That’s got to narrow things down.”

“Takato…” Henry began, a bit of a warning tone in his voice, although the grin he wore belied it. Takato grinned back.

“What about old newspaper clippings though?” Takato resumed. “I mean, if all the digital stuff we keep trying to record is getting deleted, what about stuff that’s not digital? I bet the library might have something. Or...Kenta’s dad.” He hesitated at the name of his former friend, but he had to throw it out there. The teen’s father was an avid collector of newspapers and believed them to be superior to the digital news sources that were being put out today.

 _Maybe not though…_ he thought, suddenly feeling doubtful. _I mean, he would have said something by now if he had a paper that said ‘Digimon rampage through Japan’ on the front page…_

The two girls looked at Takato, both of them wearing expressions on their face which could only be described as a mixture of surprise and awe.

“That’s … actually a really good idea. I’m not sure who Kenta is-” Rika said as Jeri interrupted her with an incredulous,

“Really?”

“-but checking the library is our best bet. We have a general time frame, and between the four of us we can probably check out three months each,” she continued as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. It would be a bit of a pain, but simply checking the front page of the papers should be enough considering “Giant Monster Attacks Japan” was only common in stories.

“It’s a start anyway,” Henry agreed with a nod. “All right. Where should we go first?”


	10. Truth Darker than Fiction

Takato turned a page of the newspaper sitting on the library table before him – although _newspaper_ was more of a compliment than he would normally be willing to spare for a tabloid. Splashed across the front page was some bizarre image of a celebrity he never heard of before having some alien baby, although the alien in question looked like a giant purple horse wearing golden armor and a seashell on its back. Not something he recognized as a digimon, but he picked it out from the stack just on the off chance that he might find out something useful.

He was really starting to regret it now.

_I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that’s impossible for a person to do…_

Leaning his forehead into his hand, he let out a low groan. “Well, I think my brain is scarred for life and I don’t think I’ve found anything useful. What about you guys?”

Rika had a small stack of papers around her - almost as if she were attempting to build a tower - as she hunkered down on the floor. At the desk nearby was Henry, looking into the single microfilm reader that was free; the rest taken by a couple of elderly people and college students no doubt doing research into something.

"Well I found that Noah's Arc was discovered," Rika replied sarcastically as she threw another paper to the side. "How a boat made out of wood lasted that long without rotting is beyond me."

"Not yet," Henry added as he looked as he leaned back, looking at the date of the microfilm before sighing. It was from 2001. He didn’t think his handwriting was _that_ bad. "Could help though if I was given the right date."

“Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack,” Takato muttered, running a hand through his hair. He frowned, puzzling over Henry’s words. “What if we started with how old we were on the train? We haven’t seen us at a younger age yet I don’t think… Uh…” He glanced at Rika. “Have you?”

"Not yet," Rika sighed as she leaned back only for the newspapers to fall over in a mini avalanche. The American girl could only stare at the mess on the floor before hanging her head.

It wasn't like it was hard to pick up, but like all teenagers, Rika tended to be lazy and didn't want to do more work than need be.

"Anyway, we knew we were about - what, 10? So that would be around 2000,” she continued as she reached for the papers and began to pick them up and stack them up neatly. “And I think Leomon said it was summer when we were going to the Digital world ... so maybe focus around then? Maybe a bit before. I dunno."

"You would think that Digimon appearing would make front page news," Henry muttered as he wrote down a list of dates and on a piece of paper to give to the librarian.

“Well, if whatever or whoever is behind this, wouldn’t they want to get rid of any news like that?” Jeri asked, peeking over her mountain. At that, Takato groaned again.

“Oh man… Why didn’t I think of that? So we’re just wasting our time?”

"Well, I want to punch something now," Rika grumbled as Henry stood up, a piece of paper in his hands. The Chinese boy grinned as he moved carefully around the mountain range of tabloids they had collected.

"You always want to do that," he said. "Anyway, if they are missing, wouldn't that be more concrete proof that something happened and it is some government cover up? I'm going to go check these dates. Maybe there will be something that was missed on accident."

"In movies, government officials tend to be competent," Rika pointed out.

"Good thing this isn't the movies then," Henry snarked back as he walked over to the librarian desk, leaving the other three to comb through the tabloids.

“So we’re going to pin our hopes on the bad guy _maybe_ slipping up?” Takato asked, closing his paper in disappointment. “Maybe we should talk to Kenta. His dad probably has stuff that wouldn’t be found here.”

Poking her head around the corner of her pile again, Jeri took in the cover of Takato’s tabloid and wrinkled her nose. _Alien baby… That is so weird. And with…a…horse…mon?_ Tilting her head to one side, she reached over to the paper and picked it up.

“This is a digimon, isn’t it?” she asked, tapping the front page quizzically.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Takato asked, looking up with a raised eyebrow at the brown-haired girl. “I thought you didn’t play the game. Or…like anything about digimon.”

“I collected the cards once,” Jeri admitted with a light blush on her face. “I…still do a little. I think I remember this one. I…In…” Closing her eyes, her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk in concentration. “I don’t remember the name. It was from a set a couple years ago I think? I don’t remember…”

Now it was Takato’s turn to tilt his head in confusion. That Jeri would remember a card that he didn’t seemed a bit baffling. He collected the cards much more fervently than she did. More than just ‘a little’ and he regularly perused the card forums. Still, there was always a chance that he missed something.

“Do you recognize this guy, Rika?” he asked, turning to the other girl for confirmation. If there was anyone who would know the card game better than he did – or anyone else he knew for that matter – it would be Rika. She didn’t win the tournaments three years in a row for nothing.

Rika poked her head out of her little fort and held her hand out for the paper.

"Lemme see," she demanded. While she didn't need glasses, it wasn't like she would be able to make out grainy tabloid pictures without looking closer at it.

“Here you go,” Jeri replied, passing the paper over to her.

Rika took the paper and slouched down again, her brow furrowing slightly as she stared at it. Squinting slightly, she brought it closer as she tried to see if there was any signs of Photoshopping - not that she was the best at this kind of stuff. Henry was always better at seeing a hack job then she was. Still ... nothing seemed out of the ordinary for her, which was suspicious considering it was a photo of a giant horse with a horn.

"Huh. I don't recognize it," she said surprised as she leaned back. She knew everything there was to about Digimon - even when she retired from the tournaments, she still kept up rather obsessively with the card and video games. She even watched the anime shows. So the fact she didn't recognize it was a bit ... disconcerting.

 _Well if something is messing with our heads, I guess it isn't that unusual,_ she mused as Henry came back with some more microfilms.

"You said it was a card you had, right Jeri?" she asked as she leaned over to give the paper back. "You think you still have it? Maybe we can take a photo and show it to Leomon ..."

“Yeah,” Jeri nodded. “I keep them on the shelf above my desk in a binder.” Jeri blushed a little more and she ground the toe of her shoe into the tile floor. “I like to look at them sometimes. The pictures are very nice.”

Takato smiled. “You don’t have to be embarrassed Jeri. We’re all fans here.”

"What are you guys talking about?" Henry asked as he sat down, pulling out his chair, curious at what he missed. He had come back at the latter part of the conversation and it seemed for whatever reason they were talking about Digimon cards.

"Jeri found a picture of some horse thing," Rika explained, gesturing to the paper in Jeri's hand. "Takato and I don't recognize it though, but Jeri did - she can't remember the name."

"Really now. That's unusual for you Miss Digimon Queen," Henry hummed with a slight smirk before turning to Jeri. "Can I see?"

Once more Jeri passed the paper over and Henry took it.

Henry looked at the paper and his eyes light up upon seeing the grainy picture.

"Oh! I recognize this guy! It's Indramon," he said excitedly causing Rika to stare at him in disbelief. Henry was a Digimon fan, true, but he always liked the video games better than the cards. For him to know something she didn’t about Digimon just seemed wrong on so many levels.

"How could you have possibly known that and I didn't?" she demanded as Henry handed the paper back to Jeri. The Chinese boy smirked at her and leaned back in his chair.

"Well maybe you aren't as knowledgeable as you thought you were," he teased as a vein throbbed in Rika's forehead before he turned to Jeri. "What does the article say anyway? Is it more stuff about aliens?"

“Trust me,” Takato said, giving a strained laugh. “It’s better if you don’t know. I…um…I’m pretty sure people don’t work like how the article described…things…in it.”

He gave an embarrassed cough and muttered something about eggs before anxiously grabbing another paper and began flipping through it.

"Huh," Henry said as he looked at the microfilm, putting it into his machine and began to slowly roll through the negatives. While the other three were sticking to tabloids, he was seeing if he could find something in more credible papers. There wasn't anything yet, but -

He blinked as he rolled the microfilm back as his eyes caught something during a brief skim and a slow smile stretched across his face.

"Guys, I think I found something," he said turning around, only to accidentally hit his head on the lens piece. Groaning a bit as he cradled his head, even the throbbing pain couldn't keep down his excitement.

“Are you okay?” Jeri asked as she and the others stood up to join him.

"I'm fine," he insisted as he turned back to the microfilm. "Listen to this though:

'Two creatures which have been identified as "Digimon" were seen fighting in Ichigaya on a Thursday afternoon.

From video footage from eyewitnesses, two Digimon - which have been recognized as Musyamon and Gargomon - were seen allegedly fighting after a bright fog lifted when a 7-year-old child ran into the fray. The Gargomon reportedly saved the child before defeating its opponent. The Digimon left before reporters and authorities could arrive on the scene.'

There's even a picture of Gargomon - I'm sure even you can recognize these Digimon, Rika," he said, smirking a bit at the red-head who only scowled.

Leaning forward, Takato’s mouth fell open at the picture. “Henry!” he exclaimed, pointing at it. “That…That looks like us! You…me…and Guilmon! We’re with the Gargomon?”

“Guilmon?” Jeri asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s Guilmon?”

“Oh… Just a digimon I made up when I was a kid,” Takato replied. Now it was his turn to feel embarrassed. He didn’t like talking about Guilmon with others. Kazu had beaten that desire out of him years ago when he first created the red dinosaur. Not physically of course, but violence wasn’t the only way to do damage to someone. “A-Anyway, this picture can’t be photoshopped. Guilmon never had a real version of himself that I can remember, so…this should be real! There’s no other explanation!”

Rika nudged Takato to the side to look at the picture as well, her heart falling slightly when she didn’t see herself in it as well. While there was undeniable proof - at least more than echoes that only she and Takato could see - that something had happened in the past, instead of feeling elated, her stomach turned uncomfortably. Questions surrounding what had happened and why once again slipped back into her brain and she tore herself away.

“Well, at least that’s one mystery solved,” she drawled as she sat back on the floor, her face arranged neutrally from years of practice. “Digimon are - were - real. Something toyed with our memories, and we have no idea why. At least we know we aren’t going crazy.”

It was a small comfort that didn’t help Rika’s foul mood lessen any.

Takato breathed a sigh of relief, feeling greater comfort than Rika did. Knowing that they weren’t going crazy was a great weight to have lifted off his shoulders.

Still. That didn’t mean they were out of the woods just yet. “So…who would do this? And how? Why?” Looking at the photos, his expression became sad looking at Guilmon and Gargomon. “What happened that caused all…this to happen?” He tapped his skull for emphasis. “Things had to have gotten pretty bad. Maybe there’s more that we’re missing?”

“Like our memories?” Rika asked sarcastically.

“Rika…” Henry warned her. “Sarcasm isn’t helping. Right now we need to focus on finding the missing puzzle pieces, not making smart remarks on why we don’t have them.”

Takato turned his gaze to Rika and offered her a small, comforting, if awkward smile. “He is right you know,” he added. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find anything else. We’ve got a lot to go through after all. It’s only going to take longer if we just stand here and...ah...make smart remarks and...stuff.”

“Hmph,” Rika said as she folded her arms, sulking slightly. She knew they had a point, but still. They had no leads to go on. All they had was the echoes, and they couldn’t even put a timeline to events on them. Sure, the general ages were easy to guess but did the photo Henry found come before or after the train scene? They had no discernible way of telling and while she was able to “read” the memories of herself if she touched herself in an echo, it wasn’t like there was any helpful exposition.

“I’ll continue looking through this paper,” Henry said. “It’s one that went out of print back in 2000 after that large earthquake pretty much tore up the city. It’s entirely possible that this one was forgotten if the government did go through everything.”

“Well I’ll put these back,” Rika announced as she picked up the rather large stack next to her with a grunt. “If we don’t have to waste time going through alien abductions because a credible news source has some stuff, I’m not going to. If I really wanted to know how Suzy Homemaker had a child through some otherworldly creature, I’d go on the Internet or read Twilight.”

###

"I'm home!" Henry yelled as he slipped off his shoes in the doorway to his family's apartment.

"You're awfully late," his mother chided him as she poked her head out of the kitchen, her brow furrowed as she brandished a knife in her hands. In the background, Henry could hear the boiling and cracking of ... whatever mother was cooking in the kitchen, the aroma of something he couldn't just quite place just yet wafting through the house.

"Sorry. I was a the library with my friends," he apologized as he pecked his mother on the cheek, peeking into the kitchen to see what she was cooking. "What's for dinner?"

"Red bean soup. Apparently Jaarin just broke up with her boyfriend, so I thought I'd make her favorite food to help cheer her up," she said with a sigh. Henry hummed as he took a step back thoughtfully. It wasn't like his older sister and her boyfriend were dating for all that long, but at 21, it seemed she was feeling the pressure from society to settle down already.

"Well I never liked him that much anyway," he said finally as his mother smirked slightly.

"Me neither, but try to keep the rude comments to a minimum during dinner," she said as she returned to her post. "We'll be eating soon, so go get washed up. Also, Suzy was looking for you earlier."

"OK," he said as he walked toward his room, musing slightly what his youngest sister could possibly want this time.

###  
Papers rustled as Suzie sorted through her older brother’s notebooks, trying to find one that wasn’t full of notes involving programs – at least what she thought were programs if she remembered her brother’s and fathers work, which she barely paid attention to – and other weird and utterly useless information. Tilting her head to one side, she scrunched up her eyebrows in annoyance as she came across the names of Takato and Rika again for what had to be the billionth time.

 _He should just marry Rika and get it over with if he likes her that much,_ she thought, closing another notebook and tossing it in the pile behind her with a huff of frustration. She was taking too long with this, mainly because she kept perusing through the diaries – what else were they given the topics discussed seemed to be more personal in nature than anything else. Except for the program stuff, leaving her to wonder why he didn’t just use his computer for that.

_Come to think of it, he’s hardly ever on that thing anymore… Weird…_

Grabbing another notebook, hoping this time that it would be an empty one she could use for school, she began to flip through it, and found herself getting lost in the random memories and questions floating within it.

 _Huh. This one is dated to two years ago. But that’s before he met Rika…_ Suzie shifted uncomfortably in her spot, wondering what her older brother was doing talking about a girl he had yet to become friends with. Was he stalking her?

_I’d better hurry up so I can clean this up before Henry gets home. He’ll get mad if he finds out I was in here without permission…_

Of course, speak - or in this case, think - of the devil and he shall appear.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Henry bellowed, finally home from wherever he was since he got out of school - as of late he seemed to be wandering around the city with his friends doing kami knows what - his bag clenched tightly in his hand. Stomping over, her older brother ripped the notebook out of her hand, his face a furious shade of red.

“Whoa! Hey!” Suzie exclaimed. “I’m sorry! I was looking for a notebook I could borrow for school. I don’t have anything right now and you weren’t answering your cell phone or anything.”

"You could have waited until I got home," Henry growled, his stomach turning uncomfortably as he looked at all the notebooks spread all over the floor as a feeling of dread crept like ice through his veins. He didn't label any of them - instead he had a very specific filing system to keep them organized.

 _Which one is the latest?_ he thought distractedly as he bent down and picked up the closest one to his feet and flipped it open. One of his many programs. He wasn't sure what version it was. He had no way of knowing unless he went through and checked.

“You were gone all day, Henry,” Suzie said, starting to gather the notebooks together into a pile. “I’ve got school tomorrow and you go to a different one. I couldn’t just sit around waiting for you if you weren’t answering your phone and I didn’t know when you were getting back.”

"Then why didn't you just go to the convenience store?" he demanded, not in the mood to be reasoned with.

“Mom was busy too,” Suzie replied, avoiding her brother’s gaze now. Her tone lilted a little, though she remained annoyed. “I don’t have any money right now.”

"I'm sure mom or dad would have lent you money for school supplies," he pointed out exasperated as he picked up the notebooks and put them on his bed to sort through later.

“Well they couldn’t because they weren’t here!” Suzie growled, her temper now reaching a fever pitch. “I’m not going out at night just because Mom’s with me! Stupid Henry!”

With a cry of indignation, Suzie threw the notebooks she had gathered together back down and stormed out of her brother’s room. The next sound that could be heard was the slamming of her bedroom door behind her, rattling the walls enough to earn her a scolding from their mother.

Henry opened his mouth before closing it again, any witty or angry remark he could possibly have yelled back taken away from him by his younger sister. Sighing he sat down at the edge of his bed and cradled his head in his hands.

_What am I going to do, Terriermon?_

###  
Rika stifled a yawn as she pushed open the gate to her home. The four of them got out of the library rather late, finding nothing else of value - not that it helped that some of them, herself included, were beginning to nod off from reading so many boring articles looking for the tiniest mention of Digimon.

 _I think I learned more on what was going on six years ago then what is currently going on now,_ she mused tiredly as the gate creaked close behind her as she made her way up the small winding path to her front door.

"I'm home," she yelled as she opened the door to her house, only to wrinkle her brow slightly when she noticed there was an extra pair of shoes in the doorway. Odd. She didn't know that anybody was coming over to visit - or at least she didn't remember her mother or grandmother mentioning anything of the kind.

Seiko came into view, a tray with three cups of tea sitting on it. Seeing her granddaughter, she nodded, smiling at her. The smile was a touch strained though. She was honestly glad to see the girl return home safe and sound, but there was more behind it than met the eye; a kind of concern about an approaching storm as it were.

“Welcome home, Rika,” she greeted. “We…have an unexpected visitor. You remember your mother’s cousin, don’t you? Himiko?”

"Himiko?" Rika asked as she slipped off her shoes, her brow furrowing, trying to recall members of her mother's family - after all, it sure as hell wouldn't be from her father's side - before finally vaguely recalling the obsidian eyed young woman and a scowl immediately coming across her face.

"Yes," she said, her voice becoming a bit strained as the stress from earlier seemed to physically manifest as she felt a heavy burden come down upon her shoulders. "The one with eyes as black as her soul. What about her?"

“It seems she’ll be staying with us for a while,” Seiko replied. “She was recently transferred by her job and she lives too far away to commute easily.”

She grimaced – an uncharacteristic expression for her – before resuming heading toward the dining area. “Would you like any tea before you meet with her? I know you don’t want to see her, but we’re going to need to discuss living arrangements and the sooner it gets resolved the sooner you can…well.” She flashed another smile at Rika, letting that last word say all that needed to be told.

"You sure you want to arm me prior to meeting her?" Rika asked wryly as she followed her grandmother into the dining room, literally dragging her feet as she did so.

“I was under the impression that your martial arts left you perpetually armed,” she said. “Anyway, I was thinking about giving you something to do with your hands that would help keep you calm.” Seiko laughed lightly. “I see I’ll have to revise that notion.”

"Well splashing hot tea on her smug face would calm me down," Rika said, smiling slightly. Even though she meant that partially in jest, the image of her cousin melting into a pile of goo as she did so amused her imagination for a brief moment.

It had been years since Rika had last seen her cousin. It was shortly after papa left them and they moved in with grandma, if she recalled correctly.

The meeting didn't end well, considering Rika bit the older woman before she left for saying nasty things about her father. Neither mama or grandma were happy with her, but even to this day Rika still held a bit of pride within her for that stunt.

“Somehow I don’t think doing that would help keep anything calm,” Seiko frowned. “I seem to recall that it didn’t when you left teeth marks on her. Promise that you’ll be on your best behavior while she’s here? I know that’s a lot to ask, but it is only until she finds a new apartment.”

"I will promise I will not bite her this time," Rika said with an impish grin before frowning. "I'll behave though if she behaves."

Seiko heaved a heavy sigh as they entered the dining area. “I guess that’s all I can ask for,” she said under her breath before putting on a smile for Himiko and Rumiko, seated across from each other. The air was tense between them and it appeared that the two women had spent much time glaring daggers at each other.

“Rika’s home,” Seiko announced, setting the tray down and passing the cups of tea over to Rumiko and her cousin. Himiko sniffed as she accepted it.

“Coming home late, I see,” she said, not beating around the bush with pleasantries.

"I'm sorry, I was at the library," Rika said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice as Rumiko raised her cup, taking a sip of tea before placing it down and deciding to ignore her cousin, focusing solely on her daughter. While she could control herself - her mother raised her well enough to contain her anger at least - she was worried that mom needed some extra help keeping Rika in line after the last time.

"Welcome home, Rika," she said with a smile as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Your finals are coming up, right? You’re still toward the top of your class?"

She kicked herself mentally for not knowing what position her daughter was in - as a mother, shouldn't she know this sort of thing - but the comment as it was to subtly brag about her "half-blood" daughter to the woman next to her who believed blood purity was everything. Rubbing Rika's success in her face was going to become her new favorite past time until she left.

Himiko’s eyes narrowed slightly at the remark, but chose to nod and take a sip from her tea, keeping a careful ear on the conversation. She knew what Rumiko was up to. Their verbal fencing was as old as time itself. Even when they were children they would trade barbs. This was merely the first of many thorns to be pricked upon.

Still, she had hoped Rumiko would know her place by now and move beyond such…childish shows of bravado. She was merely remarking on Rika’s absence from the home. While not necessarily out of place for a girl her age, it struck her as something to be expected. The look in her eye… Yes. She had a touch of her father in her whenever he was angry with someone. And Rumiko… That fierce defiance when she vowed to marry the man over her family’s objections… Rika was definitely their daughter.

Himiko crushed her nails – neatly filed – into the palm of her hand for the briefest of moments before releasing them. She felt a bit better for it, but only a bit.

Rika just hummed in answer to her mother's question - well aware of what was going on, but wished she knew a bit more about her life than she was "somewhere" toward the top. Still, the fact she knew this much was rather impressive coming from the woman who constantly left in the middle of parent-teacher days of those she did attend.

"Yeah," she said finally, realizing an answer was expected out of her. Still, this tense "family" setting was already beginning to make her stomach turn as she was forced to look into Himiko's face. "Anyway, how long are you staying for? I don't think finding an apartment on your budget will take very long."

The Hata family wasn't one that lacked for cash. It was a very old family in Japan which came from Korea and was tied to several royal families - only making the various "queen" monikers she held over the years that much more bitterly ironic.

“It shouldn’t take long,” Himiko replied, taking another sip. “I can’t promise how long it will be however. Finding a good place with my work schedule is complicated.”

"She'll be staying in the guest bedroom in the meantime," Rumiko said as she ran a thumb across the rim of her cup, not that pleased she would need to share a house with this woman. However, as mother had pointed out, she was still family and it was only right that they open their doors to her.

 _Not that she would do the same if we were in the same situation,_ she thought nastily. Ever since she had married her ex-husband and had Rika at 18, she had successfully cast herself as the "black sheep" of the family. A lot of the family felt like she wouldn't amount to anything, but now she was able to support not only herself and Rika, but her mother as well, on her paycheck. She didn't dip into any of the precious Hata funds even if she was living on the land.

 _Rika and I are Hatas as well,_ she thought darkly as she took another sip of tea forcing herself to calm down before her temper began to rival her daughter's. _Even if our name doesn't reflect that. We have every right to be here._

"So what do you do that you had to come over so quickly?" Rika asked as the whispers of the government was behind this tickled the back of her mind. While she was still rather skeptical of such claims, she couldn't help but feel her cousin's sudden arrival was a bit too well timed in the light of things. Her stomach flipped at the thought of her being a part of what happened.

 _Not that I would put it past her,_ she thought as she narrowed her eyes slightly. While Rika wasn't Christian, she was rather positive that Himiko was the Devil itself.

“I’m afraid that’s not something I can talk to you about,” Himiko replied, taking another sip. “It’s not about you or your presence in the family. It’s federal business.” She glanced at Rumiko. “Classified means _classified_ even from family.”

"Well isn't that grand to know," Rika replied sarcastically. "I'm family now. Imagine that."

“As much as the family wishes it weren’t so,” Himiko said, taking another sip. “However, there’s no arguing with it. What’s past is past, isn’t that right, Rumiko? We can only accept what happened and move forward.”

"Yes," Rumiko replied tersely, clenching her cup a bit tighter. What's past was past ... it was easy for Himiko to say as she wasn't on the receiving end of the Hata's fury. Not that she regretted her choices - after all, how could she regret her baby girl - but pain and anger only dulls with time, they do not leave. The scar was there still, and Himiko suddenly showing up in her life only served to pick at the ugly scab.

 _Forget and forgive ... I'm not a saint, Himiko,_ she thought. Still she didn't push the matter any further. It wasn't worth it to start a fight with Himiko - especially if she had to be living with her for an undetermined amount of time.

“Well, if there’s nothing else to discuss…” Seiko began, only to stop when Himiko set her cup down. The air around her seemed to thicken with tension.

“A moment,” she said, turning to Rika. “Ms. Nonaka. Rumiko. I do realize that I am living under your roof, but I feel that it is necessary to remind you that I am conducting service for our government. What you do reflects upon our families honor and reputation. Rumiko. I do not begrudge you your chosen career path. You seem to have made an honest living doing that. Rika on the other hand…” Threading her fingers together, she leaned forward. “I trust that you will not do anything that will cause too much of a commotion, given your records have shown considerable…improvement shall we say…in your behavior. Nonetheless, if you could make greater effort to curb your aggressive tendencies, it will be appreciated.”

"Well I guess we know what area of government you work for," Rika replied sarcastically, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach as the implication hit her like a bus. True, while her records probably weren't that hard to get, just the thought of the government - never mind her cousin - having access to them when she wasn't even sure that they had meddled with her mind made her physically sick.

"Rika," her mother hissed, a bit worried what sort of trouble her daughter had been getting into. While she had known some incidents, the way Himiko talked ... it seemed a lot worse than she had previously known. She knew that there was a time when she was afraid Rika might become a delinquent, but since mother convinced her allow her daughter to take tai chi and becoming friends with Henry, she seemed to have become happier. That was a year ago, and she hadn't HEARD of anything since then.

She made a mental note later to ask her mother the full extent of Rika's past behavioral problems. She didn't want any nasty surprises from Himiko of all people.

"What?" Rika asked only for her mother to shake her head slightly. Rika frowned as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but raised her violet eyes to meet Himiko's obsidian ones. "Whatever. I'll promise not to do anything to tarnish the family name beyond existing."

"Rika!" Rumiko snapped.

Seiko placed a hand on Rumiko’s shoulder and shook her head before turning to Rika. “It’s late dear. Why don’t you get ready for bed? You can have dinner in your room if you’d like before turning in.” She cast a meaningful look at Himiko. “I have a feeling we’re going to be having a more…adult conversation that you wouldn’t want to hear.”

"Whatever," Rika grumbled as she stood up. She was glad for the escape. She could only imagine what adult conversations which would be discussed but she felt if she stayed, she might not be able to keep her promise to grandma about not biting Himiko.

Excusing herself from the living room and grabbing a bowl of pudding from the fridge - not exactly dinner, but she wasn't exactly hungry and she rather drown herself in chocolate than anything else right now - she made her way back to her room.

Sticking the spoon in her mouth, she slid her bedroom door open before chucking her school bag inside.

The bag caught itself on thin air and hung in space for a moment before a pair of blue-eyes, shining in the darkness, cracked open.

“Something troubling you?” a voice spoke from the direction of the gleaming eyes with a tone of subtle bemusement.

"Holy crap!" Rika yelped as she fell flat on her ass, the spoon clattering to the ground as she clenched her heart as it pounded in her rib cage.

Over the din of Rumiko anger baring fangs long hidden from the world, yellow and white fur and purple armguards materialized into view. Long ears twitched, and a large golden fox-tail slashed through the air, clearly not liking the mood the house was in. Nonetheless, the fox-creature – a digimon – set Rika’s bag on the floor and then dropped to one knee, closing her eyes.

“I apologize for startling you,” the vulpine creature said. “I had thought…hoped…” An ear craned itself to one side and she sighed. “I presumed too much it would seem.”

Rika's breathing slowed as she stared at the fox like creature in front of her before pushing herself up to her feet.

She recognized the vulpine before her? How could she not?

"You're ... Renamon," she breathed in awe as she took a tentative step forward and reached out hesitantly to touch the kitsune's fur. Just like Leomon, her hand didn't go through. She couldn't help but note it was extremely soft as well. Her heart thudding in her chest, she bent down in front of the kneeling kitsune, remembering what Leomon had said and the hologram of her D-arc when she had run that blue card through it.

"Are ... are you real?" she asked hesitantly. "You're my Renamon, right?"

“I am,” the vulpine replied carefully as Rika’s fingers brushed against her muzzle. “However, my story is…not so simple as that, nor am I aware of all the sides. All I can say for certain is this.” Opening her eyes, she gazed at Rika, an emotion running through them – powerful and strong – before she continued. “There is a force working against you and your friends and it is steadily losing control.

“And it is not happy about that.”


	11. Dawn to Dusk

Sweat dripped down her forehead and her grey long sleeved shirt clung to her tightly as her feet pounded on the pavement. The morning dew was beginning to evaporate as the sun peeked above the horizon, waking up finally, and Rika slowed down to a stop, pulling the neck of her shirt up to wipe her sweat away as she caught her breath.

Pulling her earbuds out, music blasting from the small buds, she hit pause on the small iPod attached to her belt as she leaned against a brick wall, the bricks cool to the touch.

"Renamon?" she asked after a moment.

“Yes, Rika?” came the voice from the vulpine digimon, her shadow falling over the girl from atop the brick wall as she materialized out of thin air. While she remained wary of being seen despite being largely invisible to the world around them, she wasn’t concerned such would be the case this early in the day. “You sound concerned.” She tilted her head to one side curiously. “Is something wrong?”

Rika tilted her head up at the Digimon, staring at her for a moment in silent awe. Even after the events of last night, she still hadn't quite grasped the fact that this was, for a lack of better word, _real._ She could reach out and touch Renamon, and interact with her like she did with Leomon. More amazingly, Renamon was her Digital Partner.

She was still reeling from the fact Digimon once upon a time were real. Probably still were as well.

"I guess so," Rika said after a moment as her breathing slowed to a more normal tempo. "I'm still in shock about ... well ... everything. You being real. Some _thing_ messing around with our heads. Just ... wanted to make sure it wasn't a dream."

“I can assure you it is no dream,” Renamon smiled softly, her tail swishing slightly. To herself, it felt so good to be by Rika’s side again. She couldn’t put her feelings into words, but that was all right. She was united with her partner once more, and that was all that needed to care about.

"I know that," Rika assured her, before pausing a moment trying to put her feelings into words. "At least logically. Still..." she frowned and struggled once again to fully express herself. "It's like ... sinking in still. It's only been a few months now since I actually talked to someone about what I could see, and suddenly things are speeding up as we're going up this roller coaster hill and all I can keep thinking is 'what is going to be around this next corner,' you know?"

Part of her, if she was honest, was afraid of what was around the next corner. Whatever was out there managed to ruin her - their - lives several times before and had the ability to mess with the thing most precious to her; her mind. Part of her though, a larger part, was excited. To be in the middle of things - to be in the middle of trouble - thrilled her on a baser instinct she couldn't quite explain.

Renamon nodded in understanding. Things had very much been the same way when they initially became partners. Once they met Takato and Henry, it was as though a switch had been flipped. “Regardless of whatever’s around the next corner, we will face it together.”

 _Which is more than what I remember us doing before,_ Renamon thought quietly to herself. _Have things changed enough to make a difference? Will we be strong enough?_

She kept those thoughts to herself. For now, Rika needed to feel that they could make headway as long as they maintained a united front. There was so much she herself didn’t know, and Rika knew even less. They were fighting blindly while their enemy held all the cards and keys. It certainly appeared hopeless from that perspective.

"Heh, yeah," Rika smiled as she bent down and stretched a bit before her legs started to cramp up. While she found track and field boring after joining it her first year, she did learn some useful things. Henry never stopped nagging her since though to join a new club after she refused to rejoin in their second year.

 _It's a good thing I ignored him then,_ she thought, slightly amused. After all, if she listened to his advice, she would have other responsibilities besides whatever this was.

Beginning to walk again, Rika glanced up at Renamon.

"So you ready for today?"

“I am,” Renamon nodded, keeping pace with the girl while still standing atop the brick wall.

"You remember the plan, right?" Rika asked, chewing on her bottom lip as she already began to have second thoughts, worried about Renamon and what could happen. They had discussed ‘the plan’ in no great detail last night as it was fairly simple, but that by itself was enough to cause worry as they lacked intel to pull it off with a significant chance of success. Still, if Renamon lasted as long as she did ... plus she was to pull out at the first sign of trouble. The fear though settled in her chest. It was a blind attempt at answers, and while Rika never tended to plan ahead that much, she preferred to know what she was getting into to at least prepare accordingly.

“Of course,” Renamon replied, a bit amused while simultaneously glad for the girl’s concern. _Rika… You have come a long way…_

"Right," Rika said dumbly, not really sure what else needed to be said. "Remember though, if it gets hairy, get out."

Renamon was like a ninja the way she seemed to appear and disappear, and Rika couldn't help but wonder if that was part of the kitsune folklore. The evolutions took after it - especially Kyubimon, and she was curious how much else they lined up. She knew some folklore of course, but most of it revolved around the goddess Inari. What little else she knew was tidbits she picked up from spending time with her grandmother.

 _They're tricksters, right?_ she mused as she walked around the corner approaching her house. Renamon didn’t seem like a trickster to her, but of course with a large chunk of memories missing she had no way of knowing that for sure.

“Of course,” Renamon nodded again. She didn’t expect things to ‘get hairy’ as Rika put it, but she knew enough to not underestimate humans, and with the entity going about changing memories, she couldn’t afford to be caught on anyone’s radar.

Opening the gate, pausing a moment to ram her shoulder against it due to the fact it stuck again - they really needed to get the hinges greased or something - Rika walked toward the house to hop in the shower before getting dressed for school.

She figured grandma might be up by now, although it wouldn't surprise her if mama was still sleeping - unlike her mother and daughter, Rumiko was not a morning person at all. There was a reason her photo shoots tended to be scheduled bordering on the afternoon with "early" ones at around 10 a.m. Getting Rumiko Nonaka up any earlier was a struggle that most just didn't feel it was worth dealing with.

Renamon followed her partner inside, feeling a touch mischievous for doing so. During her years of ‘exile’, she rarely entered within even though she was invisible, and when she did she confined herself to the vicinity of Rika’s room. Now however she was allowed to enter and explore once more, only this time she didn’t even have to try hiding.

 _Himiko…_ she thought, smirking a little, pondering ways she could get back at the woman for her ill treatment of Rika before she quickly squelched thoughts of disreputable behavior. She frowned slightly at herself. _It seems those years had changed me as well,_ she mused, wondering how she didn’t notice it until now and not sure how she felt about it.

While she concerned herself with such thoughts, her nose twitched at smells emanating from the kitchen, and her stomach growled slightly.

Rika glanced back at her partner as they entered the kitchen, head tilting slightly as she wondered how the heck she ate when she wasn't staying with her.

Himiko was slumped forward at the table, a rather large coffee cup nestled between her hands, half of which was gone. Like Rumiko, it was obvious that morning's didn't agree with the Hata woman as her obsidian eyes lifted to meet the violet eyes of Rika.

"You're up early," she grunted as she took another swig of coffee, watching the youngest woman of the household put some bread in the toaster before opening up the fridge.

"You have a problem with that?" Rika demanded as she slammed the fridge shut, and Himiko noticed she had grabbed not one but two juice boxes. While it was a bit unusual perhaps, judging by her stench, damp clothes and labored breath, she had come back from a run.

"No," Himiko replied coldly, deciding that dealing with a somehow more obnoxious miniature Rumiko this early in the morning wasn't worth the headache she felt coming. Dealing with anybody who could willingly and easily get up before the sun was even awake tended to put Himiko in a bad mood, and the fact it was Rika only made it worse.

Sipping her coffee again, slowly feeling her brain to creak into gear, she decided to ignore the younger woman. Just seeing those obnoxious violet eyes - the mark of a Hata that should belong to her, not some _mistake_ \- burned angrily in the depths of her soul. It was going to be a long day already without a child ruining it.

Renamon padded over to the woman, curious to get a closer look at this person who seemed to detest Rika so. She could see the anger burning in those dark eyes – a kind of pettiness annoyed at the unfairness of life.

 _How sad,_ Renamon thought. _To waste one’s life being angry toward an innocent…_

Renamon was interrupted from her thoughts as her stomach abruptly growled again at her, unhappy at being left empty. She blushed lightly, remembering that around this time was when she would be raiding the Matsuki Bakery or another such location for day-old bread and food to keep her going. Her diet had become rather…chaotic following her initial breakup with Rika.

She would have to stop by there again to see what they had. She wondered if they had the cinnamon buns today.

_They should, but they sell so quickly…_

Renamon blushed again. Since rejoining with Rika, she felt a touch self-conscious about the habits she formed over the years.

_I don’t think I should tell Rika about where I’ve been living all this time…_

Rika fried some eggs - more than enough for the both her and Renamon - as she got a large bowl and the bread and juice, balancing it rather artfully as she intended to squirrel it away to her room.

"Where are you going?" Himiko demanded, causing Rika to pause and stare at her.

"Did you want me to eat here with you?" she asked sarcastically. The silence was all either of them needed and without another word, Rika left the kitchen, holding out the container of juice for Renamon as she walked down the hall toward her room.

"I normally prefer rice and miso soup for breakfast, but I don't really have the patience in the morning to make it," she admitted. "So I hope you don't mind eggs and toast. I'm going to jump in the bath real quick to wash down, so feel free to eat your fill. I can always make more too or mooch some food off grandma if she's in the kitchen before I leave for school."

Following Rika out of the kitchen, her eyes went wide at the offered food and drink. “I…” she paused as her stomach crooned gratefully, mirroring her own emotions. “Thank you, Rika,” she replied, accepting the breakfast. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of Himiko. “She may be leaving shortly, so I may not be here when you get back. I promise to return as soon as possible.”

"OK," Rika said as she rolled her shoulder blades back, feeling immediate relief when they popped. "I'll see you soon then, Renamon."

“See you soon,” Renamon nodded, vanishing from view.

###

Himiko Hata didn't think she was a paranoid person. She only accepted logical thought and rational discussion as truth, and anything else was mindless drivel she didn't need to concern herself with.

However since the moment she took a step out of the Hata family home where she was staying momentarily, she felt like she had been followed. Even when turning around, her black eyes darting around as baser, animal instincts roared warily, she saw nothing.

It did nothing to settle her unease. Part of her couldn't help but wonder if Yamaki's insane ramblings were in fact contagious.

 _They must be if I'm even thinking such foolish things,_ she thought darkly as the sliding glass to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building swished open.

Her black pumps clicked on the granite floor as she entered an elevator, pressing the "23" button before glancing at her watch. She was still on time, thankfully, after the late start to the morning.

Taking another sip from what had to be her third cup of coffee, the elevator dinged and she walked out into the hallway where Yamaki’s office - now hers - awaited.

###

Renamon had found over the years, since parting ways with Rika and ‘awakening’ back into the world, that she had difficulty using the abilities that allowed her to slip into the phantom, shadowy world she so often did when Rika was younger. Cold and dark where no one could see her if she didn't want to be seen… Only now no one could see her anymore no matter what she wanted. She was alone in ways that tore at the heart.Once there was solitude within that she craved, and now…now she desired the company of others. She desired the warm caress of the sun on her fur. She did these things and more in her new ‘bubble’, rejoicing every time she raced through the city, following Rika or one of the other Tamers…and now following Himiko Hata.

The joy was false – its taste nowhere near as good as when she finally met Rika face to face – but it would suffice for now. Her self-discipline remained difficult to shake even after all these years.

However, she did wonder if perhaps she had gotten careless when it came to following humans. Himiko turned around far too often; almost as if she _knew_ she was being followed.

Another time, another place, Renamon would have hidden herself better. Even felt sorry for disturbing someone. However, that was all in the past, and she found herself disliking Himiko as much as she pitied her for allowing herself to be trapped in her own anger.

Stopping across from the Shinjuku government building, she dropped down, extending her senses. Himiko’s presence, though faint, was easy to track through the building. She wondered if she should have followed her inside, but not knowing what sort of defenses the building had for her mysterious job, Renamon was hesitant to take too many risks until she felt it appropriate to do so. This building always made her pause anyway. She sensed something wrong with it – as though it were a tiger hiding in the grass – and she preferred to avoid it when convenient.

 _It would appear that this isn’t going to be the case today,_ Renamon mused, dropping down into a crouching position, taking in the windows, her eyes tracking Himiko’s still as yet unseen movements before finally pausing on one. The door within the room opened, and Himiko stepped inside, coffee thermos in hand and ready to assist her in the day’s battle. All that was left now was to wait for an opportunity and see what happened.

###

Even three cups of coffee didn't do enough to bring her to full processing power, even though her hand started to shake ever so slightly from the caffeine overload. Still it was enough for her to enter into a work environment without killing her co-workers until about 10 a.m., and that what was important. Shutting the door to her new office so she wouldn't be disturbed, she sat down in her chair and pulled out the files where she had left off yesterday - late 2006 - and cracked open the large binder.

Resting her chin on her hand, she stared at the rows of numbers and letters in front of her. While nothing as interesting as 'Oracle' was popping up at her, it seemed that the Predictor Server 9 was something which had been part of Mnemosyne even prior to program which seemed to be running now.

Picking up a pen and scribbling a note of it, she nibbled on her pen as she turned a page. More numbers, nothing of any real value or interest - or at least nothing Himiko found interesting. Standard governmental expenses which she expected within the price range.

_Oh it looks like they got a new coffee machine that year..._

###

Time passed, during which Renamon wished she had brought a book from her ‘home’ to read while she waited. She left her spot every now and then, probing the area for a weakness she could use to gain quick entrance, but as yet there was nothing that could be of any use to her save the top rooftop where the helipads were located and the bottom floor, neither of which she felt comfortable enough to use at present.

Finally though, after what felt like an eternity, Himiko stood up and pushed open the window to her office, though whether for a breath of fresh air or out of sensing her presence Renamon couldn’t be sure, although her glaring across the street in her direction certainly gave her suspicions a strong case to argue.

Renamon glanced up at the sky. The sun was tracking toward the direction of noon and so far she had yet to make any serious progress. Renamon had to admit to being impressed by her fortitude. Still, in the end, she was just human.

 _You have to go to the bathroom sooner or later,_ Renamon thought. _You certainly drank enough coffee for it._

Almost as if responding to Renamon’s wishes, Himiko pushed her chair away from the desk and walked out the door, closing it firmly behind her.

Seizing the opportunity, Renamon quickly teleported to the other side and entered through the open window, all without so much as disturbing the papers on Himiko’s desk. Sauntering over to the desk, she began to leaf through the files spread out across its surface. Very little made sense to her. Numbers and names… She assumed perhaps some kind of cost analysis given her studies into human culture and her familiarity with the yen symbol attached to each number, and having learned to read enough Japanese to get by, it wasn’t difficult to decipher the words on the papers.

 _Oracle_ caught her eye here, along with many others. Pulling back Himiko’s chair, she sat herself down and began to pour more directly through the files to see if there was anything else. Perhaps, just perhaps…

 _Ah… Here we go…_ she thought, her eyes widening at the sight of one of them. Some kind of pictograph or…

It was just then that an alarm sounded throughout the building. Cursing under her breath, she swept the papers into one folder and then, taking one last look around to see if there was anything else of interest she should take while she still had time - though the rush of footsteps told her otherwise - she jumped out the window and vanished from view.

###

“Yamaki!”

Stomping down the winding staircase which lead to where the staff of Mnemosyne lurked, her dark eyes darted around looking for the former director before seeing his pale blonde hair illuminated in the blue glow of the computers. Her lips turning into a snarl, she pushed the boiling anger back down as she reminded herself not to become like her more emotional cousins.

While yes, the files detailing Oracle had gone missing, she was in a work environment. She was supposed to be in charge and biting the head off an employee, even if she was sure he was the one who stole the papers, was not the best approach.

 _Even if he is going to stonewall me and try to make me look incompetent, I’m not going to let him win,_ she thought grimly. _If he wanted to stay in charge of Mnemosyne, he should have done a better job. I’ll show him how a person of refinement acts._

The bared teeth receded into an angry grimace as she stomped over to the lunatic.

“Yamaki, I would like a word with you,” she said with barely hidden restraint.

“Before that,” Yamaki began, pointing to the screen. “I think you should see something. You might find this...interesting.”

Nodding to Riley, an image appeared on the screen, one of what appeared to be a golden-furred fox pawing through the files that were left on her desk.

“This was taken right before alarms sounded,” Yamaki stated. “As you can see from the video footage we have from your office, this...thing, whatever it is, manages to take a number of files before fleeing.” Yamaki glanced at Himiko out of the corner of an eye. “I assume that’s what you’re here for.”

Himiko covered her mouth with her hand, trying to find the words to say. After the obligatory “what the fuck” running through her mind, other questions popped up such as “why do you have your, my, office bugged,” “how the hell did that thing get inside,” and “what is it.”

After weighing the questions in her mind, she opened her mouth to ask the most prevalent one - what is it and how did it get inside - before the video seemed to become fuzzy and simply disappeared before it began to loop her office to become completely empty.

“What…?” was all she managed to get out as her hand dropped from her face in shock. However, she quickly recovered herself and turned to the two women manning the machines. “Pull up the file! See if you can find it and look for any foreign entity on our system! Block any requests coming into this building that isn’t from Mnemosyne!”

Clicking her tongue irritably, she glared at the screen almost as if she was challenging it. It was clear something was attacking the governmental server, and whatever it was, Himiko had no intention of letting it win.

_Maybe Yamaki isn’t as paranoid as previously thought._

###

Renamon sat atop the roof of Guilmon’s old shed, folder laid across her lap as she meditated, waiting for her partner and her friends to arrive. Standing guard at the top of the stairs was Leomon, arms folded over his massive chest, the hilt of his sword gleaming in the sunlight. Between the two of them they appeared as statues.

_Jeri’s partner… That still sounds so strange…_

She had seen enough echoes to not be surprised by it, occasionally at Jeri’s house and once here to have worked things out, but the puppet-loving girl seemed to make an odd pair with Leomon, who was more a wandering barbarian with a samurai code.

The absence of further images of Leomon following what she could gather from other echoes was trip to the digital world worried her. Did he stay behind? Or did he…?

There was much she didn’t know, and she felt that as the entity behind all this lost more control, the more information that would become available. She adjusted her grip on the folder, wondering, with her and Leomon’s presence, how many more echoes would become sentient. Opening her eyes, she gazed at the cat-man, his mane blowing in the wind. Yet he continued to stand there, strong and resolute, like a rock against the ocean. Renamon gave a light chuckle.

To Leomon, it was a bit of a relief to have another like him in this strange world where nothing made sense. He only came to the human world recently, and for six years to change in a blink of an eye was a bit disconcerting.

While Renamon had been in this world longer than he, it seemed from their failed attempt at "small talk" she hailed from an earlier time when they had not yet met. Still, he supposed it didn't matter as long as they got to the bottom of this mystery, and the plain looking folder sitting innocently in Renamon's lap seemed to hold clues they searched for.

"Hey!" The giant cat turned his head slightly to see three of the four Tamers running their way. With Takato going to a different school, it would make sense that he would lag slightly behind the others.

“In the words of Terriermon, it’s about time.” Getting up, Renamon hopped down from off the roof and stepped over to stand by Leomon’s side, tucking the folder under one arm as they drew near. Upon seeing Jeri and Henry along with Rika, she inclined her head slightly. “Hello everyone. Takato should be here shortly. I imagine he is on his way as we speak.”

 _He would most certainly be at his most attentive when there’s an important meeting after school,_ she thought. She kept tabs on each of the Tamers and had come to know their habits to a degree. Takato’s unruly hair unfortunately kept getting him into trouble with his class rep, so much so beyond what was reasonable that she couldn’t help but wonder if she had a crush on the poor boy.

 _He’s not for you I’m afraid,_ she thought distractedly, smiling at Rika.

"Sorry," Rika apologized as she drew closer, slowing down to a jog as Henry raised his eye at what seemed to be a folder floating in midair. He wondered if it was Leomon, but the indent in the grass where the large cat's weight pressed down hadn't moved while the folder seemed to tumble from the top of the bunker.

There was only one he knew of which could move so gracefully, and after digging his phone out of his pocket his suspicions were confirmed correct.

"Renamon," he greeted with a slight smile, happy to see the vulpine Digimon again. He had wondered what got Rika all excited after she demanded that Jeri and himself meet after school, assuring them both she already texted Takato. She remained tight lipped on what was so important, but upon seeing Renamon, he was beginning to have an inkling.

"We should probably wait for Takato to show up," Rika said as she slung the bag of food over her shoulder she insisted on grabbing at the local market on their way here. "It's a pain to explain more than once."

_“Heeeyyy!!!”_

Takato’s cry came as if on cue. Looking up, Renamon watched in amusement as the brown-haired boy raced up the length of the stairs, his lungs gulping down oxygen by the truck-full to fuel his lagging pace.

“S-Sorry I’m late,” he wheezed, drawing to a halt and nearly collapsing from the strain of his run. His hair was matted to his face and soaked with sweat. “I thought… I thought I wasn’t going to make it… My class rep… And the mop bucket…and the mop… And… a _Renamon?!?”_

His breath came out in one large blast as he set himself down on the last step and he began to laugh almost hysterically. “Yeah… I’m pretty sure all that exploding ramen and the detention…was worth…this…”

Still smiling, he looked at Rika. “She’s why you…texted…for a meet up.” Not a question. Simply a statement. “She’s...your partner.”

“She’s very beautiful,” Jeri smiled, having taken out her own phone in order to see the vulpine digimon. She glanced at Takato worriedly, his face red from his running and wondering if she should do something.

 _He seems okay…_ She thought a bit hesitantly before returning her attention to Renamon. “What’s that she’s holding?”

"Yes and isn’t she? Anyway I didn’t call you all over to gawk at Renamon; that can be done later. To start with, I suppose I'll give you the too long, didn't read version and something is messing with our memories," Rika said as she looked at Takato with a slight frown, her brow furrowing. She was worried if he was OK, but considering he seemed to be breathing still and hadn’t passed out, she decided he would be fine. "I mean we figured that out yesterday, but apparently this has happened multiple times. Apparently Takato saw it happen when he was dreaming or whatever, Renamon can explain better than that, but it's probably not human. So, I'll chalk that up into the I told you so isle.

"However, my cousin Himiko, who I must add real quick is the devil in human clothing, works for the government and has recently transferred over here and her work is super top secret. Since her coming to live with us shortly after everything was super coincidental, I asked Renamon to follow her, and it seems she learned something. And stole something."

Rika glanced at her partner and grinned - a slightly evil one, but held back on the maniacal laughter. Just barely though.

 _What's top secret now, huh?_ she thought smugly as her sadistic smile grew larger.

“Um… Isn’t that illegal?” Jeri asked, raising a questioning finger. “I mean, if we’re caught we could all go to jail.”

"Probably," Rika agreed, pointing her finger at the other girl with a grin, too much on a high of victory to really care about consequences at the moment.

Luckily Henry was a bit more level headed and was able to make a more rational argument to assure Jeri’s fears. While Jeri did have a point - they did just steal highly classified documents, or at least Renamon did - as far as he was concerned they were playing hardball with forces outside of their control.

"We can always have Renamon return it," he assured her. "But if we have it now, why not take a peek? After all, like Rika said, a governmental employee who is related to one of us transferring to this district when all this is going on is a bit too coincidental. Maybe we can learn something."

That and he really wanted to see what Renamon managed to swipe.

Jeri crossed her arms together and scowled, not at all sure if she liked this. Rika’s reputation already didn’t do her any favors, but she never heard of her stealing before (even if it wasn’t technically ‘her’ doing the thievery). That little seed of doubt was not going away anytime soon.

However, unable to do more than be concerned and more than a little curious about the contents of the folder now that Rika’s friend – or rather her _partner_ – had it. She glanced over at Takato to see what his reaction was. He stared straight ahead in the direction of the floating folder as it was placed down on the ground and opened, revealing its contents. He seemed more than a little bit curious as well as he forced himself closer, his breathing now under control.

“Um… This looks complicated,” he said, picking up one of the papers and turning it around so that it was facing right-side up. “Um… Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what ‘Oracle’ is?”

"Typically oracles refer to future events. Like a prediction," Henry explained as he peeked at the folder, only for his brow to furrow slightly. "Oh, uh, wow ... hm ..."

Picking up one of the papers, he sat down on the steps as he studied the lines of numbers as his stomach flipped uncomfortably. While he wasn't sure what it meant exactly, he had a nasty inkling of what exactly he was looking at.

"The money that is being put into this program is a lot it seems ... kind of excessive too. How much was the national budget last year again?"

“Sorry,” Takato shrugged, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. “I don’t really follow the news all that much. Um… Jeri? Rika?”

“I don’t,” Jeri replied quietly, not meeting his gaze.

"No, but I could tell you what it was in 2000," Rika replied sarcastically. Henry rolled his eyes.

"OK, so not helpful. I'll look it up later. Either way this is clearly an informational agency and this amount of money is a big deal. Rika, do you or Renamon know where your cousin works?"

"Nope," Rika replied again. "I was too busy trying not punch her face in."

Both Jeri and Takato frowned at Rika, but as yet said nothing, not sure what to make of it.

“Well,” Takato coughed politely, “either way, I’m not sure what it is that we’re looking at. Is this Oracle or whatever predicting what we’re doing or something?”

"Well ... it could be," Henry said with a frown, not really concerning himself with Rika's issues with her cousin considering it was probably on her mother's side. He knew of her mother's maiden name - a secret he had kept from the others due to Rika's desire to been seen as normal despite her already obvious affluence in wealth and talent. Being known as a Hata no doubt would make things more difficult for her, even if unintentionally.

"Look at this, it's called Behavior Server 9 and it’s under Digital Arms and Research Division. And it's rather ... detailed,” he continued. “Plus look at the expected outcomes of the project."

“Looks like a lot of stuff about catching criminals before they can even commit a cri – Oh.” Takato blanched before taking a closer look. “Oh… Wait. They can do that? And what’s this about ‘tagging high-risk targets with an algorithm that alters their predicted paths and…’ Uh… This is a lot of science-heavy stuff. ‘Quantum Branches’? And something about merging these branches helps ‘course change’ people?”

Takato scowled. He wasn’t getting much about what he was reading, but so immersed in creativity and storytelling that a suspicion began to put together a pattern for him. _It almost sounds like a form of mind control._

"Catch someone before doing a crime?" Rika asked as she squatted down in front of the papers, scowling. "What is this? A police state where the possibility of committing a crime is cause for incarceration? How is that fair?"

"Ignore that for a moment," Henry said, although he didn't like the implications either before tapping the quantum branches section. "This is what we should be looking more at in regards to us and what we've experienced. Course change people. Now think, what is a good way to change someone's course?"

“What’s been happening to us, right?” Takato tapped the side of his head. “Change our memories and everything.”

"Exactly," Henry said solemnly as he pointed his finger at Takato.

"Well ... that doesn't explain Renamon or Leomon, or anything about the other echoes," Rika pointed out with a small frown, rocking slightly on her heels. "And Renamon said it wasn't the government ... or Digimon either."

"Who said it can't use governmental technology though?" Henry pointed out before turning to Renamon, using his phone as a guide so he could look at her. "Can you explain again to us what exactly you told Rika?" He paused and turned to Takato and Rika. "You two will obviously need to translate for Jeri and myself considering."

Renamon nodded. “During my travels, I would notice some kind of code surrounding everyone. You… Your families… Everyone. There are some strange entities that move between people. They resemble some kind of glowing…butterfly or bird, and they interact with the code surrounding you, inserting something within them. I can only guess that this is how they were able to alter your memories.” Renamon frowned. “I don’t believe they are digimon. I do not know what they are. They aren’t like anything I have encountered before.”

As Rika repeated what Renamon said, Henry frowned slightly. It was nothing he ever encountered before, and it seems while they keep receiving puzzle pieces, without the bigger picture to help guide them ... they had no way to put it all together.

Rubbing his chin, he remembered that Rika said Takato saw something similar while sleeping. His stomach flipped a bit at the description of what it was, but he shook his head and shoved it to the side for now. There was no way that was possible, and there was no reason to cause unnecessary fear without more facts.

"Renamon said that Takato saw something like this as well, correct? Takato do you remember anything?" he asked hopefully. If he did, maybe the boy could use his art skills to draw it for the rest of them.

“Ah…no?” Takato replied uncertainly after giving the question the weighty attention it deserved. “I’m pretty sure I would remember something like that.” He furrowed his brow, remembering Renamon saying that he ‘dreamt’ of these things. “Come to think of it… I’ve been having a hard time remembering my dreams lately…”

"That helps us none," Rika complained as she stared at the papers, most of which only made sense to Henry. Resting her chin on her knees, her foot tapping irritably, she closed her eyes as she recalled the conversation last night. "OK, so recap of everything. If I add anything not discussed, let me know.

"First off, we know that our memories have been altered several times. The reasoning for these altering, according to Renamon, varied from something one of us said or something we've seen.

"Second off, we've been able to resist these changes as of late, which would explain why we are still here talking about it instead of being complete strangers. Again. The reason for this is unknown.

"Third, something, not Digimon or human, has been meddling with our memories - and others - via some sort of digital code each of us apparently has. I'm not sure if I read in a science fiction book or an actual article, that memories are data. So by changing the data you change the memories. It's the access of this data which is more worrisome, although I wonder if that has something to do with the Devas and the Digital World Leomon talked about.

"Fourth, Takato dreams aren't normal, and he can't remember them. Which doesn't help us much considering Picasso might be able to show us what he sees if he remembers. Unless Renamon can draw, which would help in the meantime.

"Fifth, we have no idea why only Takato and I can see Leomon and Renamon and the other echoes. We also don't know anything about the echoes, except I'm pretty sure they are they are the result of whatever this force Renamon told me about. Oh, which is also losing control, so yay for that. We're on a crash course to Armageddon."

She opened her eyes and gave a deep sigh. While they had more information than before, it was still close to nothing. It bothered her to no end.

"Finally, we know the government is not only deciding not to bother with the justice system but seems to have technology for some sort of memory wipes. Am I missing anything?”

“Um… I don’t think you left anything out,” Takato said before raising an arm. “So what about what we can do to do something about it. We’ve been trying to find evidence and we’re finding some stuff but we need something a little more…concrete? Otherwise, who’s going to believe us?”

Jeri nodded in unison to Takato’s words. “No one else can see Leomon and Renamon, but I think today proved that they can touch and move things and we can see that. And…oh!” Jeri’s eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. “I know someone who might be able to help us. Our cell phones get erased, but…what if we used something a little…different? Like older cameras?”

"That could work," Henry agreed nodding his head. Convincing others that things were not as they seemed would be a sensitive task when actually carried out, but preparing for it with evidence was a good place to start. Baby steps. There was no reasons to repeat the mistakes of the past. "The only problem would be finding someone who prints negatives, but it's not impossible. Photography is a pretty popular hobby and some old folk haven't caught on to the digital technology yet, or simply don't want to."

"Woah, I didn't even know they sold old cameras that still used negatives. Good thinking, Jeri," Rika whistled as Leomon puffed his chest out like a prideful father. While he had nothing really to add to the conversation as a newcomer, he was happy that his partner was contributing just as much as the other three.

"Yes," the cat Digimon agreed, speaking for the first time since discussion began. “That would be a wise course of action.”

“About what Renamon sees…” Takato began a bit carefully. “This might sound stupid but… What if I taught Renamon to draw? Or helped get her what she needs for it? I’ve got a lot of stuff to use. It might give us something to look out for at least so we’re not going into this blind.”

Rika craned her neck upward as she looked at her partner. While she didn’t mind personally, the decision was Renamon’s.

"What do you think, Renamon?"

“It’s worth a try,” the vulpine digimon replied. “It couldn’t hurt at this point.”

"Well, let's give it a whirl then. Probably whenever is convenient for Takato considering his family owns a bakery," she said before turning to look at the documents with a slight frown. "What should we do with these those? I can't exactly take them home for obvious reasons."

“I could hold onto them,” Renamon said, collecting the documents once more. “I have a place of my own, so to speak. It’s not much, but it’s safe from prying eyes.”

"That works for now," Rika said with a shrug. "Just in case we need to look at them again. Well, Henry needs to look at them since he seems to be the only one who understands this stuff."

"Maybe if you paid more attention to your surroundings, you'd understand them as well," the Chinese boy said dryly as he stood up, glancing at his watch. "I need to get home, but before I forget, my sister's birthday is coming up next week. You are all invited - she was particularly insistent you come, Takato."

Takato raised an eyebrow at that before shrugging. “I’ll see if I can make it, but I can’t really promise anything. I mean, we’re all going to be pretty busy with this stuff and I’ve got to make sure I stay on top of my grades.” Heaving a sigh, his shoulders sagged. “I really don’t want to disappoint my parents or anything once exams come at the end of the month. I almost didn’t get into high school because I got sloppy studying for entrance exams.”

"If you struggle that much with exams, I can help tutor you," Rika offered as she stood up as well as Henry shook his head slightly, amazed at Takato's obliviousness and Rika's ability to offer to tutor him nonchalantly. "I do pretty well in school, and as long as I review my notes, I ought to be fine."

Rika was well aware she was one of the hated type of students who was able to grasp a concept with relative ease and remember it with little studying. While she could go with little studying and constantly hit around high 80s to low 90s, subjects she tended to be more interested in were closer to perfect scores.

“Really? That’d be great!” Takato’s smile beamed like a ray of sunshine, causing Jeri to frown and a small, barely visible smile to form on Renamon’s muzzle. “Uh…if it’s not a big deal that is… I wouldn’t want to cause trouble or anything…”

“Nah, it’s no problem,” she said as she stretched lazily.

“Thanks Rika!” Takato exclaimed happily. “I owe you one!”

Jeri’s scowl deepened and she glanced away, fingering the hem of her skirt and wishing she didn’t feel this way. She was with Kazu now after all, and yet...seeing the boy she used to like get along so well with Rika, who had a bad reputation, it was hard not to feel a tiny bit jealous.

 _That’s all in the past though_ , she told herself, forcing her eyes back to the pair. She smiled, wanting to feel happy. _Maybe Rika can help him get better grades. I tried, but he’s just...always so distracted._

Rika noticed Jeri’s change in demeanor as she offered to help Takato study. Tilting her head slightly as Jeri mood seemed to sour, she couldn’t help but remember the sexual tension that day in Henry’s room between the two and not for the first time she wondered what the heck was going on between the two. She struggled though trying to figure out how helping him study would make Jeri upset.

 _I thought she got good grades as well,_ Rika mused scratching the back of her head. While Henry was in the top of their grade and Rika was constantly hopping on and off the top 10 list depending on how interested she was in school during the exam period, she was pretty sure she remembered seeing Jeri’s name at least within the top 50.

“It’s no big deal,” she said shrugging. “The four of us could even have a study session. My best subjects are English - don’t say anything - and history. Henry is really good at math and science, and Jeri’s always good in literature-” Rika hoped that guess sounded surer than she felt - “so it wouldn’t be a bad idea if we helped each other with our strengths and covered our weaknesses, or something.”

 _And more importantly, get Jeri to stop sulking,_ she added mentally. While she only knew the girl for a short period of time - well technically not correct she supposed, but was recently remembering and getting along with her - she really had no desire to cause a weird rift between them unknowingly. She could always talk to Jeri later, but it might be smart to play nice for the moment until she figured out what was going on between Jeri and Takato.

“That might not be a bad idea,” Henry agreed, more aware than his friend on what exactly the issue was and somewhat impressed how oblivious and intelligent she could be at the same time. Unlike Takato who seemed painfully unaware of Jeri’s feelings, Rika seemed to have picked something up but didn’t quite understand the full context of the situation yet.

 _Yet she did a rather impressive save,_ he thought somewhat amused.

“That way we can continue discussing the problem while helping each other out. It would be bad if any of us fell behind in our studies after all,” he continued, looking at Takato for that. While he didn’t think the boy was dumb, the crimson-eyed teen was just … scatterbrained.

Renamon watched as the teens went back and forth with their plans, sharing schedules and refining things. It felt...wonderful seeing them starting to work together once more, just as they did in the echoes she had seen. Just like the one echo she came across where they were all gathered together outside Guilmon’s hut, packed and ready to go to a trip to the digital world. All of them rallied under the banner of Takato’s ridiculous flag.

She smiled, wondering what her original self would have felt, being a part of all that. She tightened her grip on the folder, wondering if she would find out.


	12. River of Dreams

Renamon bounded from rooftop to rooftop, tracing her way through streets as familiar to her now as a footprint before finally finishing up at a small, out of the way building, largely run-down looking but otherwise serviceable for shelter.

The building had provided shelter for her on many a day and month for the past three years since discovering that the world could not see or hear her, and the pain of Rika’s rejection of their partnership remained too strong and recent a memory for her to confront. Slipping inside through an open window – ‘open’ in the sense that the glass was missing – she dropped down and upon landing on the floor below, checked around her (old habits dying hard) before padding her way over to the room that had been her place of retreat while Rika was at school or otherwise away.

Renamon scowled, remembering the first day that Rika had gone on a trip and she discovered she could not be there to protect her. She had panicked then, and ultimately found her way here, in this place of torn wallpapers full of water-stained flowers and ugly green doors. Some kind of abandoned hotel she gathered, though she hadn’t cared about the history then, nor did she now. It was a place she temporarily called ‘home’ whenever she couldn’t be wherever Rika was.

Approaching one door – its green destroyed by scuffing and claw marks – Renamon pushed it open and entered within, closing it behind her.

The room was bare for the most part, save for books and some newspapers sitting on a table; reading material, though it required her to infiltrate an elementary classroom to learn to read.

With Rika at school and unable to see her at the time, Renamon found herself with considerable time to learn a great many things.

But that was neither here nor there anymore. She didn’t have to be here, and after today she no longer intended to return to this place. She had one more stop to make at Takato’s before rejoining Rika at her home, but she returned to this place for one final task.

One final goodbye. Goodbye to a time that shouldn’t have existed at all.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked past the stack of books and newspapers, and at once her heart clenched. Seated in a high chair, a simple, blank smile below a mess of red, mop-like hair tied back into a ponytail, sat a doll wearing a tiny white T-shirt with what appeared to be a crude attempt at a marker-drawn broken-heart on its chest. Purple, button-eyes stared emptily at her. Swallowing, Renamon bowed politely.

“I am going home,” she said to the doll. “Goodbye… _Rika.”_

With that, Renamon turned and exited the room, leaving the doll alone to the darkness.

###

Takato sat at his desk, losing himself to his drawings, his pencil sketching in details. This time, for a wonder, his sheet of paper was filled with something that had nothing to do with his creation, Guilmon, and instead was focused on the day’s events. An unfinished image of Leomon sat in the top left corner, looking skyward, his eyes strong, focused and determined. In the top right was Jeri, her expression looking downward, eyes appearing sad. She didn’t look that way at all today, but for some reason he felt that with her all the same; like there was something she kept hidden and the smile she nearly always wore was a mask for deeper things.

 _Maybe I’m just crazy,_ he thought distractedly, sketching the last line on Renamon and leaning back to survey his work. Renamon and Rika, hugging each other, a relieved look on Rika’s face while Renamon’s tail wrapped around her protectively. He worried about Rika seeing it, doubting she would like the idea of him drawing her for any reason, but he had to get it out of him. There had been a lot of unsaid emotions today and drawing was one of the ways he dealt with his thoughts and feelings from the day.

 _I’ll erase it later,_ he mused, folding his arms behind his head and memorizing the sketch, turning his thoughts to Henry’s portion of the sketch. He had been very hard to read today for some reason…

A gloved paw knocked lightly on Takato’s window as a large vulpine balanced easily on the railing outside, her tail swishing back and forth as she waited to be let in.

Giving a startled cry in surprise, Takato jerked in his seat, nearly knocking it over in the process. The unexpected visage of Renamon balancing on the safety guard in front of his window, combined with her blue-eyes glowing eerily in the light of his room, nearly gave him a heart attack.

“Jeez Renamon…” he gasped, getting up from his seat and pushing open the window. “Did you go around trying to scare me back when we first knew each other or...what?” he asked the vulpine digimon, calming down and stepping to the side to allow her entry.

“My apologies,” Renamon said as she stepped gracefully into the room, her blue-eyes studying the room. It seemed each time she stopped by the bakery, Takato’s room only got messier. A piece of paper on the desk caught her attention and she moved closer to look at it as she continued her thoughts. “You’ve always been rather easy to startle, however, to answer your question whether it was my intention or not.”

“Oh. Um… Okay?” Takato rubbed the back of his head, wondering what else there was to say. Renamon didn’t seem to be much for small-talk. Or maybe that was just him, since he couldn’t figure out many topics of conversation. “So...ah… W-What brings you here? Can I get you something to eat or drink at all? It won’t be too hard to get something up here.”

“The drawing lessons, remember? Also, if it isn’t too much trouble, I would appreciate something,” Renamon answered, a hint of amusement in her voice as she picked up the paper and a small smile crossed her muzzle. Takato was getting better over the years and the picture of the two of them warmed her heart. It was something she had been wanting for the past three years since she first came into being and realization she was all but alone.

“You’ve gotten better,” she said as she put the picture down on the desk carefully from where she found it before looking at him. “I must say you have a real eye for detail.”

Takato blushed visibly at both Renamon’s compliment and at her sighting his latest sketch. “I-It’s no big deal,” he replied, again rubbing the back of his head. “Also...please don’t tell Rika about it. I...kind of think she’d kill me if she knew.”

“Well she did seem off put when you dreamt of her last time,” Renamon acknowledged, her Tamer’s creeped out face appearing in her mind’s eye before disappearing into nothing. Still, the girl still helped him all the same despite their rocky relationship - at the time she had taken it as a sign of positive things to come. It turned out she got her hopes up too soon. “All the same, would it not be easier if you asked Rika to model for you?”

“M-Model?” All at once Takato’s mind went back to a nude-drawing course he took last year, and his face flushed like wildfire. “I...I couldn’t… I can’t… Rika… She’d never…” His eyes becoming evasive, he suddenly wanted nothing else but to be somewhere other than here. “I’m...I’m just going to get that food and drink now.”

Half tripping over himself in an attempt to not look as though he were trying to escape, Takato quickly retreated out of his room, shutting the door behind him.

“Hmm,” Renamon hummed, partly amused at Takato’s reaction, making a mental note of it for later. She wasn’t sure what sort of thing was going on through his head, but she had read enough up on the biological changes humans go through to feel like she could make an educated guess.

All the same, she couldn’t imagine why the word “model” would elicit such a reaction. After all, Rika described her own mother as a model - amongst other things - and Takato never seemed to react to it prior. After all, it was merely posing for pictures.

 _Probably due to his desire to mate with Rika?_ Renamon mused thoughtfully as she tilted her head. It seemed like the most logical conclusion considering the pattern she observed between the red-eyed boy and her Tamer. It was vexing to watch each time the two get close only to get ripped apart cruelly, like star-crossed lovers stories Rika declared she hated on more than one occasion.

Takato returned in record time with a tray carrying a glass of milk and a small pile of bread. Still blushing, around the tips of his ears mainly, Takato stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

“I didn’t know what you liked, but we have lots of bread and that’s what I could get away with,” he said in a low voice, though whether from embarrassment or to keep his parents from thinking he was losing his mind was a toss-up. Settling himself down on the floor, he placed the tray between them and then reached over to his side to grab a nearby sketchbook.

That was one of the reasons why his room remained so messy. He knew where everything was. Why fix something that wasn’t broken?

“All right,” he began, his tone becoming serious as he brought his focus on the work now. “So I figured I’d see what you could do before doing anything else. Um…” Looking around, he quickly located a pencil and snatched it up. “So...ah...if that’s okay with you...”

He held out the pencil for the vulpine digimon, its tip trembling a little from being held aloft.

“Seems reasonable to me,” Renamon agreed, taking the pencil in her claws gently, maneuvering it as easily as Takato did despite her own hands being much larger than his own. Putting the graphite down on the paper, she thought for a second what she should draw before coming to conclusion there was only one thing - or one person - she wanted to.

Carefully sketching, she drew Rika as she remembered her six years ago. Spiky ponytail. Broken-heart t-shirt. Unnecessary amount of belts on her person because it “looked cool.” Honestly, the only thing different was that this Rika had a smile on her face - the same smile her teenage self tended to flash on a regular basis when among friends.

 _She looks better that way,_ Renamon couldn’t help but think as she handed Takato back the picture which would make any elementary-grade student proud.

“How is this?” she asked as she reached for some bread.

Taking the sketch, Takato gave it a quick, but critical once-over. “Well...I’ve got to say you’re better than I was from a few years ago. You’ve got a better idea of body proportions. Arm and leg lengths are all the same - that one took me forever to figure out. This looks pretty good. Good enough to give us an idea what to keep an eye out for.” Scratching the back of his head, he suddenly looked sheepish.

“Not sure what you needed me for.”

“Well I would like to get better,” Renamon said before smirking mischievously. “And learn more about the boy who caught my Tamer’s attention, of course. Make sure you are right for Rika - I have learned this is what protective guardians do.”

“I…” Takato tilted his head to one side, his blush reappearing. He caught the idea behind what Renamon was saying, but he had no idea why she was saying that. _Right for Rika? Caught her attention? Why...would she say that?_

Scratching the side of his head, Takato looked away. _Maybe something from before we lost our memories?_

That set off another round of blushes as the idea of Rika crushing on him came to mind.

 _She’d crush me all right,_ Takato thought. _Probably beat me up for even thinking about that kind of stuff. I mean, sure she’s nice and everything - at least to people she likes - but…_ He glanced at his reflection in his window. _Nah. I’m nothing special._

“A-Anyway,” Takato stammered, fighting down his jitters. “Um...how about you draw the things you said were changing everyone’s memories. I mean, if we see them at some point, it would be a good idea to know what we’re looking for.”

“As you wish,” Renamon said calmly as she took the pencil again, slightly disappointed on Takato’s general composure regarding her statement with the exception of some blushing. She clearly needed to try harder. Maybe watch how Rika did it - she seemed rather talented on getting under people’s skins for whatever reason.

Taking the pencil to the paper again, she sketched what she had been evading for the last three years. She had never seen one up close - something she’d rather keep that way as she watched them take out the “echoes” as the Tamers have called them with brutal efficiency.

Her brow furrowing, she lifted her paw as an orb with wings now sat against the white of the paper.

“They are something like this,” she said slowly as she handed the notebook back to Takato. “Yet there is something … missing. I cannot put my finger on it.”

“What do you think it is?” Takato asked. He almost wanted to kick himself for asking such an obvious question, especially when Renamon didn’t seem sure what it could be that was missing, but an idea might help. At this point _anything_ might help.

“A creature which is neither human nor Digimon,” Renamon stated. “As for what it is, I’m not quite sure. I’m not even sure if it has a name. I have refrained from investigating closer due to the fact before it began to lose control it kept everything under control with brutal efficiency. The picture itself does not do it justice - there is some sort of _force_ which allows it to shape things to its will.”

Takato hummed thoughtfully to himself for a moment, taking in the picture before holding out a hand. “Can I?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said as she handed him the pencil before busying herself with the milk.

Taking it, he did a quick sketch of a cartoon version of himself looking clueless beneath the winged-orb and then added a series of angry, wavy lines directed at him, as though the orb were transmitting something.

“Kind of like this you mean?” he asked, hoping that the meaning would be clear.

“Mn, if this is to refer to how they change our memory … not quite,” Renamon said before scratching her muzzle with her paw attempting to describe something to the boy who could not remember.

_If we had more time, it would be easier to simply get him to recall things of the past. I have seen it happen before, but I am unsure what exactly were the triggers as they seemed to vary. After all seeing the D-ark did not trigger anything. Unless …_

Renamon furrowed her brow thoughtfully. Just because nobody could see her didn’t mean she didn’t have her abilities. While there was nothing to test them against didn’t mean she allowed herself to grow weak and unprepared for these last three years. If anything she had been training to push herself past her own limits. It also helped she borrowed a few books on kitsune, the animal after which she was molded, to get ideas on what she was able to do.

“Takato, if you do not protest, I might have an idea,” she said slowly. “It is something I have been practicing, but I am unsure if it is something which is possible for reasons which you can no doubt understand. However, if this works, we will be one step closer to the answers which we seek. Will you allow me to try?”

Takato shifted uncertainly. “Uh… sure.” He could almost hear his mother yelling at him for being too trustful and dolling out affirmations before even knowing what he was getting into. What do you have in mind?” he asked, changing his stance only just a little.

“Hypnotism,” Renamon said bluntly, seeing no reason to lie to the teen. “To put you in a trance or make you go to sleep as you only see them when you are not awake. Perhaps not naturally falling asleep will allow you to recall what you have seen.”

Takato thought about it for a second. He wasn’t sure if he believed in hypnotism - and he believed a lot of things right now - and he wasn’t sure if having it done to him would actually reveal anything. But...what choice did they have?

“Okay,” he said finally with a nod. “How do we do this?”

“Just look into my eyes and relax,” Renamon said calmly as she moved so she was sitting on her knees instead of crossing her legs like she was before.

Takato did as he was told, adjusting his seating so he would be at eye-level with the vulpine digimon. Looking into her eyes was unnerving to say the least, as Renamon tended to be intimidating even when she wasn’t trying to be. He took deep, steadying breaths to calm himself and rotated his shoulders to loosen them up.

“Okay,” he breathed, focusing entirely on Renamon’s azure eyes.

At first nothing seemed to happen. They just stared at each other in silence for one long minute, neither of them doing anything. Takato opened his mouth to ask if there was anything else, but the next thing he knew was his shoulders sagging slightly before his view of the world changed completely.

###

Leomon sat on the roof just outside Jeri’s room, arms folded over his chest. The light from the moon illuminated the neighborhood, casting a soft glow around it that under normal circumstances would set him at ease. Unfortunately, recent events prevented him from doing so.

Making a low rumbling noise as he inhaled deeply, he turned his thoughts to the meeting from earlier in the day. The arrival of Renamon – _a_ Renamon at any rate – was timely, and brought a great deal of new information that could help their group solve the mystery behind whatever was going on in this city…in the _world._ He doubted he could have done as much good as she did. His invisibility aside, he was too unfamiliar with the world. Too _large._ He could stay hidden, but it wasn’t easy to not be noticed, even from prying eyes.

 _Especially not when cameras are involved,_ he thought. _This city is full of them. I attract far too much attention. How strange…to not be seen, yet risk discovery anyway._

Placing his massive hands on his knees, he slipped into his meditation, extending his senses outward. He could feel Jeri inside her room, hear her talking to someone on her phone – a boy by the name of Kazu. From the topics discussed and the way she spoke to him he gathered that they were in a relationship.

 _It seems like it was just yesterday that she was chasing me through the park, saying we were destined to be together,_ he thought, giving a dry chuckle at the memory. Not exactly _his_ memory, as he was just an echo of the original Leomon, but he still felt enough like him. In the end, did it matter?

 _For some reason though, Jeri doesn’t sound happy,_ he thought, cocking an ear slightly. Digimon loved to gossip – or at least they did when he lived in a happier time – so he couldn’t resist eavesdropping a little bit. He wondered what went on between those two and how they got together. He remembered meeting Kazu briefly before they went to the digital world. The youth was…all right, he supposed. There wasn’t much to go on, but still, he felt that the young girl would have her eyes set on Takato. He remembered the way she beamed at him when he arrived carrying his flag.

 _Was it because of Rika?_ he wondered, remembering seeing the same look of elation in the other girl’s eyes as well at his arrival. _I remember that Jeri had confidence troubles. A lion’s heart to be sure, but she bore scars in her heart that made her hesitate._

He thought back to when she asked him to go along with her story that she told her father where she was going when she didn’t actually do so. Her admission that she worried that she wasn’t strong enough sat heavy on her heart, yet she stood ready to go to the digital world and fight for humanity.

He clenched a fist tightly, cursing whatever entity it was that had caused so much change, obliterating lives and experiences, and for…what exactly?

_Jeri could have been so much more, given the chance. They all could. Now however… It’s as though they’ve been stunted. Rika seems to be doing better thanks to her friendship with Henry and Takato seems to be improving as well…_

Leomon blinked as a thought occurred to him. _Henry! You’re…_

The massive lion-man was interrupted from his train of thought as a series of glowing lights began to descend toward him. At a distance they appeared to be like fireflies, but as they drew nearer he began to see outlines of orbs bearing wings. They began to swarm around him like locusts, causing Leomon to get to his feet warily, narrowing his eyes at them. He drew his sword from its sheath, wondering if he should grab Jeri and run. However it quickly became evident that the option was no longer available. They were everywhere now, circling him, closing in tightly around him and cutting him off from his partner’s window. He could feel the wind from their passing, leaving him with the impression that he was caught in the center of a tornado. His instincts shouted danger; danger that was directed specifically toward him.

There was a brief pause as they reared up, and then, as one, moving like a striking cobra, they surged toward him. He leapt up into the air toward them, an orange glow surrounding a fist.

 _“Fist of the Beast King!”_ he shouted. Thrusting forward, he unleashed a blazing bolt of plasma shaped like a lion’s head. It struck the swarm and detonated, shattering many of them into sparkling data shards, yet they continued to swarm forward. Slashing with his sword next, he caught many more. However his resistance was, unfortunately brief, for there were far too many of them to simply be dispatched. The swarm slammed into him, hurling him to the ground whereupon they grew pointed ‘beaks’. Taking aim, they stabbed their new appendages into Leomon’s body, causing a powerful roar to erupt from his throat as he continued to struggle. His eyes rolled up into his head, and the last thing he saw was a horrified Takato, hovering in the air above him, screaming his name.

###

 _“Leomon!!!”_ Takato shouted, snapping out of his trance. Still half-caught by his vision however, he leapt forward at Renamon, arms slashing at the air violently to knock away the swarming creatures he still saw before him.

Renamon managed to grasp the boy’s wrists and steady him worriedly before he did much damage to the room - there was no way Takato as he was alone would be able to hurt a seasoned warrior like her.

“Takato, what’s wrong?” she asked, trying to calm him down like she tried to calm down Rika when IceDevimon was stalking the girl unbeknownst to her all those years ago. She just hoped that unlike her own partner, Takato was able to be reasoned with easier.

Takato struggled briefly before Renamon’s worried, yet oddly soothing voice pierced through the fog of his panic. Blinking blearily, he looked at the vulpine digimon’s eyes, his heart pounding in his chest.

“L-Leomon…” he whispered. “I saw...Leomon. He...He was being attacked by...those... _things_ you drew. A lot of them. Like a flock of birds…” His eyes widened. “We’ve got to call Jeri! This is happening at her place!”

Renamon furrowed her brow worriedly. She wasn’t sure what Jeri could do, or what _could_ be done. She had been keeping out of the way of those _things_ for the last three years, although at first it harder than expected. She had seen their brutal efficiency in toward the other “echoes” as the Tamers have taken to calling them. Still …

“Of course,” she said calmly as she stood up. “I can go investigate the area as well to assist Leomon if possible.”

 _If there is anything left to assist,_ she thought darkly although she showed none of this on her face.

“I’ll get a hold of her on her phone,” Takato said, scrambling for his cell phone. Quickly finding it - and nearly dropping it - he hit the call button. “Come on Jeri… Please be there…”

###

“No, you’re supposed to _divide_ x next,” Jeri sighed as she stared at the problem she had jotted down on her paper, wondering slightly if Kazu would be OK for finals if he was struggling this much with a simple algebra problem. He had called an hour ago for some help and to talk while he did some homework, but five problems later it seemed she was walking him through his entire assignment.

 _“I thought that was later though,”_ Kazu grumbled over the phone. _“Mannn… Jeri. I don’t want to learn this junk. What am I going to need this for? I’m just going out into the real world. There’s no way I’m going to need it out there. Not unless I get some fancy job or something.”_

“Well you are going to need to know it for your exam at the end of the month, so there’s that,” Jeri said dryly although she agreed that practically there was a slim chance of Kazu needing to use this in any practical setting. “Also it goes parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition and then subtraction. We already did the parentheses and multiplication, so now we divide. Come on, I know you can do this. You just need to put your mind to it.”

 _“My mind has a hard time wrapping itself around this stuff Jer,”_ Kazu continued to grumble. _“I miss the days when I could just rock life by playing card games. Maybe I should get back into that instead. The tournaments are pretty good with the pay when you win.”_

“Well it’s always good to have a contingency plan, just in case you don’t win,” Jeri said, slightly amused although she was slightly surprised that card game tournaments gave out money to the winner. “Can’t put your eggs all in one basket after all.”

Kazu sighed on the other end. _“Well… When you’re right, you’re right. Hey, do you want to have dinner at my place later this week? My mom’s itching to meet you. Er… If you don’t mind that I told her that is. Sorry. I forgot to ask if that was okay and she kinda put me on the spot since I’m hanging out with you a lot.”_

“It’s fine,” Jeri giggled as she rooted through her purse to grab her planner. While a lot of other people seemed to use their phones nowadays to keep track of events, Jeri liked the old school method easier.

 _“Okay, cool.”_ Kazu breathed a sigh of relief. _“I’ll be sure to get you a little something special. Love you lots, Jer. You’re awesome.”_ A pause before he resumed talking, sounding a bit awkward. _“So...um… Math aside, what else are we going to talk about?”_

Just as he said that a loud beep angrily sounded in her ear causing Jeri to pull the phone away from her face in surprise before checking the caller ID.

_Takato._

“Actually, hang on, I got a call on the other line,” Jeri said as she flushed slightly, pressing the button to switch calls. “Hello?”

 _“Jeri!”_ came Takato’s panicked voice from the other end. _“You’ve got to look outside! Use your camera! Is Leomon out there? Is he okay?”_

Instantly her heart dropped to the pits of her stomach, and without thinking she dove for a small camera resting on the bedside table that she had gotten a couple of years ago for her birthday. It wasn’t a fancy thing, but it would do considering she was using her cellphone at the moment.

Turning it on with the press of a button, she threw open the blinds and looked through the display only to see an empty street. Nothing seemed unusual or out of place, but that didn’t calm her fears.

“I don’t see anything,” she told Takato, resting her phone on her shoulder as she placed the camera down to open her window to see if the lion was on the roof again. Panning the camera upwards, she saw nothing. The night was quiet with the exception of the occasional sound of passing cars and the din coming from the restaurant downstairs. “What’s going on?”

There was a pause on the other end before Takato answered. _“I… This is going to sound crazy but...Renamon...hypnotized me and I saw a vision of Leomon being attacked by the things she says is changing everyone’s memories. I… Is Leomon there? He’s not hanging around nearby or anything?”_

“He’s not around,” Jeri confirmed, deciding not to ask why Renamon was hypnotizing him in the first place. There was only so much crazy shit she could take at one time, and she needed to focus on the task at hand. “Maybe he got away?” she asked hopefully although the sinking pit in her stomach of horror and dread told her no.

 _“Maybe…”_ Takato said doubtfully. _“Renamon’s on her way. She’s going to have a look around.”_ Another pause. _“Sorry to bother you.”_

With that, Takato’s phone hung up with a click.

Greeted with a dial tone, Jeri pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it before switching the conversation back to Kazu.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized, panning the camera to look for the vulpine Digimon as she slid so she was sitting on the roof. She wasn’t sure what to do, and she hoped that Renamon got here quickly. While she wasn’t able to hear the Digimon like Takato and Rika could, having someone coming to help calmed her pounding heart slightly. Still, the once peaceful night suddenly seemed a lot more sinister.

###

Takato clutched his phone tightly, his mind racing. A part of him wondered if he really was going crazy - again. He couldn’t shake loose the vision though. It had felt so...real. He could feel the strange entities as they flew past him; could feel the wind on his skin chilling him all the way to the bone. Leomon’s painful roar still reverberated inside his skull.

 _It has to be real!_ he thought fiercely. _I mean, I hope it didn’t happen for Jeri’s sake but… It was just too real to not happen!_

Resolving himself, he stood up and began to gather some things. A flash light. His wallet and keys. A small pocket knife. He threw the flashlight into his school bag and then went over to his door, poking his head out and listening carefully. The store had already been closed down by this point, dinner having been made and everything so now his parents were just relaxing.

Sneaking downstairs, he swallowed, wondering if he should say goodbye to them. If the vision were real, this could be the last time they might see him.

He hesitated outside the kitchen before rushing off, his heart cracking a little. Leomon might need him. He didn’t know what he could do, but he intended to not be on the sidelines this time.


	13. Monsters from the Id

It was the dream again. Leomon roaring in pain as a clawed hand speared through his back. Everything had happened so fast; he had taken a stand to protect Kyubimon from a terrifying enemy that had been hunting them – an enemy obsessed solely with having power for himself and proving himself strong to others, no matter what the cost, and in the next second, he was falling backward, sliding off the arm of the enemy, his whole body slumping as it lost the strength to keep him up.

 _“Why can’t you see? Why won’t you try to understand the truth?”_ he gasped, the gaping hole in his stomach starting to expand as the data that made up his body began to lose their cohesion. The hole expanded until now only his head remained. He turned what was left of himself toward her, his blue eyes struggling to stay open as he tried to speak to her.

 _“Looks like this is my fate…”_ he finally whispered as the scene faded to black in Jeri’s mind. Jeri screamed. Grabbing the sides of her head, she screamed. It tore at her throat as she let out all the pain and terror that had been building up, but it did nothing for the pain cutting its way out of her heart. She felt her arm throb – an old scar running along the wrist – and she collapsed to her knees, her screams fading to a mad, gasping sob while she struggled to make sense of it all.

_No… It couldn’t have happened. It just…can’t! Leomon’s not dead! Not again! Not…again… Please… Not again…_

That's when the scene around her began to melt into pitch black. It was like paint running down a wall as it pooled together and soon there was nothing. Nothing but herself.

"There is no need for pain, Jeri Katou."

A booming voice erupted from all around as a figure - shining brilliantly in some sort of light yet illuminating nothing - appeared. "Sleep now. All that which caused you grief and despair shall disappear."

“I…I…” Jeri froze at the figure, feeling a new terror now; a deep dread forming in the pit of her stomach. _It’s here!_ she thought frantically, not knowing where the thought or the fear came from. The voice was loud, yet…strangely soothing, and cloaked in light that, although it illuminated nothing, nonetheless broke the darkness within her. Why should she be afraid?

No answer came to her as the light from the figure intensified until it shot out at her like an arrow, striking her; engulfing her in its intensity before finally exploding…

…and within the light of the sun filtering through her bedroom window, Jeri Katou awoke with a start, her body drenched in sweat and heart hammering away in her chest. She sat in her bed for a moment, her emotions in turmoil as she tried to make sense of it all.

 _The dream… I dreamt…_ Nothing. She dreamt nothing. Just another bad night in a string of bad nights. Yet Jeri pressed her hand against her eyes, squeezing them tight as she let out a loud sob, feeling a loss she could not identify. The pain was there regardless, and unlike the dream she no longer remembered, remained real. A scar upon her heart, as certain as the one on her wrist.

“Wha…?” she blinked, pulling her hand away from her face and turning it over, seeing the tears staining it. “Why…?”

 _Why am I crying?_ she wondered, feeling the pain beginning to subside now.

For the rest of the morning as she got dressed, she could not remember for the life of her what it was that she had been so upset about, no matter how much she strained.

By the time she left the house for school, she forgot that she had even been struggling to remember anything at all, and was soon humming a small tune to herself merrily.

###

"Renamon hasn't found anything," Rika told Henry, her chin resting on the back of the chair as she faced her friend. "What places haven't we checked yet?"

"I don't know," Henry said with a sigh as he closed his eyes, the exhaustion of going through what both half children knew as a fruitless search wearing him down.

Ever since the two learned that Leomon had been attacked by what one could assume was this mysterious enemy a few days ago, they had been fruitlessly searching the city for any trace of him. Takato and Jeri were steadfast in their belief that Leomon had to be around somewhere, despite what Rika - in an undertone whisper to Henry when the other two were far out of earshot - described as "Takato watching him die."

"It sort of feels like we are leading them on," Rika said despondently as she kicked the floor. "Leomon's dead. Whatever is out there killed him. Takato watched it happen. I don't think Leomon would let his partner fret like this for days if he really was alive."

"People handle grief differently," Henry reminded her patiently. "We have them to allow them to come to terms with it. In the meantime, we'll just be supportive. We can't force this sort of thing."

"Still ..." Rika protested with a slight frown. She knew Henry had a point, but they were wasting time looking for a body when she doubted there even was one.

"Well wouldn't you want to do the same thing if it was Renamon?" Henry asked her, knowing he was playing a dirty tactic, but sometimes his friend just needed things to be reframed. The way Rika's shoulders slumped let him know it was effective.

Jeri entered the room, humming quietly to herself in spite of the exhaustion that tugged at her eyelids. She gave a quick smile to Henry upon seeing him – a slight tension in her lips upon seeing him with Rika the Demon Queen again – and continued on, not so much as exchanging a single word to the pair as she went. She heaved a sigh upon reaching her desk, feeling their gaze on her back.

 _I hope they don’t want to invite me to another study session,_ she thought, ‘remembering’ their walk through the park together that had been filled with silence. _It was nice to make up with Takato again, but…that girl is just… She’s a bit too much for me right now._ She narrowed her eyes slightly, slinging her bag onto her desk and opening it, thinking about how the first time they got together she played games and Takato played around in his sketchbook like always while she and Henry did all the work. _As long as she’s there, those sessions aren’t very good at helping Takato study anyway…_

"Morning, Jeri," Henry greeted her kindly, a bit surprised she didn't stop to say hello this morning. Rika turned her head, unaware that the other girl had walked into the room and hoped she didn't hear them talking about Leomon.

"Hey, Jeri. You sleep OK last night?" she asked as she leaned back in the chair, only for it to nearly topple over if Henry didn't reach out and steady it.

Both teens were well aware that Jeri hadn't been sleeping well lately - even if she didn't say anything the dark circles under her eyes told the story.

“Mn,” Jeri replied neutrally, not wanting to engage Rika in too much conversation. _Maybe if I don’t say much she’ll leave me alone._

Henry and Rika looked at each other, frowning slightly. Jeri was acting a bit different from usual, but at the same time Leomon's death had taken an emotional toll on her. Still, neither really wanted to push her too hard on the subject.

"OK," Rika said slowly, although her tone spoke the disbelief her words didn't.

"If you don't feel well, you should go to the nurse's office," Henry told her. "We'll take notes."

“Sure,” Jeri replied, no less neutrally than before as she sat herself down and stared straight ahead so as to not meet Rika’s gaze. “Thanks.”

I should just tell them that I don’t want to be a part of their study group anymore, she thought, feeling conflicted. She knew what she was doing now wasn’t exactly the best of ideas as she was being very passive-aggressive, but she didn’t know what to do. Don’t be honest, Rika would get mad. Be honest, she would still get mad. No matter what, it was a lose-lose situation.

The best she could do was ride out the rapids and pray for the best.

The two friends looked at each other again, unsure how to make out of Jeri's ... passive aggressive turn.

"Do you think she heard me saying that Leomon was dead?" Rika asked in a quiet undertone to Henry, frowning as her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. She wasn't going to deny the remark, but it sort of hurt that Jeri would be acting this way to her as a result of it.

"Maybe," Henry admitted, although part of him felt something more was at play - if she really heard Rika being less than tactful about Leomon's death, he would have expected Jeri to at least snip at Rika some instead of ignoring her. "Let's let her cool down about it in the meantime. We can talk to her about it during lunch."

Just as he said that the bell rang causing the two of them to look at the clock.

"Not that we got much choice," Rika sighed as she got out of the chair she claimed each morning. It would be so much easier if the teacher just put her next to Henry, but nooo… "Still you're the expert here, not me."

Jeri sat there, tense, wondering what it was they were talking about, but as long as they weren’t pushing her, than all for the best. Taking out her notebook and pen, she opened to a fresh page and wrote down the date, waiting for class to start.

###

With the bell ringing, signaling lunch, Rika and Henry caught each other's eye from opposite sides of the classroom and without a word being exchanged, nodded.

Henry was the first to rise from his seat, pulling his lunch out of his bag and approaching Jeri.

"Hey, you wanna each lunch with us?" he asked pleasantly with a smile as Rika appeared by his side 30 seconds later as she seemed to be putting something into her pocket, chopsticks in her mouth.

Jeri froze in mid-rise from her seat, but only for a second. She offered the two a stiff smile as she straightened herself out and brushed down her skirt.

“I…ah… No thanks,” she replied. “Sorry, but…um…I think I want to eat alone today. If…If that’s okay.”

She shot Rika a quick look that said, Leave me alone, before returning her attention to Henry. Smiling at him again, she quickly bowed and collected her things.

Rika flinched at the look slightly, feeling as though she had been stabbed.

 _Great. She's pissed,_ she thought with a sigh. Still ... there was no beating around the bush now.

"Do you mind if we talk before you eat lunch then?" Rika asked. "I know it's been hard these last couple of days - ow!"

"What Rika is trying to say is that we'll still keep looking," Henry said giving a meaningful glance at Rika, who was rubbing her side after he elbowed her to shut up with a sullen glare toward him. "We promised we would look everywhere, and we will, OK?"

“Uh…” Jeri tilted her head to one side in confusion. “Keep looking? What are you talking about?”

"Er, for Leomon?" Rika asked as if she didn't understand the question. "Remember?"

“Leomon?” Jeri just looked at the girl, no less confused than she was before. “Are we…talking about another one of your games?” Jeri’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two, scrunching her brows together. “I don’t play Digimon you know,” she said. “I used to collect the cards years ago, but I haven’t in a while.” She shook her head. “Don’t you two think it’s time to stop now? Takato’s having a hard enough time keeping up with his studies. You’re not helping him by encouraging him you know.”

"Oh shit," Henry swore as his face became pale, Rika's own masking a look of horror on his face.

 _No, no, no! How could this happen? First Leomon, now Jeri ..._ Henry thought fervently as he took a shaky step back, feeling the need to sit down as his head began to swim. With the long string of successes, he failed to take into account that it was still possible that one of their minds could get wiped. But why now? He thought they had built an immunity to it. Unless...

"This can't be happening," he gasped.

"Hey, Henry, calm down," Rika said as she steadied him before looking over to Jeri. "Hey, I know you said you'd rather eat alone, and normally I would respect that, but I would really appreciate it if you ate lunch with us. Please. It's kind of complicated, and I normally would let Henry do the talking but he seems to be having a mental crisis."

Jeri looked first at Rika and then back at Henry. Of the two, she trusted Henry far more, but presently she had doubts about his sense of people.

 _If he could be taken in by her along with Takato…_ She bit her lower lip, a part of her rebelling against the thought. _But…it’s Henry. He’s always had a good head on his shoulders…_

Still, that odd bit about how they were going to ‘keep looking for Leomon’ sounded a bit too crazy for her. Takato sometimes made her a bit uncomfortable too with his obsession with digimon – especially his made-up one, Guilmon. It had been cute when they were kids, as she loved his creativity as much as she loved his kindness, but things were different now. They were older now, and it was well past time they stopped pretending that digimon mattered in the grand scheme of their lives.

“I’m sorry,” Jeri said, starting for the door. Right now she just wanted to be _away._ She didn’t want to deal with all of… _this._ Whatever this was. “I’ve…I’ve got to go before all the bread’s taken.”

"Damn it," Rika swore, unsure how to handle the situation as it unfolded. She needed some way to get Jeri to stop and listen to her as Henry sat down, looking faint.

 _Should I even stop her?_ she thought fervently as Jeri disappeared through the door threshold. She lost Leomon, and she had been in pain. It was dangerous but ... her hands clenched as her fingernails dug into the palm of her hand. She wasn't going to let this thing win, at least not without a fight.

"Henry, go to where we normally eat lunch," she told her friend. "Tell Renamon what's going on."

"Wait," Henry said as he looked up at her. "You going might make things worse. We need to think about this."

"We need to act," Rika said as she sprinted toward the doorway and looked out seeing Jeri disappear down the hall.

"Rika!" Henry yelled only for the red head to disappear into the hall. Swearing, he grabbed his lunch and ignored the odd looks that his classmates were throwing him as he ran after Rika. Luckily she was easy to keep track of, the girl's red hair bobbing up and down among the students. Sprinting forward, he grabbed her wrist and glared. "Rika, stop! I know you mean well, but right now I don't think she views you positively," he said.

"No shit, Sherlock," Rika snapped. She didn't need to be told that, but she wasn't going to give up on a friend just because they forgot her.

"You tend to come on strong, and if we want her to listen to us, we need to be way more delicate than your way of doing things," he told her firmly. "You go get Renamon. She's our best bet."

"What do you plan on having her do?" Rika asked grumpily. Henry paused, not having an answer at the moment before an idea came to him. It wasn't exactly pleasant but ...

"When Jeri buys the bread, have Renamon steal it," he said firmly. "A floating loaf of bread should catch her attention. If she gives chase, have her bring it to where we eat lunch."

"If that doesn't work?" Rika asked with a frown.

"We’ll do Plan B," he said.

###

Renamon strode through the hallway, uncaring of the students that passed her by save to make room for those who crossed her path. She preferred to remain undetected, and as such didn’t want to accidently bump into someone on the chance that doing so would alert the entity that manipulated memories. In the end however it ultimately didn’t matter as no one could see her.

Entering the cafeteria, her nose twitched at a scent that would assuredly send Guilmon into a mad plundering of the food. Thoughts of her former rival made her smile a little, but she pushed them aside for now, focusing instead on her task at hand. She touched her glove and waited until she saw Jeri emerge from the crowd of students. Her eyes downcast, she headed down the hall, away from the others and outside to enjoy the fresh, spring air.

Renamon followed her.

 _I wonder why the entity went after her?_ she thought to herself as she watched Jeri find a comfortable looking spot by a tree and set herself down. _Does she have less protection than Takato and Rika? What is it that makes those two so different that they can develop a resistance to the entity? What battles did they have that changed them so?_

Realizing that speculation was useless at this point, Renamon reached into her glove and withdrew Rika’s phone – her suggestion when the girl told her what was up with Jeri. It was unlikely that she would listen to Rika, but she had suggested some…drastic measures to say the least. Renamon merely refined it.

It was time for the two of them to meet once again.

Coming to a stop in front of Jeri as she pulled open the bag to her lunch, Renamon knelt down and turned on the camera to the phone, setting it so the screen faced the girl. Knowing that her voice could not be picked up by the sound recorder, she reached out and gently poked Jeri’s leg. The human scowled and kicked her leg out before starting to return to her meal. Renamon repeated the gesture, this time with a touch more force.

“Ow!” Jeri exclaimed slightly at the pinch before finally noticing the phone hovering in front of her, its screen displaying a yellow-furred vixen with deep, piercing blue-eyes. “What the…?”

Raising a claw to her lips, Renamon shook her head before quickly reversing the phone. Rika had given her a quick crash course in how to use what she needed – the camera and text messages – and quickly typed up a greeting for Jeri before flashing it back at her.

_Hello. My name is Renamon. Henry needs to talk to u._

Jeri could only stare at the floating phone, her throat working in an attempt to scream in terror at the ghost that apparently haunted her right now, and utter bafflement at what was going on. As she watched, the phone flipped back around and then faced toward her again, this time with a new message.

_R u all rit?_

This was insane.

 _I’m going crazy…right?_ Jeri’s hands started to shake as she struggled to process the impossibility of this. All her tarot reading and study of spirits had not quite prepared her for one to suddenly appearing in front of her, least of all a _kitsune. That’s all that’s happening. I’ve cracked and lost it._

Reality was reality however, and she could not deny what she saw with her own two eyes. Suddenly a great deal of things made sense. It couldn’t be _Rika_ who made Takato act weird. She wasn’t responsible for her own actions either. This _kitsune_ was!

And why not? Kitsune were renown tricksters who enjoyed making people miserable with their pranks.

_Jeri? Pls ansr me._

Furthermore, it was a spirit who couldn’t spell very well.

 _Oh dear,_ Jeri thought, her building scream coming out in only a small squeak that quickly died as her eyes rolled up in her head. Her balance becoming unhinged, Jeri collapsed to the side, having passed out.

In front of her, Renamon sighed.

 _Oh dear,_ she thought, unknowingly echoing the now unconscious girl.

###

Rika and Henry sat in the nurse’s office, Jeri lying unconscious in the bed. Renamon's idea seemed much better than their hastily thrown together plan until she texted them politely informing them she caused Jeri to faint. The two managed to get their unconscious friend to the nurse's office and convinced her that Jeri had merely fallen unconscious from lack of sleep.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Rika asked as she ate her bento box, her chair pulled up to Jeri's bedside, Henry sitting next to her.

"Soon, hopefully," Henry said as he ate his own lunch - Jeri's was placed on the table next to her by the two after trying to figure out what to do with it. Glancing over at Rika's bento box, he pointed to some untouched tomatoes. "You going to eat those?"

"Finish your own lunch first," Rika said as she pulled her bento box away and stuck her tongue out childishly.

“Rika!” Renamon scolded from her spot in the corner, arms folded over her chest. “Don’t be rude.”

"Yes, mother," Rika mumbled but ate the tomatoes anyway - if only to spite Henry who pouted.

“You never change,” Renamon smiled with a shake of her head. “Hopefully Jeri hasn’t changed so much from the loss of her memories that she won’t be open to reason now that she’s… _seen_ me.”

"Well we did it before, right?" Rika said as she poked the sleeping girl on the cheek, feeling not as confident as she sounded. "We can do it again. She never struck me as the unreasonable type."

"That's your thing," Henry said with a straight face causing Rika to glare at him only for Henry to smirk in response.

“Be that as it may, I wonder if it’s worth it,” Renamon said, a touch of regret in her voice. “If she can be compromised once, it can be done again. It’s clear that she lacks whatever protection that Rika and Takato have.” She glanced at Henry out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he shared the same vulnerability as he lacked the ability to see her and other echoes without assistance. “We still have no effective way of combating this entity's ability to assault our minds. I could hypnotize Jeri and attempt to reawaken her memories, but…I’m not sure if that would do any good. It did nothing for Takato after all.”

"We'll keep that in the back of our pocket as a last resort," Rika said with a slight frown. "For now ... we wait for her to wake up."

She prodded Jeri's cheek again as if it would help her wake up faster. Henry lightly hit her wrist.

"Stop that," he told her. "She'll wake up when she wakes up."

“It would appear that she’s waking up anyway,” Renamon observed, noting that the girl was stirring now. “Look.”

Sure enough, the girl in question let out a soft groan as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around her in confusion, first at the ceiling, then to her two classmates who kept watch over her. “W-What happened…?” she asked wearily, struggling with the fog that blanketed her mind.

"You fainted," Henry said dryly, wondering if he should let her know why she fainted. "We found you and brought you to the nurse's office."

With a grunt, Jeri sat up. “Um… Thanks,” she said awkwardly. “S-Sorry to inconvenience you.”

Shaking her head to clear it of the cobwebs, she looked around her, as if expecting to see something, but presently there remained only herself and her two classmates. She wondered what she was expecting. For some reason, she thought there should be…

 _The kitsune!_ her mind declared. _That’s right! I forgot about that! Rika…_ She remembered the casing that surrounded the phone that hovered in front of her. “Rika! Your phone! It’s possessed!”

“It is?” Rika asked, looking surprised as she took out her phone. Out of all the things she expected to say, that was not one of them. Turning it over in her hand, she frowned thoughtfully. It seemed fine. What did a possessed phone even look like? “Looks normal to me.”

“Rika, I’m telling you! A...A…” She swallowed, knowing how ridiculous it must sound to her ears. All at once she thought back to their conversation when she first entered the classroom and how casually she had dismissed the two. Nevertheless, she pressed on. “A... _kitsune_ possessed your phone! It... _talked_ to me. It had yellow fur and used text messages. It...said that...Henry needed to talk to me.”

She glanced at Henry for some kind of confirmation. _Any_ kind.

“She’s talking about Renamon, Rika,” Henry said slightly amused, realizing that Jeri mistook the Digimon as an actual kitsune.

 _Well she’s not completely wrong,_ he mused.

 _“No._ You think?” Rika asked sarcastically before turning to Jeri and gesturing to Renamon. “My phone isn’t possessed. That was just Renamon, my partner. She’s a Digimon. While Takato and I can see her without use of technology, you and Henry can’t, so we rely on phones - well cameras. Don’t worry - she’s harmless.”

“Not completely,” Renamon reminded, looking at her partner with amusement. “Perhaps we should have her see the evidence again. She has her phone with her after all. Perhaps she should use it to see me.”

“You know what I mean,” Rika pouted at her partner before turning to Jeri. “If you don’t believe me though, you can take out your own phone and look. You should see her. She’s right over there.” Rika pointed to the corner where Renamon was resting.

Looking worried, yet curious, Jeri did as was suggested. Pulling out her cell phone, she turned on the camera and swiveled it around in the direction indicated. Sure enough, Renamon stood out prominently, nearly causing her to drop her phone.

“It’s real,” she whispered. “This… This isn’t a trick is it? It’s not something I imagined or dreamed about…” She looked at Henry and Rika in desperation. “I’m not going crazy...am I?”

“If you are, you can join the club,” Rika said with a grin as Henry pinched his brow and sighed. Sometimes Rika’s jokes tended to be ill-timed.

“Rika if you could be serious for a few minutes, that would be fantastic,” he said before giving Jeri a gentle smile. “But no, you’re not going crazy. This isn’t a dream or imagined. This is real.”

“I...I see.” Jeri bunched up the corners of her blanket, absorbing all of this. “Or...don’t? I guess...I just don’t know what’s going on.” A thought occurred to her and she looked at them with new light. “This...This is why you two talked to me together about digimon, isn’t it? Like we were used to talking about it. Something’s going on...isn’t it?”

“Bingo,” Henry said with a pleased smile leaning forward as he held up a finger. “The whole story is a bit long to tell, but the short version is that Digimon were real. Something happened around six years ago and they are no longer here. Now echoes as we’ve called them have begun to appear in the city - Renamon being one such echo, although she is one of the ones that is self-aware.”

“And something is messing with our memories, and has been doing so consistently for the past six years,” Rika butted in, feeling Henry’s short explanation was too long. “And now we’re trying to find out what. Recently your partner, Leomon, di-” a meaningful elbow from Henry caused her to change what she was going to say to something less distressing, “-sappeared. We suspect whatever is behind the memory loss earlier is also behind his disappearance. And now your own lack of recall.”

“I...see.” Jeri’s eyes dropped to her blankets. “And...there’s nothing I can do to get it back?” she asked after a moment. This was all a lot to take in and she felt as though she were swimming in the deep end of the pool for the first time. Getting a grip on herself, she pushed on through. She could digest it later, when she was alone, but for now she needed to hear them out.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Henry said crossing his arms. “From Renamon’s explanation, it seemed that it attacked us each time we started to remember something of the Digital World or was beginning to. It’s very possible you were on the verge of remembering something and that’s why it went after you. Maybe you found something in your room which elicited strong memories?”

“Maybe… But… What could that be? The only thing in my room that’s digimon related are all my old cards.”

“Perhaps if I could help her try to remember?” Renamon interjected, looking over at Rika for her to let everyone know what was on her mind.

“Renamon wants to try something to help you remember,” Rika interjected. “It’s hypnotism, if you are willing to try it.”

“I’ll...give it a try,” Jeri agreed. It wasn’t as though they had anything else to attempt right now. A part of her worried that this was a bad idea...that she was just being foolish in just going with the flow like this. But...so far she hadn’t seen anything that proved to her that this was all just some elaborate trick.

Renamon nodded and stepped forward. Seating herself on the bed, its mattress leaving an imprint from where she sat - causing Jeri’s eyes to widen in shock - she reached out and touched Jeri’s cell phone. The pressure from her claws indicated for her to release her grip.

“Rika?” she asked. “Can you send a message telling her to look into my eyes and relax?”

“Mn,” Rika nodded before turning to Jeri. “Renamon asks that you look into her eyes and relax.”

“O-Okay,” Jeri nodded. At that, the phone rose into the air, causing Jeri to shiver as the unseen kitsune set it at eye level, and her visage appeared on the screen. Ice-blue eyes stared into her warm, amber ones and Jeri took a deep breath.

“Here we go…” she said under her breath.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three…

 _Oh…_ Jeri’s eyes became lidded as she felt the strength in her body seep out of her. The world around her dimmed and became distorted - a cloudy haze of colors and blurred images. Her thoughts became...watery in feeling, as though she could just swim right through them and then…

_Red. A wide, cruel smile and yellow eyes staring out menacingly. The smile parted, and words emerged._

_“Sadness can be deleted…”_

Jeri jerked, and the void around her vanished abruptly, the cell phone falling to the bed before bouncing off and clattering on the floor. Renamon held a paw to her head, wincing noticeably.

“Renamon!” Rika yelped as she sprung to her feet, gently putting her hands on her partner’s shoulders. “Are you OK?”

“What’s going on?” Henry asked nervously as he rose, looking around for something he couldn’t see. Helplessness and uselessness surged through him, frustration taking root. There wasn’t anything he could do right now, and if something was happening …

“I don’t know,” Rika said as she turned to Henry. “Renamon looks like she has a headache or something.”

“Something…” Renamon whispered, the pain starting to fade. “Some kind of...vision? Perhaps of something that happened. I don’t know. But…” she leveled a gaze at Jeri as the girl touched her face, a strange look in her eyes. “...whatever it was, it...left its mark on her. Something that couldn’t simply be…”

“Deleted,” Jeri interrupted, finishing the vulpine’s words unknowingly. “Sadness...can be deleted. That’s...what I heard. I…” She looked at Rika, her eyes going flat and expressionless. “Subject: Rika Nonaka. Digimon Tamer. Partnered with Renamon.”

“What the…?” Rika said as her eyes widened in confusion and in the pit of her stomach, a sense of fear began to claw at her as her animalistic instincts roared, yelling at her to fight and flee at the same time.

“No…” Henry gasped as he stared at Jeri in shock and horror. “No way. It can’t be.”

Turning at the sound of Henry’s voice, a smile appeared on her face, but it was far from a friendly smile. It held a mocking look to it.

“Subject: Henry Wong. Digimon Tamer. Partnered with Terriermon.” Her smile broadened until her teeth showed. “Momentai…Henry. Mo. Men. Tai.”

“That’s enough!” Renamon snarled. She didn’t know what was going on, but this felt...wrong. She couldn’t let this continue. Snatching up the cell phone from off the floor, she raised it back up to Jeri’s eyes. The girl’s gaze followed it until Renamon came into view.

“Subject: Renamon. Rookie level. Data type.” She tilted her head to one side, her hair brushing against her shoulder. “Did you tell Rika about IceDevimon yet?”

Renamon ground her fangs against each other, not rising to the bait. Instead, she locked eyes with the girl and at once her irises glowed. The girl giggled as her shoulders slumped.

“I didn’t think so,” she mumbled, her eyes sliding shut now. “I...uh!” Jeri started to fall backward, but caught herself at the last minute, snapping back to attention once more. “W-Wha…?” Blinking blearily, she looked around. The phone floated in front of her, but was lowering now, while Henry and Rika both stared at her in alarm. “What happened?” she asked. Her memories were a jumbled mess, but...for some reason they felt...clearer. Like something that had just been lost had been put up on a bookshelf, only not in alphabetical order.

She touched the side of her head, chasing after memories. She fainted, was brought here and told...a lot of things. And then was offered help. Help to remember…

 _“Leomon…”_ she whispered, a faint flicker of memory appearing.

Breathing heavily, her heart pounding in her chest, her hand at the side of her pocket where her D-arc was hidden, Rika took a couple of steadying breaths before looking worriedly at Renamon.

 _What was that all about?_ she thought, her head swimming. _What did she mean about IceDevimon?_ She shook her head, deciding to approach the subject later in private with her partner.

“Kami,” Henry gasped as he sat down, feeling as if all the energy he had just left him, his heart still beating in his chest like a jackhammer. Of all the things he expected, to have that re-emerge was distressing.

 _I had no idea it was still around …_ he thought as he buried his face in his hands, pulling at his hair. _Just when our problems weren’t bad enough._

“So … uh …” Rika said as she tried to best ask what the hell just happened without coming out as freaked out as she felt. “What just happened?”

“A good question,” Renamon thought, taking a quick glance at Henry. Despite what had happened, she remained aware of her surroundings at all times. His reaction hinted at...some kind of familiarity with what just occurred. Curious… she thought, but brushed it aside for later.

“I…” Jeri shook her head. “I...think I remember...something. Something…” She rubbed her forearm where the scar lay and hugged it close to her chest. “...something terrible. I think...it involved Leomon.” She pressed her lips together into one thin line. “I’m sorry. I’m not really sure what I remember right now. I…”

A thought. A memory.

_A booming voice erupted from all around as a figure - shining brilliantly in some sort of light yet illuminating nothing - appeared. "Sleep now. All that which caused you grief and despair shall disappear."_

Jeri winced and dropped her arm, suddenly feeling as though her skin was crawling. She fell quiet, not sure what else there was to say or do. There was just...so much to take in right now. So much to digest.

“Well you were able to correctly identify my partner despite not being told,” Henry said as his lips thinned.

“In the most unsettling manner possible,” Rika added on unnecessarily. “Although she knew in the past. Er...recent past. The past we remember? Whatever. You know what I mean. Then you knew what Renamon’s type was as well as her level. Then you mentioned something about IceDevimon, which was creepy. It was like you were possessed.”

Jeri sat there in silence, taking it all in, wondering if she had made a mistake in agreeing to this. Something dark sat inside her. She knew that now. She had dreamt it that very morning and something made her forget. The rest that came previously was a bit...off, but in what way she wasn’t sure.

 _Still have to alphabetize,_ she commiserated. Looking up, she forced a smile onto her face. “I...I think I’d like to be alone now,” she said. “Sorry. I’ve just...got to think for a bit.”

“No need to apologize,” Rika said as she stood up, Henry doing the same. “It’s kind of a lot to take in. If you don’t feel like coming to class, we’ll cover for you.” She smiled a bit sheepishly as she scratched her head. “Feel like we should apologize. We probably forced a lot on you. Sorry. We didn’t want to lose you. If you need us, text us, OK?” she turned to her partner. “Renamon, can you keep an eye out please?”

“Of course,” Renamon agreed, bowing slightly to her partner. “I’ll be here until you need me.”

“Thanks,” Rika said with a smile.

“We left your lunch on your bedside table in case you are hungry,” Henry added. “Like Rika said, sorry about all this. I know it’s hard. We’ll see you later.”

Jeri nodded wordlessly and watched them as they left the nurses office, leaving her alone with the invisible ghost digimon.

A part of her shivered, wondering what she should be afraid of at this point. Grabbing hold of the covers, she slid under them, tucking herself in tight.

 _I don’t want to be afraid, she thought. But right now, it feels so hard…_ A pause, before a thought that felt like it came from a faint memory floated into her consciousness. _Oh Leomon. I hope I can live up to the lion’s heart you said I had..._


	14. Impact

_ Sunday, March 9, 2008 _

_ I'm going out with Ayaka today to buy a film camera. A digital one is too easy to take advantage of ... just like memories. _

_ It's amazing honestly how one small change can drastically alter the course of things. How a scenario can be so similar but leagues apart. I can't help but wonder what changes were in the past, and how much of that is a lie as well. I'm still alphabetizing everything, but it's a bit difficult because there is so much contradictory things. I can't help but feel that perhaps the same memory has more than one "versions." _

_ Takato called to check up on me when Henry and Rika told him what happened. I told him I was doing OK ... he tends to worry a lot. Which is sweet. Wish he had more courage to act though still. Maybe in the past he did? Maybe in the past we even dated ... _

_ Ah, but I'm over that now! I'm with Kazu. He's very loyal and always trying to please me. He isn't afraid to let me know he loves me! I feel special when I'm with him ... although I do want to repair his and Takato's friendship. It's kind of hard to balance out time between the two of them. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating by spending time with the Tamers a lot ... _

_ Oh that's right! For future reference me, if you lose your memories again, the Tamers are Rika Nonaka, Henry Wong and of course Takato Matsuki. Remember Digimon? They're real! I'm a Tamer too ... but Leomon died. A demon killed him. It's still a little blurry, and my chest hurts each time I think about it ... _

_ Still ... it feels like it's a bit too ... much. Everything. And that voice ... sadness can be deleted. I never seen Henry and Rika look so scared afterwards. I don't really remember much after Renamon - Rika's partner by the way, she's a ghost, it's complicated, so just ask Rika to explain things - used hypnotism to return my memories. Apparently I was able to correctly identify things I wasn't told before or something? I'm not sure. It hurts to think about it. They didn't really expand on things beyond "it was creepy." _

_ Part of me honestly is upset that I got dragged back into ... this. The other half is though ... I can't leave them. This involves me too, and just because things are scary doesn't mean I should turn tail and run. Leomon said I had a lion's heart. I'm not sure if I do but... _

Jeri’s phone buzzed, breaking her from her thoughts. Raising her pen from the page, she looked down at the whining electronic next to her. On the screen, Ayaka's name flashed.

Carefully bookmarking her place to continue later, she shoved the diary she had started writing in to organize her thoughts under her pillow and answered the phone. 

_ “Took you long enough,” _ came Ayaka’s voice from the other end.  _ “It took a whole three seconds for you to answer. What? Did you forget that we were going out today?” _

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't fast enough to pick up the phone," Jeri replied with a smile, happy to hear her friend's voice again after what seemed to be so long as she got off her bed. "Next time I'll do better. Can you ever forgive me?"

_ “I’m sure I can think of something…” _ Ayaka replied, her voice carrying a Cheshire Cat grin behind it.  _ “Maybe if you buy me a Nishiko-Kun while we’re out, I  _ might _ forgive you…” _

"If I have any money left over," she hummed, grinning a bit as she peeked into her wallet. She should have more than enough for a good camera - she didn't want a terrible one which would break as soon as she used it. If that  _ thing _ ever messed with her mind again ... she wanted concrete proof. Not just in general, but for herself as well.

“ _ Don’t you worry, Jeri,” _ Ayaka chuckled.  _ “I’ll be sure to get you a good deal. I know some people at the shop I’m taking you to. They owe me _ .” A pause. “ _ Hey, how come you’re suddenly so interested in photography? You used to just listen politely to me whenever I talked to you about it but you didn’t show any…you know. Interest. _ ”

"Well ..." Jeri paused as she slipped on her shoes, putting her wallet into her purse as well as her keys, trying to think of anything else she might need. She wondered if Ayaka would believe her if she told her - they were best friends after all, weren't they?

_ But I didn't even believe in it at first, _ she thought, frowning a bit.

"What if I told you I wanted to photograph ghosts?" she asked lightly, deciding that the super watered down version which didn't even capture a droplet of the insanity which was happening would be easiest to start with.

Ayaka  _ tsked _ over the line.  _ “Well that figures. You’ve always been determined to find proof.” _ A sigh.  _ “Far be it from me to stop you from pursuing your dreams. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Be ready.” _

"Thanks Ayaka," Jeri said, smiling over the phone. Even if she didn't understand, Jeri was happy that her friend was accepting of her explanation for the moment.

_ Someday I'll tell her the whole story. When we get proof, _ Jeri promised herself internally.

"I'll see you in a few minutes."

_ “Okay,” _ Ayaka replied before the phone beeped, signaling that the call was at an end.

 

**###**

 

Ayaka stood by a lamp post, idly browsing on her phone, waiting for Jeri to arrive. She didn’t believe she had long to wait as Jeri tended to be punctual no matter how far away she lived. Shibuya, Shinjuku...heck, even if she were in the States, Ayaka believed Jeri was the only one who could believe she would be late to something and still arrive on time. 

 

_ It’s like the girl has a built-in space-time device in her or something, _ she thought before grimacing at the thought.  _ Jeez… I really did spend too much time around Takato and Kazu. Ugh. Can’t believe she still wants to hang out with them. _

 

“Ayaka!” Almost as if on cue as the minute turned to the designated meeting time, Jeri arrived waving her arm as she panted, jogging toward her. Slowing down to a brisk walk, she smiled at her. “Sorry, did you wait long?”

 

“Jeri, you couldn’t make a person wait at all, I swear,” Ayaka replied, locking her phone and pocketing it. She gave her friend a quick once over with a critical eye. “Looking cute today,” she noted. “Where’s the date?”

 

“That’d be you,” Jeri said, sticking her tongue out impishly before offering her arm, giggling. “Shall we go, m’lady?”

 

“You can be such a dork,” Ayaka rolled her eyes before giving the other girl a curtsy with an imaginary skirt. “We shall, sir knight.”

 

WIth that, Ayaka took the offered arm and began to pull her along. “So yeah, like I was saying, there’s this shop that I know and I know the people in there too. My dad does some business with them or something so I got to see them regularly ever since I was a kid. They should be able to help out with the pricing. How much money did you bring by the way?”

 

Jeri paused for a minute, silently counting on her fingers as she calculated the money she had saved up from her allowance from helping out at the restaurant for the past month or so before answering. “Ah, about 24,000 yen,” she said before looking at Ayaka hopefully. “I did some Google research prior. I hope that’s enough.”

 

“Should be enough.” Ayaka grinned. “Leave it to me. I’ll see to it that you leave with some yen to spare.”

 

“Hehe, I’m counting on you,” Jeri said with a chuckle, happy to spend some quality time with her friend. Walking through the crowds, navigating past some shops, Jeri couldn’t help but stop each time something cute caught her eye.

 

“Aw man, why is it everything is on sale when I’m out to buy something?” she complained, looking at a particularly cute shirt sitting in a window sill. 

 

“Because they want your money,” Ayaka said pointedly. “Ignore the temptation, Jeri. Unless you’re okay with not getting that camera today.”

 

“No, I want to,” Jeri assured her, dragging her eyes away from it, although she couldn’t help but take a quick picture to remember to buy later whenever it went on sale again. It really was cute. “Maybe I should get a job. I mean I get money working at the tavern, but it’s only  _ so _ much, you know? What do you think?”

 

“Do the school rules allow you to get a job?” Ayaka asked.

 

“No,” Jeri said, her shoulders dropping. It was one thing to work at a family-owned business. It was another to work at a job. As it was a good school, they wanted to keep their student’s focused on academics. After all, it looked better for the school when it’s alumni went on to good colleges, like Tokyo University. “But the school doesn’t allow for a lot of things,” Jeri said with a slight grin. “The question is, do you think I could get away with it?”

 

“Sadly no,” Ayaka shook her head. “You’re too cute to not be noticed and sooner or later word would get around. It’s not really worth it right now anyway. Not many places would hire you and they’d pay you peanuts.”

 

“I suppose you are right,” Jeri agreed before flipping her hair over her shoulder. “It’s a shame. Well, when we can get jobs we should work in the same place. What do you think?”

 

“Probably not a good idea either. From what my mom told me about when she was our age, she and her best friend started up at their first job together and before it was even over they wanted to kill each other. Office politics’ll do that I guess. I promised myself to keep my friendships, and to do that I keep ‘em out of my work.”

 

“You’re no fun sometimes,” Jeri pouted, her cheeks puffing out, although she really wasn’t put out. That’s just how Ayaka was - practical. It was a good balance to her admittedly … whimsical nature. 

 

“Hey, we can’t all be party animals, Jeri,” Ayaka replied, giving the girl a small bump with her hip and accompanying it with a friendly wink. “Really don’t know how anyone can keep up with you. Well, besides  _ Kazu _ I mean.” Ayaka looked at Jeri with a curious expression. “I guess if it had to be  _ anyone _ it would have  _ had _ to be  _ him _ who could keep up with you. Takato’s got too much cold feet.” A pause. “Why’d it have to be  _ him _ Jeri?”

 

Jeri looked at Ayaka surprised. She hadn’t told Ayaka about her dating Kazu due to the “don’t talk about Kazu” rule because of Ayaka’s rather poor relationship with her boyfriend. Not that it wasn’t mutual it seemed, but still …

 

“How did you learn about that?” she asked instead, curious to who told her. She knew she was in class with Takato, Kenta and Kazu, but with Ayaka’s distaste for the three boys, Jeri would be honestly surprised if she heard it from one of them. 

 

Ayaka cursed silently, forgetting her rule, but pushed onward anyway. “A broken little bird told me,” she shrugged, deciding not to reveal that Kenta had been the one to spill the beans to her. “And no, it wasn’t your dunse of a boyfriend. So what happened that got you two together?”

 

“It’s kind of a long story,” Jeri said with a slight grimace. It wasn’t exactly the happiest memory to dwell upon with Takato’s eruption and rage. She didn’t really like remembering the day, watching the boy she had liked for so long just  _ give _ up, before getting into a fist fight with his best friend. The fact Takato could be so … demonic sent shivers down her spine. She hadn’t seen it since then, but still. 

 

_ Thinking about it, that day was the catalyst for everything else,  _ she thought. If it wasn’t for Takato telling them about the picture, she would never would have approached Rika, the  _ Demon Queen _ and found out their own memories were a lie.

 

“Sounds like it’s a boring one then,” Ayaka sighed, not very interested in the details as she was as to what possessed her to think Kazu was a better catch. “Whatever,” she decided. “It’s your choice, but I think you can do better than  _ that  _ loudmouth.” Grimacing, she glanced around her. “Great. I had to go and make everything awkward, didn’t I? Where’s that turn? I could have sworn that it was around here somewhere…”

 

“It’s fine,” Jeri assured her with a smile before pausing, a loud - if not familiar - voice caught her attention.

 

“I already checked the grocery stores, and I didn’t find any Barii-san!” Jeri grimaced and rubbed her temples, as she gave a sigh praying, just,  _ praying _ that a fight wasn’t going to break out. There was a pause and then - “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT IT WOULDN’T BE IN A GROCERY STORE!”

 

“We should go probably check that out,” Jeri said, wondering what exactly Rika was doing in the shopping district this Sunday. Just from what little conversation she could hear, it seemed she was looking for a mascot … in all the wrong places. 

 

_ Or know Barii-san is a mascot it seems _ , she thought with a sigh, not at all surprised by the thought.

 

“And  _ why _ are we going to check out some loud mouth girl with poor impulse control?” Ayaka asked, cocking an eyebrow and scanning the crowd for the source of the disturbance. “Because I’m pretty sure most sane people would avoid that like they avoid the giant-ass bees around here. That’s a nope, Jeri. A nice, tall, glass of  _ nope _ if I ever saw one _.” _

 

“Because I need to make sure the idiot doesn’t start a fight,” Jeri said, pushing through the crowd following Rika’s voice. 

 

“IMABARI?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FAR AWAY THAT IS BY TRAIN?! KAMI!” Rika’s voice was getting louder, and Jeri wondered if she ever had any sense of embarrassment at all. 

 

“I don’t know who’s crazier,” Ayaka mumbled to herself, chasing after her friend. “You for deciding you need to be responsible for someone yelling loud enough to break wine glasses, or me for following you.”

 

She suspected herself. Sane people avoided life-threatening situations after all. Not that Jeri was any better, but still. She at least  _ knew _ to leave well enough alone. Jeri...less so.

 

Rika was easy to find - she always was with her bright red hair and just very intense aura. However, when Jeri managed to push herself to the front of the crowd, she was surprised to see Takato with her. For his part in all of this, he looked embarrassed and a bit worried. For the first, it was as if he were searching for an explanation as to why he was with her beyond something that could likely be classified as a keychain, and the other afraid that she would turn her frustrations on him if he so much as stepped out of line.

 

“Look you asshole-” Rika growled into her phone only to pause and pull it away from her ear with a look of surprise. “He hung  _ up _ on me.” She turned to Takato and pointed to it. “Can you believe him?”

 

“Um...I’m sure he had something come up,” Takato offered. He then chuckled nervously. “Although you  _ did _ just call Henry an asshole. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to win you any points in his book.”

 

“Well, now what are we going to do?” Rika sighed as she crossed her arms, seemingly oblivious to the crowd which was now going about their own way the show was over. “It seems that this Barii-san is in Imabari. I don’t know what he was thinking …”   
  
“Barii-san is a mascot, you know,” Jeri said suddenly causing the two to look at her, their eyes shooting up. “What are you two even doing?”

 

“Jeri…” Takato breathed, his cheeks tingling a little in heat upon seeing her. Tugging at his jacket, he glanced over at Rika. “U-Um… We’re shopping for Henry’s little sister, Suzie. One thing led to another and the next thing I know Rika…” His eyes drew up in fear as he stopped just short of saying Rika ‘kidnapped him’ for no reason that he could see. He didn’t believe that Rika would like that term being used, but really what  _ else _ was there to describe a situation where a friend just walks up and snags one by the arm and drags them off against their will?

 

_ She still wouldn’t like it being used, _ he thought, not for the first time wondering what he could have been thinking for Rika to end up as his friend. He had to have been crazy!

 

Jeri looked over to her to finish Takato’s half explanation.

 

“Well Henry said Suzie wanted Barii-san for her birthday, and I was like that sounded like something crunchy,” she explained, and Jeri immediately began to regret asking. “So I thought that if it was something food related, Takato would know, right? So I go and get him, but the clerk tells us they don’t have any Barii-san in the store. And so I decided to call Henry and ask him what was up, and well … he wasn’t helpful. At all.”

 

“I tried to explain to her,” Takato shrugged helplessly. “But… She kept insisting she was talking about food and… Well, I  _ was _ pretty sure if there was anything like that it’d be here. Or close to here. Or, you know,  _ somewhere _ nearby.”

 

“Still as goggleheaded as ever,” Ayaka observed, drawing up behind Jeri, a deadpan expression on her face. Takato’s eyes widened at her, and at the familiar insult, one levied against him by the class president from when he spent a couple years wearing the piece of plastic on his head as though it made him somehow special.

 

“Ayaka! What are you…?” He pointed a finger between the two girls. “Are you two together? Or is this like the biggest coincidence ever?”

 

“Gogglehead?” Rika asked him confused, turning to him raising an eyebrow. 

 

“Ayaka’s taking me camera shopping,” Jeri explained. “We heard Rika arguing over the phone with Henry and decided to investigate.” She paused, remembering the two girls wouldn’t know each other. “Oh by the way Ayaka, this is Rika Nonaka, one of my friends from school. Rika, this is Ayaka Itou, my childhood friend.”

 

“Uh, hi?” Rika said with an awkward wave wondering what the hell she was supposed to do in this sort of situation. “Nice to meet you?” she added on as an afterthought of it seemed like a thing people with social skills far beyond her own would say.

 

“Hey yourself,” Ayaka nodded, giving the girl a quick once-over. She was fairly boyish in appearance, but nothing out of the ordinary, save for that earlier angry twinkle in her eye while she threatened to reach through her phone’s wifi signal and pummel whoever was on the other end.  _ Takato’s hanging out with this girl? Jeez… First Kazu and now this. It’s like he’s a masochist or something. _

 

“Sooo…” Takato leaned back on his feet for a brief moment, sensing an awkward atmosphere descend upon them. “Ummm… Yeah. So… Am I just going to stand here making myself look stupid or...what?”

 

“You’re already stupid, so that doesn’t change anything,” Ayaka snorted. “How’re you doing?”

 

“Um…” Takato blinked at the sound of concern in her voice. “Fine?”

 

“Is that a question or an answer?”

 

“Ah! I’m fine. Yeah! I’m…” He glanced at Rika nervously. “...Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m fine.”

 

Ayaka groaned mentally.

 

“Why are you looking at me that way for?” Rika asked with a slight frown, noticing Takato’s skittish behavior toward her. He’s been like that all afternoon. Was it because she insisted he come with her? It wasn’t like she kidnapped him or anything. 

 

“N-Nothing,” Takato laughed anxiously, attempting to inch away from the irate redhead while making it look like he wasn’t trying to do so. Ayaka looked back and forth between  the two before shaking her head.

“Jeez Takato,” she said. “You’re really going to let her bully you after finally standing up to Kazu?”

_ “Bully?!” _ Takato’s eyes went wide. “Ayaka! What’re you talking about?”

"Wait, what?" Rika asked flabbergasted wondering where this girl got in her head that she was bullying Takato. "I haven't done anything!"

_ Why does everyone keep assuming I did something to Takato? _ she thought frustrated, remembering her first discussion with Jeri.

_ Hohhh boy, _ Jeri grimaced, not sure what to do, but didn't want another fight to break out because Rika had the tendency to make people think the wrong things about her - not that she exactly helped herself. Jeri could guess why Takato was probably skittish and that was because Rika was irate.

“You mean you’re not?” Ayaka raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Rika. “He sure acts like you do.”

“No I  _ don’t!” _ Takato countered, trying to contain the situation. Ayaka didn’t believe him either.

“You don’t have to defend her, Gogglehead.”

“Ayaka! What are you…?” Grabbing the sides of his head, Takato groaned. “Rika’s just annoyed with Henry! We’re trying to find a plush for his little sister and…didn’t explain things well to her and…neither did I when I tried. That’s  _ all  _ that happened!”

Ayaka tilted her head to one side, looking back and forth between the two. “Jeri? This legit? Or is Gogglehead trying to save face?”

"That sounds about right," Jeri shrugged before grinning at her friend who seemed even more irritated than before. "Rika tends to be rather ... stubborn, and not really caught up to date on things that don't interest her. Although honestly Rika, remember what Henry told you? You need to work on your temper. This is the reason you have trouble."

"Hmph," Rika scowled, as she crossed her arms and proceeded to sulk. She knew Jeri was right, but still - it was irritating that everyone just assumed things about her, even if she was used to it.

Jeri sighed before scratching her head.

"Look, you're looking for Barii-san, right? I'm pretty sure there is a shop near here that sells it," she said, taking pity on the two of them. Rika was stubborn and Takato was having trouble clearly, and leaving them to their own devices they'd never find it. "If you want, we can help you find it."

“Jeri…” Ayaka complained. “Are you saying that we’re going to have our outing take a detour just to help Gogglehead and Firebrand here?”

"It won't take that long," Jeri promised with an apologetic smile. "So ... please?" she begged, putting her hands together in a clap and bowing her head.

“Ugh…” Ayaka groaned. She always had a hard time saying ‘no’ to Jeri. “Fine… Let’s just make it as quick as we can, okay?”

"Yay!" Jeri squealed, throwing her arms around Ayaka in a hug. "Thank you!"

“Yeah, yeah…” Ayaka grunted, attempting to untangle herself from Jeri’s embrace. “It’s real great. Come on already. Get off me.”

Takato gave a light chuckle, remembering when she had been a part of their group. In spite of Kazu, Ayaka had brought a welcome atmosphere. He glanced over at Rika, a part of him wondering if Rika had filled the same spot before they all lost their memories again.

Quickly looking back at Jeri, he smiled. “So where are we going first? Any ideas?”

"There should be a place nearby," Jeri suggested, tapping her finger thoughtfully before pointing down the street. "Don't recall the name off the top of my head, but it has a really bright neon sign outdoors and a lot of weird things in the window."

"Oh, I know what you are talking about," Rika said as she uncrossed her arms. "It's called Kimwaii."

“Sounds as good a place as any to start,” Takato nodded eagerly. “Let’s check it out.”

**###**

"This place just got weirder," Rika said as they walked through the door, chipper music playing over the speakers and if she had to describe the smell ... it would be glitter and candy. It was sickeningly sweet.

"Ohh, looks like you two are in luck. Looks like there is a sale going on," Jeri said, looking at the flyer that the woman out front handed to her on the way in. Rika looked over her shoulder interested. While money was not really a concern, she still liked to be frugal.

"Ah yeah? Oh hmm ... looks like stuffed animals are on sale." There was a pause and then, "... Would it be a stuffed animal?"

“It’s a plush, isn’t it?” Takato asked, scratching the side of his head in confusion. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a head for this sort of thing. “That’s kind of the same thing, right?”

"It can be," Jeri said, rolling up the flier amused as she put it into her pocket - for later, in case she had money left over. "I'm sure Suzie would appreciate a plush more than some stickers or a keychain or something. As a mascot, it's on a lot of merchandise."

"Well, let's go with a plush then," Rika said as they moved out of the way of a couple leaving the store. "Hopefully they have it."

“Hmmm…” Takato looked around, wondering where they should start. Unlike Rika, he wasn’t the least bit familiar with the place, and so much of it looked the same at a glance. Spying what looked like a toy bin in the middle of the store, Takato pointed to it. “How about over there?” he asked. “It kind of looks like that’s got a bunch of plush toys.”

"Good place as any," Rika shrugged. However, something else caught Jeri's eye.

A rather large display showcasing Sailor Moon merchandise. Even if she wasn't going to buy anything, she still wanted to check it out real quick.

"I'll be there in a minute," she promised. "Just look for a cute chicken with a crown."

"Hah?" Rika asked in confusion, only to watch Jeri run off somewhere else. Putting her hand on her hips, she sighed. "Jeez ... well at least we have a description. Come on Takato."

“Uh… Right,” Takato agreed reluctantly – being something of a Sailor Moon fan himself – before following after Rika with Ayaka shaking her head. She couldn’t understand Jeri’s continued obsession with the anime, having outgrown it herself.

“She’s such a kid,” Ayaka muttered under her breath, causing Takato to blush lightly.

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with liking the show.”

“I didn’t say there was,” Ayaka hummed. “But seriously? She’s going to look at Sailor Moon stuff when she’s supposed to be helping you two look for a plush?” She rolled her eyes. “Like. A. Kid.” She grinned at Takato. “Just like you,  _ Gogglehead.” _

"It's fine," Rika said, feeling the need to defend Jeri. "I don't mind really - if it was Digimon, I'd be doing the exact same thing honestly." Her face turned red slightly as she scratched the back of her head. "It's actually the reason I know this store. When it was super popular, they used to sell so much Digimon merchandise. They always had good deals too ..."

“Ahhh mannn…” Takato complained. “Now I wish I knew about this place before.”

“How about you two nerds stay focused, okay?” Ayaka sighed as they neared the toy bin. “Hmmm… Looks promising,” she said, noting the plush toys lying within. “I think I see what you guys are looking for.”

"Ah, really?" Rika asked, her eyes lightening up as she jogged over, grasping the edges of the plastic and looking at the multitude of plushes when she noticed a silver sparkle. Looking closer, it seemed like ... a chicken wearing a crown. "Ah! Is this it?" she asked excitedly, reaching to grab it only to have another hand grasp the yellow chicken at the same time she did.

Rika looked up, face to face with a guy who could be arguably handsome to anybody else that cared and the current obstacle to getting her prize.

"I suggest you let go," she growled, deciding to make use of her  _ Demon Queen _ persona to her advantage for once.What was the point of being feared if you couldn’t manage to win a fight over a plush with it?

“Rika?” Takato began, coming up behind her, eyebrows raised at the sound of her voice. “Everything all right?”

“Akio?!” Ayaka called before the girl could respond, her eyes lighting up happily. “What’re you doing here?”

The teen’s face paled noticeably and he dropped the plush as he sat up. Sensing something was amiss, Ayaka and Takato both tilted their heads to one side in confusion.

“Uh…hey, Ayaka,” the teen replied. “I’m…uh…here to get a plush.” He scowled at Rika, seeing that he had just surrendered the prize in question. “Dammit…”

"Heh," Rika smirked as she pulled back with the plush, happy to have won her prize, although she - like the other two - was surprised at the teen's reaction.

"Akio, wait up!" A girl appeared, and Rika recognized some of the clothes from the store her mother dragged her into when she insisted on shopping together. She was cute, and rather small. Upon noticing the three other teens, she gave a confused smile before noticing the stuffed animal in Rika's hand. "Oh, that's Barii-san! I love him! Are you a fan too?"

Akio’s apparent discomfort went up even further as the girl approached him and slipped a hand around his arm. The alarm bells that were already ringing – however distantly – in Ayaka’s head began to grow louder. “Uh… Akio?” she began, working to keep her voice even. “Who’s this girl?”

_ Probably just his cousin coming in for a visit or something, _ she told herself. That sounded about right.

"I'm his girlfriend, Yuki," the girl responded with a slight frown, Jeri coming back from her brief detour. "Why?"

Shock. It was like a lightning storm had gone off in her brain and the power went out. Ayaka’s mouth trembled as she struggled to speak.  _ She… She didn’t just say…what I think she just did…did she? _ She felt something splinter inside her. She felt her blood grow cold. Her vision darkened and for the briefest of moments, she wondered if she had fainted on her feet.

_ C-Couldn’t be… Why…Why would she say something like that? That’s…That’s just crazy… _

“Ayaka?” Takato asked worriedly, and at once she snapped back to reality. Shaking her head, she locked eyes with Akio.

“You mind repeating that?” she asked in a chilled voice, fingers curling into her palm. “Or better yet, how about  _ you _ explain what she means? Aren’t  _ I _ your girlfriend? Haven’t we been dating for the past six months?” Her voice kept getting louder. She couldn’t stop herself. She felt a tidal wave of emotion rising within her – hot and explosive like a volcanic eruption – and it wanted  _ out. _ “Didn’t I just  _ fucking introduce you to my parents?!” _

Akio flinched at the intensity in Ayaka’s voice and causing Takato to look around them worriedly to see if anyone had heard.

He honestly couldn’t say if it was a good thing or not that so far no one else did.

_ Oh  no... _ Jeri's face paled as she walked to stand next to her friend, trying to catch up with what just happened - although it didn't need much catching up.

"Ayaka..." Jeri said softly, not sure what to do, her body temperature, her heart beating uncomfortably in her chest wondering what one even did in this situation.

However, she did know that her friend needed support as she put her hand on her shoulder reassuringly, her mind scrambling to figure out what exactly to do. The last time she was in a situation like this, it ended with Takato punching Kazu. While she doubted that the relationship would survive, Jeri wanted to prevent any escalation of violence this time around.

"Girlfriend?" Yuki asked surprised before untangling herself from Akio and taking a step back, looking upset as well. "What's the meaning of this? We've been dating for the past year and a half!"

“Yeah, Akio,” Ayaka seethed, trembling beneath Jeri’s touch. “Just what  _ is _ the meaning of this? Did any of this  _ mean _ anything to you?”

Akio’s expression hardened just then. “Well I guess that cat’s out of the bag,” he grumbled, running a hand through his hair and barked a laugh. “Kind of glad actually. Ichiro was right about you. Your crotch is too much trouble to get into. It was getting kind of hard to keep a straight face every time I was with you.” He made a nasty face, like he thought of something he found unpleasant.

Rika had tried hard to keep out of it. She really, really did. It wasn't any of her business, but -

"Ahh," she said, her arm extended, blood from the guy's now busted lip dripping down her knuckle. She didn't even notice that she had thrown the punch. It was just a natural reaction. "Guys like you really piss me off."

"Akio!" Yuki exclaimed worriedly, although any other form of protest died on her lips when Rika looked at her. It seemed she had the common sense not to further interfere on behalf her boyfriend - ex-boyfriend if she was smart.

"Rika! Stop it!" Jeri yelled despite finding the boy unpleasant. Even though she wanted to slap him herself, violence was not the way to go about it. Violence was never the answer.

However, it seemed like Rika was unable to hear her as her fist drew back again, clearly going for another punch. Jeri was about to say something again, but the words caught in her mouth as for the first time since she met her, she saw the truth behind Rika's nickname at school.

When Takato had punched Kazu that day, he was like a demon. It was a shock from the normally gentle boy. However, from Rika was a common expectation. When she punched Kazu, her face was like a wild animal. This time, her eyes were cold as if she were looking for blood.

_ Oh  my god, she's going to kill him, _ was the only thing Jeri was able to think.

“Stop it!” Takato shouted, moving faster than he could think. Just as with Jeri, images from his fight with Kazu flashed through his mind, and the memory from the fight propelled him forward, looping his arms up, he dropped them over Rika, catching her arms and pinned them down, much to her surprise. “Rika...!” he grunted, straining against her as she thrashed to break free– straining and failing. Kami, her strength was incredible! She was going to break free! “That’s…enough!”

"Let go, Takato!" Rika demanded, surprised that Takato - who was typically rather skittish or nervous –would hold her back when it came to beating up someone who clearly deserved it.

His strength was somewhat surprising considering he wasn't exactly like Henry who did martial arts. Still, it wouldn't be that hard to get free ... she just didn't want to hurt him by accident while trying to kill the jackass in front of her ... who had now disappeared, as one does when faced with an opening to escape from someone who wanted to clearly kill them.

The other girl had disappeared as well as the commotion was starting to finally attract attention.

"Damn it!" she growled as she broke lose out of Takato's grasp.

"Rika, what is wrong with you?!" Jeri demanded, her heart pounding in her chest. "You can't just punch people! Violence isn't the answer, no matter how detestable they are!"

Takato, breathing heavily – and too stunned by events to realize that he had actually attempted to keep Rika from killing someone – looked around them to see a store employee jogging toward them. “Uh oh…” he said. “Um… Maybe we should take this conversation outside…”

Rika noticed the employee jogging toward them as well and dropped the plush back into the bin. She would find someplace else to buy it now that she knew what it looked like, and she would like to avoid getting kicked out of a shop she frequented sometimes.

"Agreed," she said, already on the move.

Breathing a sigh of relief that  _ something _ was resolved, Takato prepared to follow her when he saw Ayaka, standing stock still, head bowed and shoulders shivering.

_ “Asshole…” _ she choked under her breath. “I really thought he was the one too…”

“Ayaka…” he began, reaching out for her. “We’ve got to get out of…”

Her response was to smack away his hand, causing the boy to blink in surprise. “Ahhh… Ayaka?”

The girl could only glare venomously at the spot where her now ex-boyfriend had stood before the movement of rapidly approaching employees caught her attention.

“Let’s get out of here,” she grated, turning and chasing after Rika.

**###**

It was easy enough to avoid trouble the minute they left the store. Still, it was an unsaid agreement that they should probably remove themselves as far as they could just in case. Now they were sitting on a bench next to some vending machines on a side street.

"Are you OK, Ayaka?" Jeri asked tentatively when she caught her breath, not used to running around as the others seemed to be.

“I’m absolutely  _ fine! _ ” Ayaka snapped, shooting a glare at the girl. “My boyfriend was just caught cheating on me! I’m positively farting rainbows and pink fuzzy bunny-rabbits! Do you  _ think _ I’m  _ okay?!” _

“Hey!” cut in Takato. “Take it easy, Ayaka! She’s just worried about you! We all are! I mean…” The teen’s crimson eyes softened a little as he looked at Ayaka. “…like you said, this had to have upset you. We just…want to help you.”

"There's not much she can do either besides beat him up, and I beat her to the punch on that," Rika said, inserting some yen into the vending machine as a bottle of water rolled out. Unscrewing the cap, she poured some of the liquid over the dried blood before she began to pick at it. Last thing she wanted was questions when she got home.

"I still don't approve of it. Even if he was vile, he isn't worth getting into trouble over," Jeri said with a small frown, feeling hurt at Ayaka's backlash. She understood the girl's pain though, so she didn't fight back.

Looking down, she played with her thumbs, feeling though there was something she could possibly due to help Ayaka feel better. Something nonviolent would be ideal.

"How about we get some ice cream?" she offered after a minute of thinking. It was a delicious treat and would hopefully calm down some heads.

Ayaka turned away, feeling awful for having snapped at Jeri. After all, she didn’t mean for everything to happen the way it did. If anything, breaking up with him had been an inevitability. Today’s outing merely accelerated things.

_ Like ripping off a Band-Aid, _ she told herself, tightening her hands together. She sighed heavily. “Sure,” she said. “I could use something to take my mind off this crap. I’m sorry Jeri. I didn’t…I didn’t mean to…get…angry with you.”

She barely choked out the words as she attempted to smother her feelings. Inevitable or not, the betrayal hurt deep all the same.

"It's fine," Jeri assured her with a smile, placing her hand on her friend's comfortingly. "You're hurting. It's perfectly normal to be upset."

“Dork,” Ayaka muttered, joining her hand with Jeri’s and giving it a soft squeeze. “I don’t deserve you.”

"Nah, Akio didn't deserve you," Jeri said with a smile before pulling her to her feet. "So let's go, OK? I know a really good family-owned place down the street. They have over a hundred flavors."

“Okay,” Ayaka sniffed. “Over a hundred flavors, huh? That gives ‘em over a hundred chances to make me feel better.” She forced a small smile that did not in the least bit look honest. “Guess that means I’m about to make someone  _ very _ rich.”

Getting up, Ayaka let herself be led by Jeri while Takato followed after, dropping back just enough to stay nearby Rika. He looked at her warily, uncertain if she would accept his presence, having intervened with her pummeling Ayaka’s jerk ex-boyfriend, but he knew that he couldn’t just avoid her. His gaze fell on her hand as she continued to scrub at it, flecks of dried blood coming off, though with some difficulty. Sighing, he unzipped his jacket and held it out for her.

“Here,” he said. “It’s not a towel or anything, but it’s better than nothing.”

Rika looked up at Takato and smiled gently, flicking some water at him.

"Thanks, but I don't want to freak your mom out with blood on your jacket," she said as she picked at the blood again. "It's sort of the reason I'm not using my own clothes. I could only imagine what Himiko would say if she caught sight of it when I came through the door." She paused and altered her voice to sound older than she actually was. "Rika, you have brought dishonor on this family again I see." She snorted derisively.

“I would have just told my parents that I spilled strawberry ice cream on my jacket,” Takato replied, still holding out the jacket. He felt a bit relieved that she smiled. Smiling was a good indicator that their friendship was still solid…wasn’t it? “And Himiko must really be one weird person if punching a jerk means dishonoring your family.”

He sometimes wondered about this Himiko Rika occasionally complained about. Beyond hearing that she was currently living with Rika’s family and the business with Renamon stealing the top-secret files from her ultra-top secret place of employment, he had yet to see her in person and suspected he would eventually, even with Rika doing everything she could to keep her world separate from the woman.

Such was how his luck operated these days.

"Hmm ... well if you insist," she said taking the jacket tentatively. Even if she was a bit annoyed with him from holding her back, she knew the crimson eyed boy meant well. The fact he even offered his jacket as a peace offering in of itself was sweet. "Thanks."

It was easier with the jacket, although she did feel guilty with getting it dirty. Still it felt nice to have her hands clean and not stained with jackass. Handing him the jacket back, she scratched the back of her head, feeling a bit self conscious.

"Thanks Takato. I really appreciate it."

“No problem,” Takato smiled awkwardly, taking the jacket back and tying it around his waist. He hesitated before continuing. “Nice punch by the way. That guy really didn’t see it coming.”

Rika snorted, slightly amused.

"Thanks. I had no idea I even punched him until my fist connected with his face."

“Well…people like that can have an effect on people…” Takato nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth to say something more but soon closed it, finding himself with little left to add. For once, he decided to just let silence reign.

_ Better that than me messing things up again, _ he thought to himself.

**###**

“A hundred different flavors,” Ayaka said to herself as she gazed at the ice cream tubs, the man behind the counter waiting for her order. She felt a hot lump in her throat. She didn’t think there was enough ice cream in the world right now - no matter how good it tasted - that could help her feel better. She turned to Jeri, her eyes glistening with unwept tears. “Jeri…” she began, only to look away and bite her lower lip. “I...I don’t think this is a good idea.”

 

Jeri blinked a bit, not quite understanding Ayaka’s sudden change of heart but her eyes softened all the same. Reaching up, she gently rubbed Ayaka’s arm, smiling slightly.

 

“That’s OK,” she assured her. “We don’t need to get ice cream. Do you want to go home?”

 

“Yeah,” she nodded after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m sorry Jeri, it’s just… I think I’d rather be alone right now.”

 

Ayaka hated herself right now. There was no way Jeri could have known that the ice cream shop in question was one where she and Akio had one of their first dates at. She felt sorry for the shop owners too. She would have drowned them in money trying to eat her sorrows to death, but right now she didn’t want to deal with so much as a single reminder of  _ him. _

 

She grated her teeth together, feeling a sick heat in the back of her throat. Swallowing, she looked at Jeri apologetically. “Sorry,” she croaked again. “I know you wanted to get that camera…”

 

“Don’t worry about that!” Jeri insisted, grabbing Ayaka’s hands and clasping them in her own. Even after everything what happened, Ayaka was still thinking about everybody else but herself. “Don’t think about that, think about yourself first! Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

 

“I...Thanks Jeri,” Ayaka smiled softly. “But...like I said. I just want to be alone right now.”

 

Behind her, Takato exchanged a look with Rika, wondering what she thought about this. He hated the idea of leaving someone alone when they were hurting, but all the same, he knew that sometimes one had to step back and give someone their space. Did Rika feel the same way?

 

“But-” Jeri protested only for Rika to cut her off.

 

“I know you mean well, Jeri, but sometimes a person needs to breathe alone when they want to break down,” Rika said, closing her eyes. “Nobody likes being a wreck in front of other people.” She opened her eyes and looked at Ayaka appraisingly. “Although if you could text her when you get home safely, I’m sure she’d appreciate that.”

 

Ayaka looked back at Rika, grateful to find an understanding soul in the group, something he hadn’t expected from her. “I’ll do that,” she said, turning back to Jeri. “I won’t drop off the face of the planet Jeri. Trust me.”

 

Jeri didn’t look sure, but it seemed she was outnumbered. Giving a heavy sigh, she hugged Ayaka tightly. “When you want to talk, you know where to find me,” she said before pulling back. “I’m sorry that this happened. I wish there was more I could do.”

 

“I’ll keep you in mind,” Ayaka replied, giving her hair a ruffle. “I’ll talk to you later.”

 

Giving Takato and Rika a goodbye nod, Ayaka departed, leaving the trio alone to their own devices.

 

“I feel that someone should say something,” Takato said after a moment, “but I don’t think I’m the right one for that.”

 

“Say something in what regard?” Rika asked before looking at the menu as Jeri played with the ends of her jacket, fighting back the desire to chase after her friend despite her protests. It didn’t feel right to her to just leave someone alone when they were hurting. 

 

“I don’t know,” Takato said uncertainly. “Just...something? I guess?” Takato scratched the side of his head, feeling befuddled. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”

 

“I don’t think anybody is,” Rika said. “Nobody should be good at knowing the right words to fix a broken heart though if I’m going to be honest.”

 

“Why’s that?” Jeri asked, frowning slightly. She wished she knew what the right words were to say to make Ayaka’s pain easier. Knew the right actions. But she didn’t; she couldn’t help her best friend when she needed her the most and it bothered Jeri more than she cared to admit.

 

“Well … because that means they are too used to seeing people hurt, doesn’t it?” Rika pointed out. “Who wants to see people they care about hurt on such a regular basis that they know what to say to make it better? That’s something you only get good at through practice and experience.”

 

“I think the whole point is to be good enough to be able to fix broken hearts when they happen,” Takato said. “I don’t think seeing people you care about getting hurt on a regular basis even enters the equation. It’s just...wanting to take care of your friends and making sure they’re all right.”

 

Takato wasn’t sure if he was explaining himself well, causing him to shift on his feet uncomfortably.

 

“Takato’s right,” Jeri said, happy that at least one of the two understood it.

 

_ I can always count on Takato for this sort of thing _ , she thought, glancing at the other boy. While she could see Rika’s reasoning - as different as it may be - she didn’t exactly agree with it. 

 

“Well either way, there isn’t anything we can do,” Rika said as she gestured to the ice cream board. “She wanted to be alone, and that’s something that ought to be respected. Anyway, you two want ice cream since we are here? I’ll treat.”

 

“Ah…” Takato’s hand went to his pocket where his wallet was, feeling a bit awkward. Usually it was the boy who treated a girl.  _ That’s stupid, _ he berated himself, resisting the urge to swat his hand.  _ Besides, it’s not like I’m dating Rika or Jeri…  _ “Thanks?” 

 

He glanced at Jeri anxiously before looking at the rows of ice cream tubs. He winced at the prices. “I’ll take chocolate,” he said finally.

 

“You sure?” Jeri asked, blinking in surprise. While she wasn’t exactly going to protest if Rika was insistent, she felt a bit weird to allow the girl to pay for all three of them. Especially since while the ice cream was delicious, the price was reflected in the quality.

 

“Yeah,” Rika said with a shrug. It wasn’t like she wasn’t exactly strapped for cash with a famous model for a mother. “It’s fine. And Takato do you want a bowl or cone?”

 

“Cone is fine,” Takato replied, still feeling a bit uncomfortable.

 

“I’ll get the same then,” Jeri answered uncertainly as Rika nodded her head and turned toward the vendor, pulling out her wallet and handing some yen to the teenage girl.

 

“Two chocolate cones and a sweet potato cone,” she said as the girl nodded her head, taking the money and putting it into the cash register and handing back the change. Rika pocketed it as Jeri raised an eyebrow at Rika’s taste.

 

“Sweet potato?” she asked curiously as Rika grinned slightly.

 

“Grandma and I like to eat interesting things,” she explained, taking a moment to thank the girl as she handed her two of the chocolate cones, handing them to both Jeri and Takato. “It can be a hit or miss, but you really can’t go wrong with something that says sweet, right?” Turning again, she thanked the girl for her own ice cream cone - which was orange in color, like the potato. 

 

“Not when it comes to ice cream,” Takato grinned. “But I might be wrong. To each their own.” With that, he took a lick of his ice cream.

 

**###**

 

Her head hurt. Her body ached and her hands shook ever so slightly, though whether from the copious amount of caffeine or the poor state her body was in, one couldn't exactly tell.

It had been about a couple weeks since the files went missing, video footage of a yellow kitsune being the one to take them had happened - not that she remembered any of it. The only reason she knew it happened was her own articulate notes explaining - in detail - what had happened. Despite searching for proof on the servers, she found nothing. If it wasn't written in her own handwriting, she would think the entire thing was an immature prank by Yamaki to make him as paranoid and crazed as him.

_ It seems in the end he didn't need to do anything,  _ she thought as she ran a hand through her hair as she forced her legs forward, the bag of groceries Aunt Seiko asked her to pick-up on her way home from work hitting against her leg almost as if to remind her it was there and what she was doing.

It seemed as if nothing was as she knew it anymore. There was holes in her memory, things she swear she recalled differently only for her own notes to insist otherwise.

Nobody else at Mnemosyne remembered a damn thing. According to her notes, when she demanded to know why the staff wasn't looking for the yellow kitsune which stole the files, Yamaki had looked at her oddly and told her no such thing had happened. She also felt the need to note that he asked if she wanted to lie down and if she was feeling alright.

_ I bet he took great relish in that, _ she thought darkly, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the plastic bag tighter.  _ Kicked out because he was going insane, and now his replacement seemed to be going through the same illness ... too bad Yamaki, I'm not like you. I'm not going to lose everything. _

It was hard swallowing the idea Yamaki might have not been as crazed as she was lead to believe. However, there was no way she could turn to him nor his minions for help - even if she was the boss. There was no good feelings between them, and she knew better to show weakness. Especially to those who would enjoy to see her fail.

Still, it was becoming increasingly apparent that something was wrong - not just with her own memories but those around her. She wasn't sure how far it spread - she had tested it at dinner a few times as casually as she could, to see if the other three women of the household remembered what she did. She even took to writing a diary of day to day life. So far everything lined up from that, but that didn't mean she should let her guard down.

**###**

Ayaka walked down the street, hands in her pockets and eyes staring straight ahead of her in a mechanical fashion; seeing, but not actually ‘seeing’. She was on autopilot as the rest of her remained in the daze she had been in since the incident with her now ex-boyfriend. The lump in her throat constricted her breathing and made her eyes hot.

_ Don’t cry… Don’t you  _ dare _ cry… _ she told herself, clenching her fists tightly.  _ At least hold on until you get home, stupid! I… _

_ Damn it… _

In spite of her determination, a lone tear slipped down her cheek, but she refused to wipe the offending thing away. She had pretended enough in front of Jeri and her friends. She was tired of putting on the brave face. So just this one time, she allowed a crack to show in her mask, if only to relieve some of the pressure.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She felt the crack widen, causing another tear to join its companion.

“Don’t…” she whispered, closing her eyes.  _ I had been so sure he…he… _

When she opened her eyes again, the world appeared…different. Darker. Foggier, but otherwise still there. The people continued to mill around her, going about their day, but they were dim. She shrugged it off as her tears getting in the way of her eyes. She felt as though she were crying enough for it now.

She barely noticed that there were considerably more tears now than there had been when she closed her eyes a second ago, and that she was starting to break down into a gut-wrenching sob.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to hit something… _ someone. _ She wanted to cry and pretend none of what happened had been real – all some bad dream from her fears. She wanted to know  _ why _ it happened.  _ Why _ he hadn’t been honest.

She wanted to sleep.

**###**

Stopping at a crossing, the ‘Don't Walk’ sign flashing red, Himiko turned her head slightly upon hearing a sob. A girl about the age of her cousin with tears running down her cheeks was walking past her.

"Hey," Himiko said, her obsidian eyes widening when the girl took a step into the street.  The girl continued, heedless of Himiko’s warning. Panicking, she stepped forward, only to stop when she remembered the traffic; a car zooming past her and honking loudly.

"Move!" she yelled only for the girl to finally stop in the middle of the road, turning to look back at her, the child's eyes glassy.

_ Don't interfere, Himiko Hata, _ a voice whispered in the back of her mind.

The bag dropped on the pavement, milk splattering across the sidewalk as Himiko rushed forward ignoring the voice - wherever it came from - and pushed her as hard as she could out of harm's way. Breaks squealed and pain shot through her body like a bullet, and as she fell to the ground, she could hear people screaming.

With the last remaining ounce of consciousness in her, her obsidian eyes fluttered over to the sidewalk to see if the girl was OK. However, she wasn't able to make her out before the world turned completely black.

  
  



	15. Ghost

It wasn't long after they finished their ice cream did Rika get the call from her mother, words coming out in panicked gasps in a language Rika assumed was Japanese but the choppy language made it hard to understand.

 

"Mama, calm down," Rika said, holding out a finger to her friends as she turned her back to them and tried to calm her panicking mother as her own heart beat uncomfortably loud in her chest.

 

"Car," Rumiko finally wheezed over the phone before she let out a strangled sob. "Himiko got hit by a car. She's been taken to Okuba Hospital."

 

"What?!" Rika demanded, her heart falling into the pits of her stomach. While she didn't exactly like Himiko, the news shocked the red-haired girl to her core. However, her demand was only greeted by her mother's sobbing, and Rika forced herself to take a deep breath. "I'll be there soon, mama, OK?" she assured her.

 

"O-OK," Rumiko answered, pausing briefly to hiccup. "After I see how she is, I'll wait for you in the lobby."

 

"OK, mama," Rika agreed before hanging up her phone and turning to her friends, fumbling to put it back into her pocket.

 

"I'm really sorry guys but something just came up," she said, keeping her voice calm as to not alert them from the rising panic she felt grow in her chest. "I'll see you both tomorrow."

 

“Ah…sure,” Takato nodded. Both he and Jeri had been listening, their ears perking up as Rika spoke to her mother. Jeri herself grew increasingly tense as she caught a fragment of the conversation. “Do you want us to come with you?”

 

"No thanks," Rika said, smiling appreciatively, giving them both a slight wave. "I'll be fine. I'll let you know how things are later."

 

“Okay,” Takato replied reluctantly. “Good luck.”

 

“Yeah,” Jeri added, walking over to her and giving her a quick hug. “Good luck.”

 

Rika gave Jeri a hug back before giving them another wave before looking both way, trying to remember which way the hospital was before jogging away.

 

**###**

 

"Mom, Rika's here," Rumiko whispered as she opened the door, peeking through it as she held her daughter's hand tightly to stop her own shaking.

 

Getting up from her seat next to Himiko – who was presently muttering something irritably through the pain killers about missing work – Seiko pulled the door open so as to welcome her daughter and granddaughter into the room.

 

“How are you doing?” Seiko asked, pulling her granddaughter into a warm embrace. The young girl’s body was tense like a wire. She was obviously upset, but managing admirably.

 

"I'm OK," Rika said, hugging her tight relieved to have someone with more emotional competence to talk to now. She wished she could bury herself into the folds of her grandmother's clothes, like she did when she was younger, but the older woman now smaller than she was since she hit her growth spurt. While she wasn't as tall as her mother, Rika was no longer the smallest in the family.

 

"How's Himiko?" she asked, glancing at her cousin who seemed to be awake, although she now was uncharacteristically swearing out someone called "Yamaki."

 

“According to the doctors, her arm is broken and she has three broken ribs,” Seiko stated simply. “With the exception of that and muttering nonsense from the drugs she’s under, she seems to be fine. Apparently she rescued a young girl who wandered into the street. The driver only just barely managed to stop when they hit her.”

 

"That's good," Rika breathed a sigh of relief, although she couldn't help but be somewhat surprised her cousin was in the hospital saving the life of another. It didn’t exactly fit the mental image she had of her.

 

Pulling herself away from her grandmother, she walked over to Himiko, whose obsidian eyes were glassy - probably from the drugs - as she was hooked up on the machines which beeped every so often letting them know she was still alive and kicking.

 

Rika really didn't know what to say as she put her hand on the bed frame, licking her lips nervously. She felt like she had to say something.

 

"Hey Himiko," she said after a minute, causing the older woman to loll her head to look at her. It took a moment before,

 

"Rika?"

 

"Yeah," Rika answered, not sure what else to say. Himiko however didn't have that problem.

 

"Don't be a dumbass. Stay out of the street. Fucking kids."

 

"...OK," Rika said, unsure how to answer that as her mother sat down next to grandma, before seeking to her own mother for comfort.

 

"How's the girl?" she asked the two women who weren't doped up on drugs.

 

Seiko exchanged looks with Rumiko. “I inquired about it earlier while Rumiko was waiting for you in the lobby. I understand that she’s doing fine. No injuries.” She frowned. “She didn’t explain why she stopped in the middle of the street though.”

 

"Was she suicidal?" Rika asked worriedly, her lips pulling into a frown.

 

"Brat better not kill herself," Himiko complained at that. "I'm going to go beat some sense into her as soon as the room stops spinning."

 

Seiko looked at Himiko worriedly before shaking her head, smiling softly. “At least you’re still concerned, even if you’re not quite thinking clearly,” she told the woman. “However, I’m afraid you’re going to find that quite difficult to do as you need to be resting.”

 

"I can't rest. Idiots don't know what they're doing," Himiko groaned as she closed her eyes, and Rika couldn't help but crack a small grin, glad she was feeling well enough to drunkenly ramble about  beating up other people, as she patted her shoulder gently.

 

"I'm going to check on the other girl, if that's OK," Rika said looking to her grandmother and mother. Himiko seemed to be OK, and she wanted to see who her cousin risked her own life to save. Maybe talk to her and see if she was suicidal, and see why she stopped in the middle of the street.

 

“Are you sure, Rika?” Seiko asked. “They may have discharged her by now. Since you’re not family they may not tell you her name.”

 

"Well, it can't hurt to ask, right?" Rika pointed out. "The worst they can say is no."

 

Seiko bowed her head slightly, smiling at Rika’s good heart. It made her feel proud of the girl to see how much she had changed since her earlier days as a delinquent.  _ Now here she is, with friends of her own and showing concern for others… _ “All right, Rika,” she acceded.

 

"I'll let you know if I learn anything," she said, giving her mother and grandmother a kiss and a hug before walking out of the room before pausing and peeking in the room.

 

"Er, which way to the lobby again?"

 

Rumiko pointed to the left and Rika gave a sheepish grin before thanking her mother and jogged down the hall, following the different signs until she got to the front desk.

 

"Excuse me," she said. "Can you tell me if the girl who was brought in due to a car accident is still around?"

 

The receptionist looked up at Rika before glancing back at her computer, her hands typing on her keyboard as she input information. “Can you be a bit more specific?” she asked in a polite tone. “We’ve had a few today already.”

 

"She was the one who stopped in the middle of the street," Rika tried.

 

Another bit of typing. “And what is your relationship to the patient?”

 

“She’s my friend,” Rika lied, hoping the woman was too busy to question anymore or didn’t do her job well. 

 

Fortunately for Rika, either guess was as good as the next one, as the receptionist readily volunteered the information. “Let’s see… Itou Ayaka… Oh! She’s down the hall, that way.” Giving Rika the room number, the receptionist pointed in a direction before returning to her duties.

 

“Thanks,” Rika said with a slight frown, her heart squirming uncomfortably as she walked down the hall toward the door where the receptionist pointed.

 

_ Ayaka Itou … what are the chances it’s Jeri’s friend from earlier? _ she thought, cracking her knuckles before laughing slightly, if only to chase away her nerves.  _ One hell of a coincidence. Neither Ayaka nor Itou are uncommon names … and Shinjuku is pretty big. _

 

Pausing in front of the room - 211 - she pushed the door open slightly and peeked in.

 

“Sorry for the intrusion,” she mumbled on reflex. 

 

Brown eyes looked up toward the red-haired girl, a dull, vacant look within them. However, upon sighting her, something moved ever so slightly and Ayaka shifted in her bed.

 

“Apology accepted,” she said in response, her voice flat. She tilted her head to one side and then added, as if as an afterthought, “You did lay out that cheating jackass like a cheap rug after all.”

 

_ Holy shit _ . 

 

Rika’s eyes widened upon seeing the girl from earlier now in the hospital bed. She didn’t know the odds that her cousin would save the one person who she was with earlier, but she was sure it had to have been high. 

 

“Yeah, that’s me,” Rika said after a moment of trying to find her voice, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone, texting Jeri, “Ayaka in Okuba Hospital. 211” before turning her attention back to the girl in the bed. “What the hell happened? Are you OK?”

 

“I am fine,” Ayaka shrugged. “I was just…” That strange tone to her voice again - dull, empty, almost mechanical. “...stupid,” she said after a brief pause. “I was not paying attention to where I was going.”

 

“You don’t say?” Rika asked sarcastically before she could help herself. Wincing slightly, she pulled a chair up next to her bed. “Why’d you stop in the middle of the street though?”

 

“I was sad,” Ayaka replied stiffly. This time something changed in her face - wave of emotion - before stilling back to cold emptiness. “I ended up not paying attention, as I said.”

 

“Makes me regret not backing Jeri up, you know,” Rika said with a frown. If she would have known that this would have happened, she never would have convinced Jeri to let Ayaka go off on her own. “If Himiko wasn’t there, you could have been hurt or gotten killed.”

 

“Your survivor's guilt is noted, but not necessary,” Ayaka said. “I am fine after all. You do not need to feel bad about ‘what could have happened’ when nothing did.”

 

“Too bad emotions don’t work that way,” Rika pointed out as she crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, frowning slightly. There was something … unsettling the way Ayaka was speaking, but she shooed it away. She just learned her boyfriend was cheating on her and almost got run over by a car. It was probably how she coped. “They tend to be illogical after all.”

 

“Yes,” Ayaka nodded in agreement. “They are. So... _ very _ illogical.”

 

“So what did the doctors say your injuries were?” Rika asked, deciding it would be a fantastic time to change the subject. 

 

“Merely bruises on my shins and scrapes on my knees and elbows,” Ayaka replied. “Nothing that requires a doctor to fix.” Another pause and she tapped her chest to indicate her heart. “This however…” She lowered her head. “I am sorry. I am not in the best of moods for talking right now. Please tell Jeri that I am sorry for worrying her. I was...stupid after all.”

 

“If you say you were stupid one more time like that, I’m going to hit you upside the head,” Rika said, not really feeling comfortable with the way she kept putting herself down. “People make mistakes. What happened wasn’t your fault, OK? Stop talking like it was.”

 

Ayaka simply looked Rika in the eyes, her expression unmoving.

 

“If you say so,” she replied. “I will not say it any more.”

 

“Right,” Rika said before rapping her fingers on her leg awkwardly, not knowing what to say. If there was anything to say. Looking around the room, she felt like they were closing in on her, but she didn’t want to leave Ayaka alone. At least Himiko had grandma and mom.

 

_ I can at least keep her company until Jeri gets here _ , Rika thought with a sigh.  _ … Please get here soon, Jeri. _

 

**###**

 

Jeri was frantic to say the least.

 

Hours had passed since she received Rika’s text message, though how many she couldn’t say, at least not without consulting a clock. Her sense of time had been, albeit temporarily, destroyed by the emotional rollercoaster that was today. 

 

_ First a fight with Ayaka’s stupid ex-boyfriend! Then Ayaka nearly gets killed and now… _ That odd, frightening look in Ayaka’s eyes, flat and lifeless; the mechanical way she spoke… Ayaka was there, but it seemed that the shock of the day’s events had caused her to retreat from the world emotionally.

 

_ I hope she gets better, _ she thought, looking back over her shoulder for the upteenth time in the direction of Ayaka’s room. The girl was no longer in it, having since been discharged, but the ghost of the memories remained imbedded in those walls; in that door. There was no escaping them.

 

In the lingering, disorganized, cobwebbed bookshelf of her mind, still reeling from her hypnotism from Renamon, Jeri felt that memories were the last thing any of them could escape from.

 

_ I don’t know how Rika does it, _ she thought, turning toward the red-haired girl.  _ She never seems to show much of how she feels about this kind of thing. Me? I don’t think I could hide it… _ Unconsciously she reached for her wrist and massaged it gently.  _...even if I tried. _

 

Rika had waited outside when Jeri visited Ayaka, and since the two watched the other girl get brought home, it was just the two of them in the sterile hospital. Rika played with the cap of the orange juice she bought earlier while Ayaka was still there, and the heavy atmosphere was starting to get to her. Sloshing around the orange juice in the bottle, she held it out to Jeri.

 

“You want some?” she asked after a minute. “You look like you need some energy.”

 

Once, Jeri would have worried about ‘indirect kisses’, but the situation with Ayaka had sobered her. Nonetheless, she shook her head. “No thanks,” she said. “I’m just… I don’t know. What am I supposed to say? Do? I just…” She shook her head again. “Ayaka almost  _ died... _ just like…” She bit her lower lip, stopping herself just short of saying,  _ like my mother. _ “She almost died,” she continued. And...just seeing her... “ She shuddered involuntarily and wrapped her arms around herself.

 

“It was like talking to a ghost back there.”

 

“Mn,” Rika said, taking a sip of the juice to stop herself from completing Jeri’s earlier sentence with ‘ _ just like Leomon _ .’ Pausing a moment, she lowered her bottle before scooting over to Jeri and wrapping an arm around her, resting her head against the other girl’s. “I don’t know really what can be said or done except she didn’t die. Sure she’s a bit … distant, but I think really the best thing you can do is be there, you know?”

 

“Yeah,” Jeri nodded reluctantly. She sighed, understanding some of Takato’s frustration. It was times like this that she wished she could just wave a magic wand and automatically know how to fix a situation. Unfortunately she didn’t, and she was left to depend on others who  _ might _ not be able to help her friend.

 

Even doctors, for all of their expertise, could only do so much to fix the human body.

 

_ They can’t do as much for the heart though, _ she thought, gripping her shirt tightly.

 

Rika watched Jeri, frowning slightly. While Ayaka was the one in the accident, and Himiko was the one hit by the car, that didn't mean they were the only people suffering.

 

Ayaka was Jeri's childhood friend, and while Rika felt bad about the situation, she couldn't imagine the scope of what Jeri was feeling. To see someone you had known forever acting like some sort of robot - or "ghost" as Jeri probably put it apter - had to be disconcerting.

 

"Jeri, I just want you to know ... I'm here if you want to talk or whatever," she said slowly, trying to find the correct words to say. "I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now, but I can listen if you want."

 

Jeri looked at Rika, a bit surprised by this unexpected offer of sympathy. More and more, Rika found a way to surprise her. Reaching up she touched Rika’s fingers gratefully, smiling a little.

 

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Thanks. I think though Ayaka’s the one who needs help. I’m just...not sure how to help her. I don’t like feeling helpless like this. I mean...once, I was...like that, but I...um...managed to snap out of it. Every day afterward was just...one day at a time where I told myself to keep moving forward because others loved me, or I loved them…” She smiled grimly, thinking back. “...Because I felt the world had so much more to it than pain.”

 

Her smile dropped. “I don’t talk often about that sort of thing,” she admitted. “Lots of bad memories.”

 

"Mn," Rika hummed, understanding perfectly what it was like to feel helpless when everything was falling apart. Some days she felt that way as they sought for answers, but the ability to do something - even if it was just seeing the invisible past - helped her feel like she could do something. It was worse - way worse - back when papa left. All she could think of was why she wasn't born differently.

 

Sometimes, if she dwelled on it, she found herself asking the same unanswered question.

 

"You're strong," she said after a moment, smiling at her deciding not to push what she meant earlier she was once like Ayaka. If she wanted Rika to know, she would tell her. "I haven't known Ayaka long, but if she's anything like you, she'll be fine too."

 

She kicked her feet awkwardly. "But I know what you mean ... bad memories are painful to dwell on. If you're not careful ... you'll drown."

 

Rika knew that better than anybody.

 

Jeri stared at Rika, again in surprise, feeling a light blush rise on her face. Feeling flustered, she looked away, smiling awkwardly. “Thanks for understanding,” she said after a moment. “And thanks for letting me know about Ayaka.”

 

"Sure," Rika said with an awkward smile and a slight shrug of the shoulders. "I figured you'd want to know. Childhood friend and all - sort of comes with the territory."

 

“Yeah,” Jeri nodded. “Anyway, I probably shouldn’t keep you from visiting with your family. Talk to you later?”

 

"Sure," Rika said before smiling at her slightly. "Although do you want me to walk you home? It's getting kind of late. I doubt grandma and ma will mind, and Himiko is too doped on painkillers to probably notice." She snorted slightly in amusement, the image of her typically poised cousin swearing up and down entering her head again. It was a side she hadn't seen before, and she filed away the memory for later for whatever purpose she may need.

 

Jeri shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m not heading home right away. I have...some things to take care of.” She didn’t want to mention that she wanted to go see Kazu - or that the two of them were dating at all given how Rika had taken a dislike to the boy.

 

She hated feeling selfish on this point, but after today she didn’t want to add one more problem onto her plate. She wanted there to be at least  _ one _ thing that didn’t stir up a pot of trouble.

 

"Alright. Text me when you get home then," Rika said, nodding her head before adding as an afterthought, "Stay safe."

 

“You too,” Jeri smiled back. Hesitating a moment, she reached over and pulled Rika into a quick hug before parting. With nothing more to be said, she waved and headed off, leaving Rika once more on her own.

 

**###**

Henry poured over files on his bedroom floor, the soft hum of his computer operating in the background – the first time he had had it on in longer than he cared to remember – providing a kind of white noise to filter out the thumping and singing of his little sister as she went about her business. He barely heard the noise of his computer, so caught up was he in his concentration that he failed to take notice of the typing on the keyboard, done by an invisible hand.

He brushed his fingers over his chin in deep thought.  _ This code… It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s… _ He shook his head in amazement.  _ I’m not even sure if I know enough to figure out a way to counteract this. _

 

Of course, the ghost - or perhaps better said, spirit - wasn't going to be ignored. A pillow - almost by magic - lifted in the air before plopping down on top of the papers strewn across the floor with a rather irksome _ , ploof. _

 

Henry jerked, just barely managing to suppress a startled cry. He glanced at his cell phone, its camera angled just right to catch the computer monitor screen whereupon a message was typed.

 

"Henry may I ask you something?"

 

Flashed on the screen as a yellow kitsune appeared on the cell phone screen, hovering next to the computer, her tail swishing back and forth.

 

Renamon had agreed earlier to bring the files to the Chinese boy so he could look over them once more, and had decided to come over today to give Rika a little space for her ... impromptu date with Takato. While she would like to have watched her Tamer, she had no problem about teasing her later. Not to mention Henry's odd behavior that day caused her to question many things, and took the opportunity to have them answered privately.

 

For an instant, Henry was torn between panicking and breathing a sigh of relief. He had forgotten Renamon in his focus on the documents. If it were not for Renamon, he would have expected…

His mind stopped there. He didn’t want to think about what he had expected.

“Uh… Sure Renamon,” Henry replied, opting for breathing that sigh of relief. Running a hand through his hair, he watched as Renamon began to type once more, somewhat impressed by how her clawed digits handled the keyboard so easily and quickly despite not being built for it.

 

"You seemed," there was a long pause as a word would begin to be typed only to be erased and replaced with another word as Renamon bit her lip trying to find the correct word to say before settling on, "distressed when Jeri lapsed into ..."

 

Renamon paused, not quite sure what to call it. If there was a word to call it. Hitting the enter space a few times, she changed her description.

 

"When she seemed to become something else entirely. While Rika and myself were rather off-put by it, your reaction struck me as rather odd."

 

Another pause in case Henry tried to play innocent.

 

"What happened? What was that thing?"

 

_ So she noticed, _ Henry thought looking away and down at the floor. “What about my reaction struck you as…odd?” he asked tentatively.

 

"You said ..." Renamon paused trying to think of the exact words Henry said before remembering, "It can't be, if I am recalling correctly." Another pause, as Renamon's paws hovered over the keyboard uncertainly. While it was much easier than typing on the phone, Renamon found expressing her thoughts in this manner to be rather restrictive.

_ Better than nothing, _ she thought dryly.

"To me that showed a sense of familiarity with what had occurred."

 

Henry felt his blood grow chilled at Renamon’s keen observation.  _ Well, it’s not like anyone could get anything past her anyway… _

He licked his lips and chuckled mirthlessly. “It’s not so easy to talk about,” he said, glancing around him warily. “You know that pretty well after all. All that time out there, on your own, keeping your head down…”

He met Renamon’s gaze…or at least the ones that appeared on the phone and grimaced.

 

Renamon's blue eyes narrowed as she studied him for a bit. Then after a moment, two words typed on the screen.

 

"You remember."

 

Henry nodded reluctantly. “I’ve had my memories back for a while now. I’ve watched the others have their memories rewritten three times before now. Myself…a little over twice that.”

 

_ He knew _ , a voice whispered angrily in the back of her head.  _ He could have helped, _ it added, conveniently forgetting at the moment Henry wasn't like Rika or Takato. He couldn't see her without help. He had no way to know she was even there.

Despite this, however, a neutral mask stayed on her face as she turned back to the computer screen, typing another simple word.

"How?"

 

“I don’t know,” Henry shrugged. Her question could have meant many things. How his memories were resistant. How they were changed. But it didn’t change the truth of his response. There was a great deal he  _ didn’t _ know. “I only know what happened before the mind wipes, and the effects. Someone remembers something they shouldn’t – so far it’s been myself, Takato and Rika – and then everything resets. Memories are gone. Friendships gone. Relationships set to zero and it starts all over again. Rinse and repeat.”

He gave Renamon a meaningful look at the word ‘relationships’. Surely Renamon had seen that play out enough times herself.

 

Renamon frowned, dipping her head understanding what he meant by relationships. It was frustrating to watch her Tamer come so close to being happy - the happiness Renamon never saw on her six years ago - on several occasions only for it to be ripped away. It was only made worse by the isolation Renamon had, unable to even protect her partner as her life fell apart time and time again.

 

"So what did happen before everyone's mind was wiped?" she asked finally. "What is this thing so desperate to protect?"

 

“I have only a hypothesis,” Henry replied. “And the incident with Jeri may have confirmed it.” Folding his hands together, he leaned into them. “When we were all ten, a digital program known as the D-Reaper attacked both the real and digital worlds. The digital world suffered badly from the conflict. And Jeri…” He grit his teeth together. “…she had been forced to fuel its evolution. The D-Reaper itself was a program designed to curb growth and Jeri had earlier been devastated by the death of Leomon – her partner. She awoke sentience in it as it tried to understand humanity through her…but in her grief it came away with a very warped view of the world and decided it was better to just kill us all, digimon and human alike.”

 

Henry frowned as he thought about the long-ago war. Everything had seemed so hopeless then. The endless battles that led to their retreat; the devouring of Shinjuku; the D-Reaper impersonating Jeri and psychologically tormenting Takato…playing off his feelings for her.

 

“I can only think that an event that large would have awoken something else. Something that had a desire to not see another, similar event. That’s what I believe anyway. It’s the only thing that makes sense. The D-Reaper wouldn’t have allowed…any of this to occur. After all… _ sadness can be deleted.” _

 

Renamon shivered, a sense of horror dawning on her as Henry's words sunk in.

 

_ A war,  _ she thought as she looked down at her claws, flexing them uncomfortably. While she was a warrior by nature - all Digimon were after all - the thought made her sick.  _ No, not a war. A genocide. _

 

Renamon felt very tired as she clenched her hands together. Suddenly, she wondered if it was a good idea to pursue what they were doing. Humans weren't combative species - not like Digimon were at any rate - and at the time, they were just  _ children. _

 

"Do you think the D-Reaper is the one doing this?" she asked finally after minutes of silence, trying best how to wrap her mind around the situation. Then, "Do you think remembering is the best course of action after all?"

 

Renamon frowned. Prior to her talk with Rika, part of her dreaded her Tamer remembering what had happened regarding IceDevimon. It was a welcome relief when the two ended up talking about it and Rika was very adamant on letting her know they were partners and she loved Renamon before hugging her to just prove her point.

 

Now ... now she wasn't sure if she wanted Rika to remember her past for a different reason.

 

_ Rika's strong, but she's still just a child at heart, _ Renamon thought forlornly.   _ She doesn't open up as is. What if she's happier like this? _

 

“If it is the D-Reaper and we don’t remember, it  _ will _ try to destroy us, Renamon. No ifs, ands or buts about it. In its eyes, digimon and humans were only capable of destroying things; never creating. It won’t bat an eye over extinction it thinks is justified. Even if it’s not the D-Reaper…”

 

Henry clenched a fist, and it shook from repressed anger before he released it. “Even if it’s not the D-Reaper, it still shouldn’t be doing this to us. Call me selfish, but there were a great many things that I feel shouldn’t be changed or forgotten. But that’s just me.”

 

“I’m sure Rika would agree with you,” Renamon typed out, knowing deep in her heart even if Rika knew what lay ahead of her, she would still push forward despite the dangers. That’s just how she was. “So if it is the D-Reaper, what do we do? Is it inside Jeri still?”

 

“It shouldn’t be,” Henry shook his head. “It’s hard to say for certain, but it  _ was _ its own separate entity. I think what we saw was something along the lines of... _ mental scar tissue _ and your hypnosis just aggravated at it. Whatever’s going on, the memory rewrites only go skin-deep. It doesn’t do anything about what’s deep inside the heart.”

 

A thought occurred to Henry and he chuckled. “Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand…” he muttered under his breath.

 

“Oh dear,” Renamon typed, flinching guiltily. She had only meant to help, and to learn she possibly aggravated something she really shouldn’t have made her squirm inside. Still, she was interested in Henry’s theory that  _ whatever _ this thing was hadn’t caused a change in their hearts. Rika didn’t remember their fight, and the two got along great now to the point Rika treated her like she was a living being, she couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was due to the continuous memory wipes.

 

“... If I may be selfish myself, Henry, do you mind if I derail the conversation and ask how my relationship with Rika was?” she typed. “If it isn’t obvious … the last thing I remember before transporting to the future was the situation with IceDevimon.”

 

Henry smiled. “I don’t mind at all. You and Rika… A lot happened. You two didn’t stay separated for very long, and your bond only grew stronger as time went on. She saw you as her sister before all of this happened. She loved you very much, I know that much. It tore at her when we had to separate from you and the other digimon for a while.” A pause before he continued. “The two of you… Your bond went beyond just being partners. By the time we defeated the D-Reaper, you might as well have been the same  _ soul.” _

 

Henry wasn’t much for spirituality, being of logic and rationality, but he recognized that there were some meanings that could only be captured in words that went beyond the material world. If this didn’t impress upon Renamon the depth of her connection with Rika and ease her worries, nothing would.

 

“Thank you,” Renamon typed with one claw, the other trying to push the tears which she hadn’t given permission to fall from her eyes. To know Rika and her grew closer - to know that the girl she saw before her was the same one she would grow to know in a different time eased the turmoil in her heart. The happiness when Rika looked at her - saw her - for the first time after years of isolation had only been surpassed by when she reunited with her Tamer. The gift Henry gave her, letting her know that not only did Rika  _ love  _ her, she saw her as  _ family _ was the greatest she ever had been given.

 

If she was an earthbound spirit held back by regret, she would have moved on to the afterlife then and there. 

 

“Whatever I can do to assist you - all of you - let me know,” she typed, feeling a bit more earnest to be of help. She wanted to be there for them before, but now - now she felt just as invested as the children. It was like a fire had been light in her soul after all these years. 

 

Henry smiled and nodded. “Thanks Renamon. I…” He hung his head and gave a light laugh. “It’s...good to finally have someone who can help with this. I’d say you have no idea but...you do.” 

 

Not sure what else there was to say and feeling awkward now, he turned back to the files, flipping over a page. “I wonder…” he muttered under his breath. “If only we could talk to Himiko and get her on our side this would probably make a lot more sense.” He blinked.

 

“Or...if we could get Yamaki on our side again… Or Riley...”

 

“Who?” Renamon asked, now confused. “Also, how does Himiko have to play into things? I know she works with the government.”

 

“She was working in the Shinjuku government building, right? The one with two towers?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That building had been the operations center of a government agency known as Hypnos. It was headed by a man named Mitsuo Yamaki and Riley Ootori assisted him. They monitored the digital world and helped us defeat the D-Reaper. My dad helped with that too, along with his friends, the Monster Makers. They created digimon initially... If only we could get more people to remember…”

 

Henry sighed. “We’re flying very blind here, and I don’t trust technology enough to make any big plays...or even to come up with a big play.” Leaning back, he looked at the files in despair. “I have no idea how we’re going to get around this one. I’m sorry, Renamon. I’m at a loss here.”

 

“Why don’t we start with baby steps?” Renamon suggested after mulling it over. “Maybe tell Rika and Takato? Rika is closest to Himiko … objectively. I’m sure if the situation is explained, Rika would be willing to work with her cousin, or at least try to, despite their … numerous differences. Once we do that, we will be able to lay down other stones."

 

“Easier said than done,” Henry replied. “I’ve been trying to do just that for the past seven mind wipes and we keep getting set back. It’s like we’re trying to get to a destination and we stop halfway to the end each time. We get infinitely closer but never actually reach it.”

 

He threaded a hand through his hair, heaving a sigh. “You’re right though. Since it seems like we’re developing a resistance this time...and Rika and Takato can both see things that they couldn’t before, it might be a good idea to open up to them. After all, they’ll remember this time.”

 

His face twitched. “I hope.”

 

“I’m sure they will,” Renamon assured him, feeling it was prudent not to tell him despite everything, Rika hasn’t showed any signs of remembering a single thing. “Plus if it makes you feel better, I’ll make sure Rika doesn’t try to hit you for not telling her sooner.”

 

Henry gave the vulpine digimon a dry chuckle. “If you could, that’d be great. One less thing to have to worry about.”

 

Renamon smiled and flicked her tail, amused before laughing at a mental image of a small version of her Tamer just wailing on Henry like those animes she seemed to enjoy to watch so much.

 

“I do my best.”

 

**###**

 

The frying pan sizzled and spat, causing Kazu to lean back before the grease could once again burn his skin like hot little bullets. In the large skillet was several types of meats and vegetables which he had found in the fridge, his parents out somewhere leaving him to fend for himself. While he supposed he could have just reheated leftovers from yesterday’s dinner, the portion was way too small for him and he was  _ really _ hungry after all the attempted studying and video games with Kenta earlier today.

 

Kazu wasn’t fully aware of how hungry he was until his friend had left to go home to eat dinner. While he was now lonely with Kenta gone, he kept himself from calling Jeri knowing his girlfriend was hanging out with Ayaka for the day. While he didn’t exactly like the loud-mouthed girl and current class president, he respected that she and Jeri were best friends.

 

_ It’s perfectly normal for friends to spend time together after all,  _ he thought as he looked at the spices frowning, wondering which he should put into the skillet. While pepper and salt were no brainers, he wanted something more of a zing. The thought of looking up for ideas online crossed his mind before he shook his head. He was a man after all, he didn’t need any help. He’d figure this out on his own.

 

The doorbell rang, waking him from his thoughts. Frowning slightly, he put the heat on medium low just in case, before walking over to see who it was this late at night. Opening the door slightly, he was surprised to see Jeri in front of him.

 

“Jeri?” he asked surprised. 

 

“Hey,” Jeri said in a small voice, looking somewhat anxious and uncertain - upset even. “Mind...Mind if I come in?”

 

“‘Course,” Kazu said immediately, opening the door fully to allow her inside. “My parents aren’t home, so I’m just making dinner. You hungry?”

 

“I…” Jeri paused before nodding, somewhat reluctantly. “Yeah, that’d be great.”

 

A small part of her was curious - and a bit nervous - as she had never eaten anything Kazu had made before. Still, he couldn’t be  _ that _ bad or anything, could he? Somehow he seemed to manage whenever he was on his own. Stepping inside, she followed her nose as Kazu closed the door behind her.

 

“So what’s up?” Kazu asked, looking at her retreating back worriedly. He didn’t expect her to come over, and to make matters worse she looked upset. He hoped for her sake that she didn’t have a fall-out with Ayaka - he knew full well how much it hurt to lose a friend, and he didn’t want someone as pure and good as Jeri to go through that. “I thought you were hanging out with Ayaka today.”

 

“I was,” Jeri replied in a hushed voice as she came to a stop in front of one of the kitchen chairs. Placing her hand on it, she ground the toe of her shoe into the wooden floor. Unseen by Kazu, she bit her bottom lip. “Things were going great actually. We…” She hesitated on whether to tell Kazu about meeting up with Rika and Takato. “...We also went shopping for a present for Henry’s little sister. Her birthday is coming up. And...then...while we were there…” 

 

She swallowed, suddenly starting to shake.

 

Kazu approached her tentatively from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist hoping to provide some sort of comfort, his eyes flickering to the stove to make sure that it wasn’t going to be burning down the apartment anytime too soon.

 

“And then?” he prompted her gently.

 

“You know how Ayaka has a boyfriend, right?” she asked quietly.

 

“Yeah,” Kazu nodded trying to remember the guy’s name. “Akio from 2-C I think.”

 

Jeri nodded. “Well...we met him at the toy store. He was...with another girl. And he...said that...he was just using Ayaka. Just so...just so he could…”

 

Jeri bit her lip again, unable to say it out loud. Just remembering Akio’s words made her skin crawl. To think that someone that meant so much to one of her closest friends had cared so little about her…

 

“And...later… Ayaka… She was… so upset...and she wanted to be left alone. And...And she nearly got hit by a car…”

 

“What?” Kazu asked, his eyes widening in surprised. He didn’t need to be told what Akio was thinking … he had heard the rumors of course. He didn’t really think about them at the time, nor did he really care - after all he didn’t give a damn about Ayaka, and how she would feel about it was of no concern to him. However, Jeri’s broken up nature and the fact Ayaka almost got hit by a car filled him with instant self-loathing.

 

“Is she OK?” he asked tentatively, praying to whoever was listening that if for any sake, please let the girl be OK for Jeri who had done nothing wrong. He felt it would be wrong to hope his longtime rival was safe only to appease his own sense of guilt. 

 

“She wasn’t hurt. A woman pushed her out of the way.” Jeri neglected to mention that the woman was a relative of Rika, but again, she didn’t want to add a needless complication. She squeezed Kazu tightly as a tear forced its way out of one eye. “Kazu? Why...Why do some people do that sort of thing? Why can’t they just be...honest with other people? Why...use them like that?”

 

Kazu took a minute to think about it, looking at the sizzling food in the skillet. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how to answer that - he didn’t want to add more pain than she already had, but at the same time he didn’t want to lie. He wanted to be honest with her, if only to prove he was nothing like Akio.

 

Turning her around gently, he wiped the tears from her eye with his thumb.

 

“Some people just don’t care about others,” he said slowly, trying to find the best words to say. “They don’t care if they hurt others as long as they get what they want. People are just fuckers I guess.” 

 

“I know,” Jeri whispered. “I just hate it. It’s just...so...stupid.”

 

She scowled, tightening her grip on Kazu before relaxing it again, breathing in his scent - an odd, spicey smell, though that was probably from whatever he was currently cooking.

 

She blushed lightly as her mind jokingly considered what it would be like to eat Kazu.

 

“Um...I’m not keeping you from burning your dinner...am I?”

 

“Ah, no, I’m just about done,” he said flustered as he looked over at it and quickly ran over to the skillet, hoping that his words were true. He breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed everything was cooked. Looking at the nearest spices, he decided to go for what he knew was safe and keep experimenting for another time when Jeri wasn’t here. 

 

Grabbing a couple of plates, he dished out two servings - one for him and Jeri - before smiling shyly at her.

 

“Sorry if it isn’t the best. I was sort of experimenting,” he apologized, feeling he should cover his bases. He didn’t want her to think he was a terrible cook. After all, didn’t women like men who were able to cook and clean? “What do you want to drink?”

 

“I’ll just take some juice,” Jeri replied. “I hope you don’t mind,” she said, looking at the food in the skillet. “There’s...not really a whole lot there and...um…”

 

“It’s OK,” Kazu said laughing, grabbing her some juice. “I’m happy to share my food with such a cute girl. I just hope I can live up to your expectations.”

 

“It smells delicious,” Jeri said in a low, embarrassed voice as she blushed over Kazu’s compliment. She gave him a small smile, once again grateful to have him for a boyfriend. He could be rough sometimes with his choice of words, but somehow he always knew what to say to make her happy.

 

“Well, I’m glad I passed the first test,” he joked as he sat down, but not before pulling out a chair for Jeri like a gentleman. His mother had taught him well in that regard at least, and not for the first time since dating Jeri, he was grateful to the older woman for beating some manners into his thick skull. “After dinner, I’ll go buy us some pudding or ice cream or something - what do you say?”

 

_ After all shouldn’t a dinner between a boyfriend and a girlfriend have a dessert?  _ he thought.  _ That and women typically feel better after eating chocolate. Whenever mom is grumpy or upset, dad always brings her home some. Seems to work for him. _

 

“I think I’d like that,” Jeri smiled gratefully before suddenly remembering her manners. “Um...I mean… Don’t feel that you have to or anything. I know I just showed up here unexpectedly and everything…”

 

“Oh, no, it’s fine!” Kazu assured her, waving his hands in front of her. “I just want to see you happy and feeling better. Some pudding and ice cream is a small price to pay to see you smile again.” He grinned as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Besides I don’t mind you showing up unexpectedly. I’m really happy actually. Call me selfish, but I like spending time with you, no matter the reason.”

 

“Kazu…” Jeri whispered, her eyes shining. Rubbing an arm over her eyes, she sniffed. “Jeez…”

 

“Hey, don’t cry,” Kazu said as he picked up his chair and scooted noisily so he was closer to her. 

 

“Sorry,” Jeri laughed while still sniffing, trying to wipe away her tears. “It’s just… You just know all the right things to say and do to make me happy and… I don’t know what I did to deserve that.” 

 

“I ask myself what I did to deserve you all the time,” Kazu said as he leaned over and kissed her tears away. “Anybody would be lucky to date you, Jeri. You’re sweet and cute and …” he waved his arms awkwardly, not quite sure how to really to explain the perfection that was his girlfriend. “Everything,” he ended lamely, wishing not for the first time he had a better way with words.

 

Smiling, Jeri reached up and pressed her hand to his cheek. “Kazu…” she blushed, finding herself at the same loss for words as the big, dumb boy in front of her. Stroking a thumb across his cheekbone, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. 

 

“You’re too sweet,” she whispered, breaking away. Her blush had grown, surging all across her face now. In the awkward silence that followed, she wondered what else to say or do. Did they even have to say anything or do anything? She felt like they should.

 

Kazu smiled slightly as he leaned in and kissed her again. She looked so cute when she was flustered. It was even better that he was the one who managed to make her blush like that - after all if she’s this flustered, that meant he had comforted her, right?

 

“I don’t know,” he said, a roguish, impish grin on his face. “I think you taste sweeter though.”

 

_ “Kazu!” _ Jeri exclaimed, her blush magnifying. “That’s...That’s not…” She scowled at him before a small, playful grin crossed her face. “You’re... _ bad.” _

 

“Yeah?” Kazu asked, raising a brow playfully. “Just how bad am I?”

 

“Very bad,” Jeri scowled, though her impish grin continued to tug at the corners of her lips. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips against his once more.  _ “Very _ bad,” she repeated in a low whisper before leaning forward and kissing him again. Pulling back, she grinned all the more broadly.

 

“How about you show me?” Kazu asked in a low whisper, licking his lips as he grinned at her. He wasn’t expecting this side of Jeri, but he would be lying to say he didn’t like it. While his girlfriend was cute most of the time, this was …

 

_ Kinda hot _ .

 

Blushing nervously, Jeri considered Kazu’s words for a moment before leaning in once more to give him his answer.

  
  



	16. War and Peace

Ayaka sat in the middle of her bedroom, boxes and binders open around her, photos spilled out into a series of piles. Her eyes flitted over them briefly, her eyes dull and empty. Reaching over, she pushed photos aside, splaying her hands over them, caressing them before taking them in with her gaze once more.

Several involved herself with Jeri. Others with her and Jeri’s other friends, Takato, Henry, Kazu and Kenta. Some as recent as a couple years ago. Others as old as when they were ten.

Some of those had images of a red-scaled dinosaur-like creature with a Hazard symbol on its chest, laughing as its tail splashed Kenta, Jeri and Kazu with water. Another involved a campsite that also included a long-eared, cream and green-furred creature with tiny paws and a dog-like face with large, black eyes, a mischievous grin on its face.

Another involved Takato, Rika, Henry, Kazu, Kenta, Suzie, Jeri, and a dark-skinned boy wearing a red-sweater – all of whom were much younger than they were now. The kanji written on it read, “Heroes”. She touched that photo and her fingers lingered there for a moment before setting it aside.

All the while, her expression didn’t change a bit.

There followed a knock on her bedroom door and it slid open, revealing an older woman with graying hairs. “Hello honey. Just checking in on you. Are you sure you want to go to school today? I know it’s finals, but…after what you went through yesterday…”

Ayaka glanced up at her mother, her expression remaining dull for a moment before the ghost of an smile – ghastly in appearance, as if she weren’t used to it – spread across her face.

“Yes Mom,” she said. “I will… _ I’ll _ be down in a second. I’m just…going over a few things first.”

Her mother’s eyes went down to the pile of photos, looking somewhat curious before finally nodding. “All right,” she said. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

“I will,” Ayaka replied as the door closed with a click.

**###**

“Kazu, I thought you said Ayaka almost got hit by a car,” Kenta whispered, his black eyes watching the back of their class president and former friend, feeling as if he looked away the girl would disappear. Kazu lifted his head from his desk, drool dribbling down his chin - no doubt taking a head start into sleeping through the exams - blinking blearily before looking at Kenta.

 

“I did. Why?” he asked, grumbling as he wiped the saliva from his shirt, making a face as he did so. Instead of answering him, Kenta merely pointed, hoping Ayaka couldn’t feel his eyes boring on her back from earlier and turn around to look at him. He didn’t want her to think he was some sort of creep, after Kazu told him all that she went through.

 

Kazu turned his head and blinked, rubbing his eyes in surprise before snorting - almost as if he were  _ impressed _ . 

 

“Well the harpy’s best feature was her stubbornness, I suppose,” Kazu said as he dug in his pocket to pull out his cell phone and with a click of a button, captured the girl in his screen. Grinning proudly, he quickly texted it to Jeri. His girlfriend was sure to be relieved that Ayaka was back in the saddle so quickly. While he had made her feel better last night - in a multitude of ways - Jeri tended to be a worrywort. She had her own exams, and she didn’t need to be thinking about Ayaka during them.

 

Takato, who had overheard part of their conversation was no less curious as to why Ayaka had shown up, although considerably more polite in his questioning and thoughts on the matter compared to Kazu. It wasn’t exactly normal for someone to just come to school for exams following a near-collision with a moving vehicle.

 

_ Well… Kazu isn’t exactly wrong, _ he mused.  _ She always was pretty stubborn about things. It was why she got into it with Kazu after all. _

 

Still, the questions needled at him. Finally deciding to do something about it, he got to his feet and headed over to Ayaka’s desk.

 

“Um...Hey?”

 

Turning up toward him with the same blank eyes she had since the previous day, she again put on that ghostly smile, causing Takato’s worries to skyrocket. “Yes?” she asked. “Hello…” A tilt to the head. “...Takato.”

 

“Um...hey,” Takato repeated, feeling a bit unnerved by the smile. “I...uh… Look. I know we haven’t been good friends or anything, but...after yesterday with what happened in the store with your boyfriend...I mean,  _ ex- _ boyfriend and nearly getting hit by a car...I was just wondering...are you okay?”

 

“Yes,” Ayaka replied, her smile becoming warmer; more natural in appearance. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt better.”

 

Takato felt a chill run down his spine. 

 

“Ah...that’s great,” he said, rubbing the back of his head just so that his hand would have something to do that didn’t involve nervous wringing of his shirt. “Well...um… Glad to see that you’re bouncing back. That had to be pretty freaky and everything.”

 

“Yes… It was,” Ayaka nodded.

 

“Okay,” Takato stammered, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. Feeling uncomfortable and wholly unnerved, he bid the copper-haired girl goodbye and retreated back to his desk at a fast pace.

 

_ Oookay… Well...I know we deal with grief and stress in our own way but that was just...weird. _

 

The two other boys were watching the exchange, just as creeped out by the girl as Takato was. Kazu couldn’t help but wonder how Takato knew about what happened to Ayaka, however. His brow furrowed as he cracked his knuckles absentmindedly.

 

_ Did Jeri tell him too? _ he thought, wondering why his girlfriend would do that. It bothered Kazu to think Jeri was keeping something from him, but before he could really dwell on it, Kenta broke his thoughts with a nervous stutter.

 

“What was up with that?” he asked, licking his lips nervously as he looked at Kazu to confirm he too saw Ayaka’s strange behavior. Kazu frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Ayaka’s always been crazy,” he said, not quite understanding what Jeri found appealing about her. “I wouldn’t think about it too much. She’s probably under stress or somethin’. Who knows how girls think, let alone that harpy. Besides, why do you care?”

 

Kenta blanched at that, looking away and Kazu raised an eyebrow. Kenta was never good at hiding his feelings, and after spending so much time with him, he was practically an open book that even a blind man could read. 

 

“Dude, are you  _ crushing _ on her?” he asked incredulously as Kenta’s eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently. 

 

“No! No! I’m just worried … I mean she used to be our friend. It’s only natural … right?” he asked tentatively. Kazu looked at him, frowning slightly before shrugging. Kenta always seemed to care about stupid stuff like that. Well, it was probably one of his virtues or something. Besides, Kazu couldn’t fault him for being worried - even if his own worries were more selfish in nature, Ayaka’s behavior was off-putting.

 

“If you like her man, it’s OK,” he assured the boy all the same. Kenta never seemed to show much interest in girls, and even though he picked a lousy one to crush on for his first, Kazu supposed he could do worse. Like Miki. 

 

“Kazu, that’s-”

 

Whatever it was, Kenta’s protest was cut off by the bell. Frowning, Kenta slunk over to the desk, throwing one last tentative look at Ayaka before looking away.

 

_ Please be OK. _

 

**###**

 

“Aw man, I’m exhausted,” Kazu complained as he stretched, the bell ringing loudly marking the end of the first part of their exams. They had a 10 minute break before the second part began before they would break for lunch. 

 

“Which is surprising because you slept through at least half of it,” Kenta remarked dryly, pushing his glasses up his nose. The spectacled boy’s body drooped toward the floor, almost as if it were melting, completely drained of energy. “You’re going to be held back a year.”

 

“BlackWarKazumon always comes through when it matters,” Kazu gloated, although Kenta’s remark wasn’t without merit. He nearly got held back a year last year. He wasn’t sure who was more relieved when he wasn’t - him or his parents.

 

“I hope so,” Kenta said, his eyes once again drawing toward Ayaka as they watched her almost sadly. “Jeri probably doesn’t want to date an idiot.”

 

“Watch it,” Kazu warned as he pushed his seat away from his desk, feeling the need to walk around a bit. His back felt sore, and the fresh air would do him some good. Kenta didn’t say much of anything after that, falling back into silence as he followed Kazu like a kicked puppy out the door.

 

His head turning to the side, almost by chance he caught the bobbing head of the reason all of the crux of his girlfriend’s current problems walking down the hall, a smug little grin on his face despite it looking like his lip had been busted - no doubt from Ayaka.

 

_ Bastard got off lucky _ , Kazu thought darkly as Akio barked out a laughter as his friend said something to him. Kazu’s fist clenched as his knuckles turned white, teeth grinding together in anger. This bastard was the reason Jeri was upset yesterday, and here he was fucking  _ laughing  _ like he didn’t have a care in the world.  _ What would have happened if the damned harpy died?  _ Kazu thought and as Akio’s smug smirk shone on his lips, all Kazu could hear in the back of his mind was Jeri’s uncontrolled sobs.

 

“Hey, bastard,” Kazu snarled as he marched toward him, ignoring Kenta’s questioning of, ‘Kazu?’ as he stopped right in front of Akio, folding his arms. “You need to apologize to Ayaka. What you did wasn’t cool. You can’t just toy with someone’s feelings like that.”

 

Akio looked over at Kazu, raising an annoyed eyebrow at him. “Who the hell are you?” he asked. “Usually people introduce themselves when talking to someone they don’t know, especially when they start throwing around accusations and shit.”

 

“Who I am doesn’t matter,” Kazu snapped, annoyed. “What matters is that you walk into that classroom and tell Ayaka you are sorry. She almost got ran over by a damn car because she was so upset about what you did to her, man. If you have any sort of conscience, you need to apologize.”

 

Akio glanced around him, seeing some of the odd looks he was getting now, friend and classmate alike as ears picked up the conversation. Shaking his head he walked up to Kazu and placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning forward.

 

“If you’re doing this to impress her,” he whispered, his tone silky smooth like a snake, “I wouldn’t bother. She’s a locked crotch anyway. There’s better out -”

 

Kazu didn’t let him finish as he placed his fist none too gently into Akio’s stomach. Akio doubled over, gasping for air as his breath left his lungs in one mad rush. Looking up at Kazu, eyes seething like boiling water, he made choking sounds, as if asking,  _ “Why?” _

 

“Looks like you need a lesson,” Kazu hissed nastily, grabbing Akio’s hair and slamming his face into the floor. “Now to apologize you need to put your face to the ground like this-” he paused when Akio tried to lift his head again, struggling against Kazu, and so to make his point, he slammed his face into the floor again. “No, no, we don’t raise our head when we are apologizing,” Kazu sneered.

 

Excited cheering as a chant of “Fight!” “Fight!” “Fight!” began to overtake whispers of excitement and surprise. Some called for a teacher, others called to stop it. A couple moved into save Akio. Others moved in to stop them. Cameras were quickly pulled out, white lights lighting up as a multitude of videos which would eventually find themselves around school before arriving on YouTube by the end of the day began to record.

 

“All right,” Akio grunted, eyes clenched shut from Kazu pushing his face into the floor and rending at his hair. “Just...let me up.”

 

“All right,” Kazu allowed, causing some booing from the crowd. “As long as you understand. Now go over and apologize  _ correctly _ , otherwise I’ll have to give you a remedial lesson.”

 

Letting go of Akio’s hair, Kazu took a step back from the boy, waiting for him to do as he promised. 

 

Released, Akio took a second to climb back to his feet and dust himself off before setting his sights on Kazu.

 

His lips curled into a smirk a split second before he rushed Kazu, one arm pulling back for a punch.

 

**###**

 

Takato had exited the classroom, his bladder feeling a bit nervous from the stress of the exams and needing a bit of a bathroom break before proceeding to the next round. He felt as though he had gone one-on-one with Kazu back from when they were kids and wrestling. Although he wasn’t doing anything particularly stressful physically, he knew that he would be feeling it later that night once he had a chance to calm down and relax.

 

As he made his way down the hall, he saw a crowd ahead of him, a loud commotion amidst them. Someone shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” while other students were whipping out their cell phones. Takato felt anxiety worm its way through him as the scene tugged at him, already getting a bad feeling about what was going on. 

 

Sure enough, Kazu and Akio broke free from the crowd, Kazu spinning as he grabbed hold of what looked like Akio trying a haymaker on him before it could even reach his face. The force of the blow still was enough to push him backward, but with a physical genius that would have surprised Rika, Kazu used Akio’s momentum to throw him to the ground and then, taking advantage of his being stunned from the impact, climbed on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

 

“Looks like you need some remedial lessons,” Kazu growled as he punched the downed boy. “But first looks like I gotta beat some sense into you.”

 

_ Oh no… _ Takato thought, rushing forward before he even had a chance to think things through. 

 

_ “Kazu!” _ he shouted. Upon reaching him, he grabbed the taller boy by the arm and pulled, trying to tear him off the other teen. “Get off of him! What are you, nuts?!”

 

Kazu barely glanced at Takato as his lip turned up in a sneer. 

 

“Fuck off, Takato,” he snarled as he wrenched his arm free. “I’m in the middle of a fucking lesson.”

 

Not taking no for an answer, Takato started for Kazu again, this time grabbing him by the waist and pulling again.

 

“I said...get... _ off!!!” _

 

Kazu, now fighting two people, realized he needed to take care of Takato first if he was going to put the snake back where he belonged. He remembered the strength Takato had hit him with that day they had stopped being friends, and he wasn’t going to let him get the drop on him  _ this  _ time. Especially not when he was doing this for Jeri - something Takato should be doing. Something that he should be  _ helping _ with, if he gave any flying fucks about Jeri at all.

 

_ Just shows how much you don’t deserve her _ , he thought angrily, turning his attention suddenly to Takato. Twisting suddenly, Kazu smashed his elbow into the side of Takato’s face, just near his eye socket. Crying out in surprise, Takato’s grip faltered, giving Kazu all the opportunity he needed to again smash his elbow against his mouth, splitting open his lip and causing a few specks of blood to hit the floor.

 

Takato sat there on the floor, holding his bloodied mouth in shock as Kazu went back to pummeling Akio, who had tried to rally. One of his friends was screaming now, begging for someone to help. Takato shook his head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

 

The screaming helped.

 

Looking over at the pinned Akio as Kazu once more drove a fist into his face, an image flashed across his mind of a nine tailed, golden-furred fox - a Kyubimon - lying helpless beneath a blood red sky as a black-clad  _ demon _ with metal claws towered over her.

 

_ “Oh no! Kyubimon please get up!”  _ shouted a voice that sounded like Rika. _ “You have to get away! These stupid cards are useless! I can’t do anything!” _

 

The fire he remembered from the day at  the karaoke bar lit back up, and in the next moment, he grabbed Kazu by the back of his shirt, and, with a strength he didn’t know he possessed, began to forcefully pull Kazu off the battered Akio, holding him close so as to give him as little wriggle room as possible to hit him again. Kazu struggled, swearing at him every step of the way, calling him a coward among other things. Takato barely heard it as he lifted him up and then pushed him away, nearly sending him into the wall.

 

Panting heavily, Kazu spun around toward him, eyes locking with his. 

 

Takato wiped a hand over his mouth, tasting copper.

 

“You fucking  _ traitor _ ,” Kazu spat. “I thought you were better than to side with  _ snakes _ , but guess I had you pegged wrong all these years, didn’t I?”

 

Takato didn’t answer.  _ Couldn’t _ answer. The haze of the fight was heavy in his mind. All he knew was what he saw; Kazu standing in front of him, a hunger for blood in his eyes. There wasn’t going to be any play fighting here. No leaving to cool off. This time it was for real.

 

_ Crud… _ Takato thought, still tasting blood in his mouth. He dropped into a crouch, expecting Kazu to rush him now. There was no going back now.

 

_ “What is going on here?!” _ came the shout of a teacher - one whom for an instant Takato swore was Ms. Asagi from their elementary days - as she came storming up toward them. Takato instinctively relaxed, dropping all attempt at defending himself now that an authority figure was here.

 

The next thing he knew was Kazu’s fist slamming into the side of his skull before the impact with the floor knocked him out cold.

 

**###**

 

Jeri hummed to herself as she exited her school, bento-box in hand and cell phone flipped open. She smiled a little seeing Kazu’s message at the bottom of her recent messages, remembering the encouraging words he had sent her before the first test started.

_ "Looks like Ayaka is feeling good enough to come to school! So don't worry and focus on your exams <3" _

_ Oh Kazu… _ she thought, heading over to a nearby tree and setting herself down in front of it, unpacking her bento. She wasn’t sure if she agreed with Kazu that Ayaka felt ‘good enough’ to be attending school, still remembering when she saw her at the hospital – that empty look in her eyes and the mechanical way she spoke. Still, the fact that she attended school was…what?

_ Should it be encouraging? Or is she just going through the motions? Are her parents making her attend? _ She didn’t think it had anything to do with her parents, but she couldn’t help but consider the possibility. The fact that she attended school so soon after such an upsetting day, especially with such a near fatal incident, left her uncertain as to her state of mind.

_ I should check in on her after school is over, _ she thought, turning her gaze up toward the more recent messages that she didn’t get to look over on account of being busy with exams. These were from Kenta, and for some reason he had been hell-bent on texting her during the tests.  _ Multiple _ messages, and one of them had a large attachment.

Opening one, she began to give it a quick read, only to have to stop, frown, and then start over at the beginning. Kenta’s message was hasty in its format and rather rambling, as if he were half in a panic over something.

Something about Kazu and…Akio?

She moved on to the next messages, where the puzzle at once became more confusing while simultaneously clearer.

 

That's when the other two decided to show up - Henry in a decidedly better mood than Rika, who had been in a terrible mood since this morning.

 

"Hey Jeri," Henry greeted her, lifting up his lunch in greeting as he sat down next to her, Rika plopping down on her other side with a mumbled greeting of her own.

 

“Uh… Hi,” Jeri replied, glancing up briefly before returning her gaze back to Kenta’s messages, reading faster and faster. She felt a deep dread forming in the pit of her stomach. Now there was some insane rambling about Takato becoming involved.

 

"What's wrong?" Henry asked, furrowing his brow as Rika peered over her shoulder to see what on Jeri's phone screen got her so upset.

 

“T-Takato… Kazu…” Jeri stammered, pausing on the final message. There was a video attachment. “I… They…”

She thought of Kazu… So gentle yesterday. So  _ nice _ in how he treated her. She didn’t feel much from yesterday’s dalliance, but it had been their first time and he tried so very hard to be considerate of her. Kenta’s message couldn’t be that same Kazu…could it?

 

The two half children looked at each other confused, not quite sure what Jeri was talking about. Judging by Jeri's tone, however, and knowledge both of them had about their current relationship, the first thought which came into both of their mind's was a fight.

 

"They?" Henry prompted gently while Rika looked back at the phone, noticing there was a video attachment from Kenta - rather recent too judging by the time stamp.

 

Reaching out to tap the screen with her index finger, she looked at Jeri questioningly, not needing words to state what was on her mind.

 

“K-Kenta sent me something,” Jeri replied, swallowing. She looked at the others and their curious gazes. Deciding that she couldn’t simply wait, she touched the attachment to open it.

The video opened, revealing a chaotic mess of shouting voices and struggling bodies before Kazu and Akio crashed through them, Kazu wrestling Akio to the floor and pinning him. This was followed by Kazu beginning the first of what would prove to be a series of punishing blows - brutal and powerful.

_“Kazu!”_ came the shout of Takato’s voice as he rushed forward to pull Kazu off the other teen. _“Get off of him! What are you, nuts?!”_

 

As the rest of the scene played out, Jeri felt her dread turn into horror. This…This was Kazu…wasn’t it? Her eyes weren’t deceiving her. Here he was assaulting Ayaka’s ex boyfriend and Takato trying to stop him and then…

 

Kazu lashed out at Takato.  _ Viciously. _

 

Rika and Henry both watched the scene evolve with horror. The brief moment that Rika hated the boy a little less for finishing what she couldn't instantly evaporated into a cold, righteous murderous  _ fury _ the second he turned his attention toward Takato.

 

The video - about 30 seconds in length - ended with Kenta whimpering, "Oh God," as the video cut to black with the teacher intervening.

 

"Wow," Henry said, after a moment of stunned shock not quite sure what to make of that all. "I, uh ... holy shit."

 

Words failed him. Even with the two falling out, and Kazu's impulsive nature degrading over the years, he never saw it get  _ this _ bad.

 

Rika, however, didn't seem to have a need for words. Without saying anything, she stood up and brushed off her skirt, her hair covering her eyes. Henry looked up, frowning. The fact Rika was quiet as a general rule wasn't a cause for concern. However, when it followed a friend getting beaten up, it was a loud warning sign.

 

"Rika?" he asked slowly as he stood up as well, ready to stop her from doing ... well he didn't know what. It was better not to assume.

 

"I'm going for a walk," she said simply, not looking at either of them.

 

"Alone." It was supposed to be a question, but it came out as a statement.

 

"Is that a problem?"

 

"You being alone when you are about to murder typically is," Henry said bluntly.

 

“Murder…?” Jeri whispered, her eyes going wide as she looked at Rika in terror. What was going on with everyone lately? They were all so...so... _ angry. _

 

Unseen by Henry and Jeri, Renamon phased into view in front of Rika, blocking her path.

 

"Renamon," Rika greeted, looking at her partner with a slight head tilt. The anger burned brightly in her eyes, although none of it was directed at the vulpine in front of her. "Move, please."

 

Renamon narrowed her eyes at the girl as Henry dug out his cell phone to see what was going on. Turning back to her partner, she looked her over, gauging her body language. Tension didn’t even begin to describe it. Her anger was palpable. A roaring, barely restrained monster ready to unleash itself at the slightest provocation.

 

“What do you intend to do, Rika?” Renamon asked. She had seen the video as well; saw Takato get hurt. She could understand her partner’s emotions right now. Having known her and observed her for so long, she knew well enough that Rika became angry when a trust was betrayed, and wrathful when a friend was hurt.

 

A stark contrast to when she first knew the girl, but surprisingly it felt as though it fit her all the same. Rika didn’t have any friends when they first met. She took harm visited upon those she had now  _ very _ seriously.

 

"I'm going to  _ repay _ a favor of course," Rika said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

 

_ Nobody _ hurt her friends - especially those who were too weak to fight back like Takato and Jeri. True, while Takato seemed to have an unnatural sort of strength in him, as evidenced by the video and the fact he was able to hold her back, he didn't know how to use it.

 

_ Plus it's not like he was going to fight when the teacher came,  _ Rika thought angrily, the monster inside her roaring louder for blood getting more antsy the second she didn't get it.

 

While she didn't agree with Takato's desire not to see Akio's face being beaten into the bloody pulp it deserved, she at least  _ respected _ his rosy ideals.

 

_ Plus weren't they friends once? What kind of person can just do that to someone they were close to for that long? _ she thought, getting steadily more upset the longer she stood here wasting time. She needed to do something now, and that something was beating the ever loving crap out of Kazu.

 

“I see,” Renamon replied carefully. “Tell me something. This... _ favor _ … What will it accomplish?”

 

“To make it perfectly clear what happens when someone hurts my friends,” Rika replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “So they don’t …  _ repeat _ the mistake.”

 

Henry had to give credit to Renamon - it seemed she was trying to reason with the irate red-head. Too bad Rika and reason didn’t go too well together when she was mad. It was one of her many flaws. 

 

Renamon was hardly convinced by Rika’s argument. “From what I overheard in the video, Kazu thought the same thing. Do you think he changed anything?”

 

Rika flinched at that as she gritted her teeth and looked down.

 

“Takato didn’t do anything to deserve it. That bastard did,” was the stubborn reply. “It’s  _ different _ .”

 

“How?” Renamon asked simply. “And what would you do if someone who also didn’t deserve it - someone like Takato for example - stood between you and Kazu? What would you do?”

 

Renamon resisted the urge to swish her tail. Right now, she was that very person - or in this case, digimon - who stood between her and Kazu. Was this the true test of their bond? After all these years?

 

“I don’t hurt the innocent,” Rika said, insulted, wondering why Renamon would even ask such a question. “Just because someone disagrees with me doesn’t mean I’m going to beat the crap out of them too. I’m  _ different _ .”

 

“You tried to punch me when I tried to show you how to make a proper fist when we first met,” Henry interjected more than helpfully, making Rika’s eye twitch wondering why the bastard had to bring  _ that  _ up now of all times. 

 

“That was in the past. This is now,” she snapped, getting frustrated. “Plus I had a reason - a stupid and messed up one, but a reason. I’ve grown up since then. I’m not the same person. Cut me  _ some  _ slack.” 

 

Jeri looked back and forth between her own phone and Rika, carefully licking her lips. She could feel the anger coming off her like a wave, and it left her feeling unsettled. It was a quiet reminder that Rika remained, as always, the  _ Demon Queen. _

 

“You have changed Rika,” Renamon acknowledged with a nod, “but do you truly feel that this is a good idea? The  _ best _ one? You are angry. I don’t recall you making your best decisions when you are angry.”

 

Reflexively, she thought back to when their partnership dissolved with Rika’s declaration that she hated  _ all _ digimon. IceDevimon had frightened her; showed her the worst part of herself that she hid from. The part that feared she was becoming  _ exactly  _ what she thought she was turning into.

 

A monster.

 

_ “Those who fight monsters should take care lest they become monsters themselves,”  _ Renamon quoted.

 

“You’re not going to let me go, are you.” It wasn’t a question.

 

“If this is what you truly believe is the right thing to do,” Renamon said, stepping aside, “you’re free to go wherever you will. But only if that is what you believe.”

 

Rika stared at Renamon, the monster inside her raging for Kazu’s blood. However, a sole spark of logical thought from Renamon’s arguments kept her grounded and her eyes dropped. She wanted so bad to fall blissfully to her demons, but … she didn’t want to disappoint Renamon. Now that she had the chance to go, suddenly she wasn’t so sure anymore if she should do it.

 

“I …” she paused before looking up at Renamon helplessly as her shoulders sank in defeat. Henry raised an eyebrow at that. This was the first time Rika actually really listened to someone when she was angry. A small smile crawled across his face.

 

_ Guess she has grown up a bit _ , he thought relieved.

 

“What should I do?” she asked finally as she looked at her hands before closing them. “Tell me.”

 

Approaching Rika, Renamon placed a paw on her shoulder before pulling her into a hug.

 

“What do you feel is right?” she asked, brushing a claw through her hair. “What helps?”

 

“Is what I feel is right the actual right thing?” Rika asked, rubbing a palm over her face. While tears weren’t falling, she could feel her face beginning to get hot. She didn’t cry easily, so she wasn’t worried about breaking down in front of Renamon, Henry and Jeri. However, the deep desire too still lingered. “All I want to do is protect those I care about. I’m just so  _ mad _ Takato got hurt, and that here I am, sitting around doing nothing about it. I want to do something,  _ anything _ to make it right.”

 

Renamon felt the heat washing across the girl’s face and continued to brush at her hair, trying to soothe her.

 

“Not everything can be helped,” Renamon said. “But sometimes, when something is damaged or broken, it’s better to just...fix it. Repair what you can and...remember.”

 

It wasn’t the sort of advice that would make Rika feel better, but it was truth of a sort. There were some things Renamon knew couldn’t be fixed. Sometimes words said in anger couldn’t be taken back, but sometimes...just sometimes...an apology and restitution made the difference.

 

Sometimes, all one could do was move forward and make a better future.

 

“Would you like me to take you to see Takato?” Renamon asked.

 

Rika thought about it. She honestly thought about it, weighing the pros and cons before slowly shaking her head.

 

“Not right now,” she said finally. “I think if I see him at the moment … I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back. After school … yeah. Please.” She paused and sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. There was nothing she could do, and the guilt and anger still twisted and turned in her stomach. Yet, she knew Renamon had a point. 

 

“This is the first time I actually saw you give in to logic when you were in a murderous rage,” Henry said grinning, ruining the moment. “I’m not sure what you said, Renamon, but I’m impressed. Good job.”

 

Rika turned and glowered at Henry, showing him what she thought with a single gesture.

 

Jeri let go of a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. Getting up, she backed out of her cell phone’s camera function with a swipe of her finger.

 

“I...I should probably talk to Kazu,” she said in a low voice as unseen Renamon pulled away from Rika and took a step back. “Or at least be the one to do it. He trusts me and...I think...maybe I can get him to see how…this...was.” She pressed her lips together. “He can be stubborn sometimes though when he thinks everyone is against him.”

 

“Well, he isn’t the only one,” Henry acknowledged, glancing at Rika who only scowled more only for him to grin to let her know he was teasing her. “But if Rika of all people could be reasoned with, I’m sure you can reason with him.” He smiled and put a hand on Jeri’s shoulder supportively. “We believe in you.”

 

_ I wish I believed in me right now, _ Jeri thought, wringing one hand around her wrist worryingly.

 

**###**

 

The current round of exams were almost over, but Ayaka was presently not in the classroom. She had finished her test long before any of her other classmates and now currently stood in an empty hall.

 

More importantly,  _ the _ empty hall. The one where Kazu and Takato had their little spat with each other and Akio. Akio was a meaningless player in the grand scheme of things, and one that Ayaka had already dismissed from her mind. She no longer cared for him.

 

Takato and Kazu on the other hand…

 

Kneeling down, she traced her hand along the tiled floor, brushing the tips of her fingers against small droplets of blood from when Kazu struck Takato. She winced upon feeling them and quickly pulled her hand back.

 

“Organic muck,” she mumbled quietly to herself. “But this is a sign of pain.” Her expression, which previously had been frozen in a neutral setting, softened, becoming depressed. 

 

“Kami,” she whispered, getting back to her feet. Taking one last look around, she headed off to the bathroom, if only to make sure she didn’t make a liar out of herself.

 

**###**

 

“A-Ayaka.”   
  
The name was hard to get out of his throat, but he had been practicing it in his head ever since Kazu had been suspended and Takato and Akio taken to the nurse’s office. He tried saying it during lunch, but ended up chickening out, and now that school - and exams - were over for the day, he gathered what little courage he had to approach the girl who indirectly started it all.

 

Turning her brown eyes toward Kenta, she cocked a curious eyebrow. “Yes?” she asked. “What is it, Kenta?”

 

Kenta’s eyes dropped as he wrung his hands nervously, words failing him. He had been so intent on actually saying her name, getting her attention, he didn’t really think about what he was going to say now that he got it. 

 

_ You need to say something, idiot _ , he chided himself.

 

“Are you OK?” he blurted, the first thing which came to his head.

 

Ayaka tilted her head to one side, her eyes analyzing him. “I am,” she nodded. “At least...I  _ seem _ to be doing okay? What about you? Your friends caused quite a bit of trouble today.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Kenta said, feeling the need to apologize even though he didn’t quite know why. Kazu had done it for Ayaka - for  _ whatever _ reason, Kenta had no clue - and Takato … well Takato never quite learned the lesson to keep his head down when the storm started brewing. Now he paid the price, and the guilt at seeing the blood in the hallway and the screaming … doing nothing about it while others got involved … it ate at him. He wasn’t able to concentrate on the exams for the rest of the day, caught between worrying about Kazu, then Takato and finally Ayaka in a messy, looping circle. 

 

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Ayaka replied with a shake of her head. “You don’t control what your friends do anymore than I do.”

 

“Still …” Kenta said, frowning. He felt the need to apologize. “I didn’t do anything. Again.” His shoulders slumped a bit, remembering their talk on the swing set. It seemed so long ago now. She had chewed him out then, telling him if wanted to be noticed, he only had himself to blame. 

 

“If it bothers you so much, than make sure you do better next time,” Ayaka replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “But as far as I’m concerned, I’m not the one who deserves an apology. I don’t need one either.”

 

Kenta didn’t really know how to reply to that. Even when she was upset, even when she was the one who was probably hurting, she was  _ still _ telling him how it was. 

 

_ Some things never change I guess _ , he thought.  _ Still she’s right. I need to do better. I should at least try being there for her like she’s been there for me. _

 

“Uhm … Ayaka,” he said once more, wringing his hands. “Do you want to walk home together?”

 

“If you want to,” Ayaka shrugged. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “This isn’t because you still feel bad, is it?”

 

“No,” Kenta lied. “I just want to walk home with you. After all … even after all we’ve been through … and the falling out …” he paused awkwardly. “You said I need to be better, right? Well I think I should start. I still consider you my friend, and …” he stopped again awkwardly before groaning and burying his face into his hands. He had no idea how to really express himself in a way that didn’t make him sound like he was coming on to her or he was an awkward loser. 

 

Ayaka again tilted her head to one side before shaking her head.  _ This is meant to be the part where I comfort him. _

 

Turning toward Kenta, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and gave it a soft squeeze. “Small steps at a time,” she told him. “If you don’t feel up to it, than don’t do anything.”

 

“But I want to walk home with you,” Kenta said, slightly frustrated. “I like you - not like, like - I mean, you’re pretty, but even if I did like, like - which I don’t - I’m not going to come on to you when you’re in pain.” He groaned. Well if she didn’t think he was a creep before,  _ now  _ she probably did. “Great, now I sound like an ass.”

 

Ayaka could only stare at him in confusion. “You do not sound like your posterior,” she replied, wondering why Kenta was even saying that in the first place. She furrowed her brow at him, trying to puzzle him out. She pressed her lips into a thin line before continuing. “You’re just concerned and...well...you don’t always express yourself very well. You always had that problem as I recall.”

 

Releasing her hand from his shoulder, she proceeded to start walking back down the school sidewalk before pausing again. Turning in Kenta’s direction, she frowned. “Well” she asked. “Are you coming? You said you wanted to walk me home, didn’t you?”

 

“Ah, yeah,” Kenta quickly agreed, jogging to catch up to her, his sneakers hitting against the asphalt. Still, the way she used her words bothered him. Just her way of speaking and mannerisms … everything seemed off. It was like she was a completely different person.

 

_ Is she really OK? _ Kenta worried as he looked at her, squinting his black eyes looking to see if there was something off about her physically. Even after a minute of what had to be creepy staring, he didn’t notice anything which would tip him off that Ayaka had been spirited away and replaced by a copy. Not that such things existed but …

 

_ Things have changed so suddenly _ , he thought as he finally tore his eyes away.  _ What’s even going on. _

 

Seeing him tear his gaze away at the last minute, Ayaka allowed a small, if forced smirk to creep along her face.

 

“See anything interesting?” she asked, amused. Kenta’s face bloomed bright red in embarrassment at being caught and he coughed, hemming and hawing for words.

 

“I, uh …” he stammered. “You uh …” wondering for a minute what Kazu would do before remembering that Ayaka and Kazu didn’t get along despite whatever happened today, and he should  _ not  _ take a page from his friend’s book. “Sorry,” he said lamely. 

 

“That’s another thing I always hated,” Ayaka said, turning away. “You apologize too much.”

 

Kenta almost apologized, but stopped himself just in the nick of time. Still he couldn’t help but be confused. Just when it seemed she was like a different person, she slipped back into her old behavior of calling him out on his shit. 

 

_ Maybe Kazu’s right. Girls are crazy. _

 

**###**

 

Despite knowing Takato for months, Rika had never been to his house before. It was a quaint little bakery with different kinds of bread showcased in the window, a sign hanging over the door. 

 

The second school let out for the day, Rika was rather impatient waiting for Henry to get his supplies together to come with her to visit Takato. Jeri had announced she would check in on Ayaka, and asked them to let her know how he was doing.

 

However, now that she was in front of Takato’s house, a sense of unease filled her as her head craned upward seeing if she could spot Takato’s window from where she stood. It wasn’t like Rika had a plan, and the fact she never met his parents before - she wasn’t even sure if Takato had mentioned her to them - suddenly made her wonder if they would allow her to see their son.

 

_ Well, Henry is here. They probably know him … he can vouch for me _ , she thought, peeking at the half Chinese boy as he pushed open the door, bell jingling as the two teens approached the front counter where a woman was running a cash register. 

 

Looking up, Mie smiled at the pair, though it was a strained smile. “Hello Henry. Takato’s upstairs if you’re looking for him, and…” She stopped upon sighting Rika and her smile froze. “...and...hello.” She tilted her head to one side questioningly. “You...look familiar. I’m sorry. Have we met before?”

 

_ Maybe in another time _ , Rika thought dryly, but smiled awkwardly as she bowed to the woman in front of her.

 

“I don’t believe we have, but my grandmother comes in here to buy your baked goods quite often. I’m also one of Takato’s friends and Henry’s classmate,” she said apologetically. “I’m Rika Nonaka. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

“A pleasure,” Mie bowed. She still frowned thoughtfully at the girl. “He hasn’t mentioned you before,” she said, more to herself than to anyone else. “Oh, but he wouldn’t tell me about any nice looking girls he’s friends with.” An amused glint sparkled in her eyes. “Are you  _ sure _ we haven’t met before? I could have sworn I’ve seen you  _ somewhere _ before.”

 

Rika scratched the back of her head awkwardly and smiled at Takato’s mother’s - or at least she assumed she was as such - compliment. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she was pretty - far from it in fact - she just didn’t know how to really respond to it. 

 

“Maybe we passed each other on the street or something?” she offered. “I mean … I’m kind of easy to pick out of a crowd.” She gestured to her head and smiled slightly. 

 

“No, it’s not that,” Mie hummed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I have a good memory for where I meet someone. I’ve  _ seen _ you somewhere recently…” 

 

A light sparked in her eyes and she snapped her fingers. “Oh!  _ That’s _ where I’ve seen you before! I was cleaning around his room and I found a drawing of you with some kind of fox spirit.”

 

“Bwah?” Rika asked, blinking in shock as Henry turned his head away, failing to hide a snort of laughter, his shoulders shaking. It wasn’t unusual for Takato to draw pictures of his friends, but Rika didn’t remember that. Her reaction in the past tended to vary from annoyed to amiable, although it typically varied on the circumstances.

 

_ Good thing she’s probably more worried about you at the moment, Takato,  _ he couldn’t help but think, wishing the boy luck from escaping her wrath later. 

 

“I … er …” Rika stammered, not quite sure what to say in response to that, so Henry decided to take pity on her.

 

“Well, you wouldn’t mind if we visit Takato do you Mrs. Matsuki?” he asked, placing a hand on Rika’s shoulder, grinning at her. “We heard that he got hurt earlier and we wanted to check up on him.” 

 

“Please,” Mie said, gesturing toward the entrance into the kitchen. “You already know the way. Be sure to guide the young lady there. Maybe the two of you can improve his mood.”

 

“We’ll try,” Henry promised, pushing Rika along who bowed her head one more time awkwardly as Henry dragged her up the stairs. Rika couldn’t help but look curiously around her as he dragged her along, the boy needing to remind her she could look at the family portraits later before they came to a stop in front of Takato’s closed door.

 

Lifting a hand, Henry rapped on the door.

 

“Hey, Takato, it’s Henry and Rika. Open up,” he called, leaning on the doorframe. 

 

**###**

 

Takato sat at his desk, sketchbook laid out open in front of him while he held his pencil in one hand, tip pressed against an unfinished drawing. A pair of angry eyes stared out at him from the drawing, looking no less dangerous to him than their owners reared back fist and the vicious snarl that twisted his mouth. Takato’s eyes were elsewhere, aimed away from his sketch of Kazu and at a spot of light on the floor.

Years and years ago, at a time that, with recent events, was now another life, an old woman had given him a cat. A cat his mother had forced him to return.

_ If I kept it, she’d probably be right there, sleeping in the sun, _ he thought with a certain degree of jealousy at such an ideal lifestyle, adjusting his grip on the bag of ice he kept pressed to his face. Small droplets of water fell from it and dripped down onto the drawing, soaking into the paper. Takato winced, returning his attention back to his sketchbook.

Kazu’s angry eyes continued to glare at him, causing Takato’s eyes to knot up in response. He felt the tense pull of the muscles around his bruised eye – the swollen, hot flesh making the act much harder to accomplish than previously.

_ At least it’s better than it had been, _ he thought to himself, setting his pencil down and leaning back in his chair. He had been lucky. Aside from the crack on his head from Kazu’s last punch and the bump from when he had struck the floor…and the split lip that required stitches…he got off fairly lucky. No fractures or breaks. Just a nasty set of bruises that looked and felt worse than they actually were.

Still…it didn’t compare to what caused those bruises.

_ Kazu… _ The name of his former friend floated through his mind and he felt himself beginning to shake a little. Anger was prominent, but there was an undercurrent of fear as well. Pressing his free hand against his face, Takato groaned.

“Man… It’s like every time something happens now with him, things between us get worse and worse. First the karaoke and now…this.”

Sliding his hand down until it dropped to his side, he stared up at the ceiling, trying to think of a way to resolve all of this without anyone else getting hurt.

He couldn’t think of anything. He felt…stuck.

_ It’s like I’m backed into a corner here and there’s nowhere else to go. It’s like I have to go  _ through _ Kazu now. _

He hated this. He wished things were back to the way they had been when they were kids still playing the digimon card game. When they…

_ When we remembered things differently, _ he thought. It echoed within him quietly, leaving him to wonder how things would be  _ if _ Kazu remembered his past life.

 

_ Was he a Tamer? _ he wondered, closing his eyes, trying to picture his former friend being like Rika. It was difficult to imagine, even when he had an obsession with digimon. In either case, it was impossible to imagine  _ now _ with the way Kazu was behaving. He just…had to always attack  _ something. _

  
  


_ Kazu’s not going to want to leave this alone anymore, _ he thought.  _ Never thought I’d be so glad to be suspended for the day… _

 

A low knock at his door caught his attention, making him jump a little.

 

“Hey, Takato, it’s Henry and Rika. Open up,” came the voice of Henry from the other side.  _ Rika and Henry?  _ He felt a sudden flash of anxiety coupled with excitement. He was glad to have friends over but on the other hand he never had Rika here before. Still, he felt glad all the same. Smiling for the first time that day, Takato got up from his seat and went over to his door, sliding it open.

 

“Hey guys,” he said. “Ah...S-Sorry for the face. That’s what I get for trying to block an elbow with my face.” He coughed. “How...um...how are things?”

 

“We saw the video of your fight with Kazu and we came to see how you were,” Henry explained, wincing sympathetically at Takato’s injuries. Rika was wide eyed and quiet for a moment, noticing his black eye and busted lip, her eye twitching.

 

“How long is the jail sentence for murder again, Henry?” Rika asked finally causing Henry to sigh and scratch behind his head.

 

“Not this again,” he said before turning to Takato and giving him a wry smile. “Mind if we come in?”

 

“Murder?” Takato asked, cocking an eyebrow at Rika before stepping aside. “Oh! Uh...yeah. Come...Come on in.”

 

“Rika was literally about to go kill Kazu the second she saw the video,” Henry explained, pushing the red haired girl in before she could protest. “Renamon managed to talk her out of it.”

 

“I wasn’t going to  _ murder _ ,” Rika protested. “Severely maim, probably.” 

 

“Oh.” Takato scratched the back of his head worriedly. “Well, I’m glad Renamon stopped her. Um…” He moved his hands about, feeling as though he needed to do something. “Can I get you guys anything? Something to drink? Eat? We have plenty of bread.”

 

“We’re fine,” Henry assured him as they got into the room, Rika pausing for a moment before approaching Takato and leaning in to stare at his injuries forgetting such things such as personal space. While the busted lip and black eye were pretty front and center, her violet eyes looked around for any other injuries as she frowned. 

 

“How are you feeling?” she asked finally, leaning backwards again. 

 

Takato blushed a little at her unexpected proximity. “I’m...um… Well...I got punched, so...there’s that.” His eyes looked away. “But…” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Well...you know. I fought with Kazu. I’m...not sure how to feel about that.” He pressed his lips together. “But I’ve yammered on about that a lot already.”

 

Rika’s eyes flickered around the room, noticing the ice pack and walked over to pick it up and noticed what seemed to be a sketch of Kazu sitting next to it.

 

_ “Oh! That’s where I’ve seen you before! I was cleaning around his room and I found a drawing of you with some kind of fox spirit.”  _

 

Takato’s mother’s voice rang through her head, causing her cheeks to tint a slight red, but she shook her head shooing the thought away from her mind at the moment. It wasn’t as important as Takato’s health. 

 

Moving back to where he stood, she gently pushed him to sit down on a nearby chair, pressing the ice pack against his eye as she cradled his head with her other hand, frowning.

 

“You need to keep applying cold to your eye otherwise it will swell,” she chided him.

 

“Um… Yeah,” Takato replied in utter confusion, his face flushing a deep, dark red. He looked at Henry for an explanation. This level of affection was unusual for Rika and not something he was accustomed to.

 

Henry’s answering grin told him nothing.

 

Taking hold of the ice pack, he muttered an embarrassed ‘thanks’ to Rika. Rika let go of it, but didn’t move away, instead she seemed to study him almost thoughtfully before smiling brightly and snapping her fingers.

 

“OK, I’ve decided. I’m teaching you how to fight,” she announced suddenly. Henry did a slight double take before sighing. While it was good she didn’t redouble her efforts to hunt Kazu down, he should have expected her to keep to the violence route.

 

“Uh…” Takato blinked. “Why’s that?”

 

“So that way when you get into a fight again, you can defend yourself,” Rika replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

 

“Uh… Okay.” Takato shrugged his shoulders and scratched the back of his head. It made sense after all, all things considered. His encounters with Kazu just kept getting nastier and he wasn’t eager for an even  _ worse _ third round. Still, he hated fighting. 

 

_ I wish I could find another way out of this one, _ he thought, but he doubted that Kazu would be so inclined as to give him that third option. The teen had only two modes of thinking and both were fairly straight forward: humiliate or attack. There was rarely anything else save for a combination of the two.

 

“When do we start?” he asked.

 

“After exams are over,” Henry answered, causing Rika to look at him in surprise. The Chinese boy grinned slightly. “Leaving you to teach tai chi alone is just an accident  _ waiting _ to happen,” he explained. “You tend to forget that there are other things like, oh I don’t know,  _ defense _ .”

 

It was Rika’s biggest problem during spars. While she was getting better, she very rarely used non aggressive moves, clearly preferring to win a fight quickly with a flurry of attacks. The fact Sakuyamon and Taomon were more defense based  _ still  _ caused him amusement even after all these years considering Rika’s personality. 

 

“Okay,” Takato nodded, smiling awkwardly at Rika. “I’ll try not to disappoint you. I’m sure you’ll make a great teacher.”

 

Rika smiled at Takato and ruffled his hair, excited that she could do something to make sure he was protected in the future. While it wasn’t beating up Kazu herself, she felt it was the best choice Renamon was talking about during lunch.

 

“You’ll do great,” she assured him.

 

“Yeah. There’s no way you can do worse than Rika. She was terrible when she first started,” Henry added in laughing, causing Rika to scowl at him, wondering why he insisted on bringing that up. 

 

“Shaddup,” she growled at him, face flushing in annoyance only for Henry to grin and wink at Takato. 

 

Takato resisted the urge to laugh, feeling that Rika would only glare at him and make her first lesson a harsh one to deal with.

 

_ I wonder what she’d be like as a teacher. Probably be like a drill sergeant. Lots of shouting and calling me maggot. _ A grin broke across his face at that.  _ Ma’am, yes ma’am. Uh… Wait, how would I address her? _

 

Sempai seemed like a good bet. 

 

“So...uh…” he coughed politely, deciding that now was as good a time as any to change the subject. “What else do you want to talk about? I’m not exactly going anywhere right now… Unless you’re all set now?”

 

“Well, I  _ would _ like to know what’s up with you drawing me with a ‘fox spirit,’” Rika said using air quotes around fox spirit, deciding that if Takato was feeling better, now was good as any to drill him about what his mother told her. Henry snorted in laughter, looking at Takato in amusement and sympathy.  

 

“Ahhh…” Takato stammered, blushing furiously.  _ I thought Renamon promised not to tell her about that when she visited… Oh well. Time to face the firing squad I guess. _

 

“W-Well...I...um… That...is...a...very good question,” Takato stammered, trying to buy time so that he could properly organize his thoughts in a way that wouldn’t leave him with  _ another _ black eye for good measure. Renamon had indicated that Rika would not look kindly on his drawing her and he could only fear how she might follow that to its logical conclusion.  _ I should have erased that thing… _

 

“A  _ very _ good question,” he repeated, blushing madly.

 

“Are you going to answer it?” Rika asked, raising an eyebrow as she waited for Takato to explain himself.

 

“I didn’t mean to and I didn’t draw you doing anything...weird, okay?” Turning, he set his ice pack down to sort through his sketchpad. Finding what he was looking for, he went back to Rika, presenting it to her. “Here. It’s the only one I’ve made. If...If it bothers you I’ll get rid of it. I...kind of figured I should anyway, but I kept getting distracted with everything that was going on and…” 

 

He coughed politely. His face was flushing so badly it was becoming hard to think. 

 

“A-Anyway, sometimes when something happens, like when there’s a lot of emotion, I...I have to draw it out. Get it out of my head so I can...I guess...put a  _ picture _ to how I’m feeling when I’m looking at something...or someone. This picture,” he indicated the one he drew of Rika, “was the day Renamon came back into your life. I thought you looked...happy, and it felt like the first real victory we’ve had in a long while. I...wanted to draw that.”

 

His eyes became downcast and he took hold of the drawing, preparing to tear it out. “I-I’ll get rid of it,” he said, starting to rip.

 

“Woah,” Rika said as she quickly grabbed his hands, stopping him before he could ruin it. “No you aren’t. I never said I was upset.” Taking the drawing back, she looked at it again, rather impressed at the level of detail. She had to admit, Takato was  _ good _ . “Your mom was able to recognize me just from this drawing you know,” she admitted. “It’s good. I don’t mind you drawing me as long as it’s not anything weird.” 

 

Takato nodded, his face still flushed. “I...I’d never… N-Not without your permission… I mean…” He shook his head. “No. Just...no. I couldn’t. Sorry.”

 

“Draw me doing anything weird?” she asked amused as she looked at the others on the page, tilting her head rather impressed at the level of emotion caught in such a small area. “Well I guess that’s good to know.”

 

Takato could only nod in silence as he closed up his sketchbook, not trusting himself to speak at the moment.  _ Kami _ his face was burning. At least though she wasn’t mad at him like he had feared. 

 

Henry watched the two with slight amusement, although it was a dance he was accustomed to them doing by now. Hopefully it would not be one which started over again as they stumbled over their first few steps. It was innocent at the moment, although who knew how long  _ that _ would last.

 

Part of him felt by the end of the month the two would into a faster tempo, both of them somehow oblivious to the music playing around them. He wasn’t looking forward to watching that awkward courtship, and hoped perhaps this time they realized their feelings faster.

 

In the meantime though, he would cheer them on from the sidelines.

 

_ Moumantai _ .

 


	17. Promise

A mechanical pencil tapped against lined paper, only a single line,  _ Wednesday, March 19, 2008 _ written down. Frowning slightly, Jeri chewed on the end of the pencil as once again her eyes flickered to the large clock at the train station.

 

_ 6:37 a.m. _

 

It was currently her and Ayaka at the station, her friend dozing off and on as they waited for the rest of the small group to come - they were supposed to meet at 6:30 a.m. so they could be sure they were ready to catch the 7 a.m. train to the beach. They were running late, however, and with each minute ticking by with nobody showing up, she got slightly more antsy.

 

Her gaze returning to the paper, she wasn’t sure what to write for today in her journal, so instead she decided to read over the previous entries for the past week.

 

A lot happened … yet at the same time, in ways, it didn’t. Since the fight between Kazu and Takato, she wasn’t quite sure how she felt. She was still upset, and even though her … “discussion” with Kazu was days ago, it still left a bad taste in her mouth. While he had finally apologized in the end, and agreed he might have acted a “bit” brashly, she wasn’t sure if what she was saying truly got through to him.

 

_ How could that be the same sweet Kazu who was so gentle the day before? _

 

It was a question she had been asking herself with no answer forthcoming even now. She had suggested the vacation as a way to relax after the exams, but to get away from their investigations into the past … and for her to spend time away to organize her feelings on the matter. 

 

Turning the pages backwards in her journal, she paused as she looked at the hasty scrawl of a memory which had come to her, written in haste.’

 

_ Mnemosyne _ … she thought as her finger ran lightly over the name. That was the name the stranger had given to them. She still hadn’t remembered the rest of their time at the Himuro Mansion, but she knew she would have to approach the subject with the other three some time soon. After all, it could very well be a clue into this whole mess.

 

_ After the vacation though _ , she thought.

 

“Nummy…” came the sound of Ayaka as Jeri felt a bump jerk at her arm. The copper-haired girl, in her sleep, had fallen against her shoulder, mumbling incoherently in her dreams. Shifting a little against the girl, she smiled, finding her shoulder to be quite the cozy pillow. 

 

Ayaka let out a long, contented sigh, her eyes fluttering open slightly.

 

“Are we there yet?” she slurred before her eyes closed once more.

 

Jeri smiled gently, watching her friend. She had wanted Ayaka to come along with them in order to cheer her up, and life seemed to be coming back to her over the past week. She hoped that by vacation’s end, Ayaka would be her old self again. Exams were good for avoiding thinking about things, but they were stressful and Jeri wanted her to relax.

 

“Aren’t you two the cute couple.” 

 

Jeri looked up to see Henry and Takato had finally arrived, towing backpacks and bags. Henry had an impish grin on his face, sporting a simple black t-shirt and khakis. 

 

“H-Hey, Jeri,” Takato waved. He was wearing his traditional hoodie along with looser fitting clothes for the warm weather they were expecting. The bruises on his face still stood out prominently around his eye socket, but by now were no longer swollen and angry looking. It would be a while before they, like his busted lip, healed up properly.

 

“Don’t you mean the cute couple over there?” Ayaka murmured, one arm dangling up to point at the approaching pair. Takato blinked and looked over at Henry questioningly.

 

“She’s talking about us?”

 

“Yes I’m talking about you,” Ayaka sighed, pushing away from Jeri’s shoulder and stretching. “The redhead isn’t here yet with anyone, so that leaves just you boys. Who else would I be pointing to?”

 

Still confused, Takato took a look around, checking to make sure. Ayaka sighed and gave Jeri a look that suggested she had been crazy for ever falling for the dense boy.

 

“You sure know how to pick ‘em,” she muttered, folding her arms over her chest.

 

Jeri closed her journal before putting it back into her bag, smoothing down her white dress as her ears burned. Ayaka never quite made it a secret about her thoughts on Jeri’s taste in men, and while in the past Jeri would have made some sort of remark, she was glad to have Ayaka’s snarkiness back … that and she didn’t want to say anything incriminating with Henry right there. While Takato was dense and oblivious, the half-Chinese boy definitely was not.

 

Not only that but the thought of Henry and Takato arm in arm had wormed it’s way into her mind, and she was currently trying to chase the thought away for the moment.

 

“You two are late,” she said after a minute when she felt she could look at them again, her cheeks still warm.

 

“Sorry,” Henry replied before gesturing at Takato. “I was picking up Takato. Rika not here yet?”

 

“Nnnnnn.” 

 

Almost as if she were summoned, Rika appeared behind the two boys, her hair sticking up at odd angles as it grew out over the past few months and was approaching a need for a haircut if she wanted to keep it short. She was half asleep, and Jeri wondered how she managed to put her clothes on - a simple white, button up shirt with a red t-shirt underneath it and jeans - straight. Without so much of a word, her body fell forward and she wrapped her arms around Henry’s neck as her head rested on his back.

 

“Sleep,” she groaned causing Henry to snort in amusement. 

 

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a passenger there, Henry,” Takato chuckled. “You...uh...going to be okay, Rika?”

 

The answer to Takato’s question was another groan with something mumbled that sounded suspicious like, “I hate mornings.”

 

“Well that’s not nice,” Takato joked, scratching the side of his head. “What did mornings ever do to you?”

 

“Existed,” Rika replied looking up at Takato, and Jeri couldn’t help but …  _ appreciate _ that Rika appearing like a boy made her hanging off Henry like a sloth appear more …  _ forbidden _ in nature. The fact that for the entire first year of high school Jeri thought the two were a couple, and continued to think that way until getting to know both of them coming once again in her head. Her cheeks burned and she looked down.

 

_ Get your mind out of the gutter, Jeri _ , she reminded herself firmly.  _ Just because both are bishounen, Rika’s a girl. A girl, not a guy, no matter how she looks. _

 

Her imagination instead responded with Rika in a male uniform as the two classmates shared quiet, intimate lunches under the flowering sakura-

 

_ No! Damn it! _

 

As if reading her thoughts, Ayaka reached over and pinched Jeri’s cheek. “Careful,” she teased. “You’re letting your brain get away from you.”

 

“Ah...huh?” Takato asked, looking at the two girls now with a raised eyebrow. When neither of them volunteered  any information he shrugged before looking around him, a part of him wondering where Renamon was. 

 

_ I thought she was coming with us, _ he thought. “Uh…” he began to cover his search for the digimon in front of Ayaka. “So… Where’s the train we’re supposed to take? Am I not seeing it or something?”

 

Henry noticed Jeri’s blush and grinned even more at Ayaka’s statement. He had an idea of what was going on through her mind, well aware of her  _ preferences _ . 

 

_ This is going to be fun _ , he thought, knowing full well he would be able to get Rika easily on board with teasing Jeri more about it later. Jeri was so easy to read, to the point he felt somewhat bad how easily he could guess what was on her mind - especially since the person who she wanted to have this ability seemed to be severely lacking.

 

“Didn’t you know? The train is invisible,” came Rika’s sarcastic response; she tended to be snarkier in the morning when she was tired. 

 

“Rika,” Henry said lightly, warning her to be nice.

 

“It’s coming at 7,” Jeri said, glad to grab the change of subject. “We just got here early to make sure we weren’t running late. Which ended up being a good choice considering  _ certain people _ ,” she made sure to give each of the three Tamers a stink eye, “were running late.”

 

“Well it looks like it’s coming in 10 minutes,” Henry said, glancing at the clock. “So we don’t have to wait that much longer. Just to make sure, everyone sure they have everything?”

 

“Mama made sure I did,” Rika grumbled, lightly kicking her bag - which was on the floor by their feet - as if to prove a point. “She was more excited than I was, I swear to God.” She looked up almost thoughtfully. “Although grandma and even Himiko were helping. I think Himiko was in a good mood though since my uncle finally left after visiting us for a week.” 

 

Takato gave a light-hearted laugh at Rika’s antics, remembering her annoyed phone call – one that she repeated with Henry and Jeri as well – about the presence of her cantankerous, hyper-traditional uncle, declaring her home ‘off limits’ to visits until he was gone. He half-envisioned the household as turned into a warzone.

“Well, at least you won’t have to think about them while we’re on vacation,” Takato said with a smile. He turned toward the others. “Let’s  _ all _ concentrate on having some fun.” His smile slipped a little as he thought of recent events; The exams… Kazu… The loss of Leomon... “We’ve earned it.”

"Yeah," Henry agreed with a grin as he glanced at the clock again.

"Mn," Jeri agreed with a nod as she double checked her bag for at least the fifth time since arriving at the station as she couldn't help but wonder if Rika was blowing things regarding her family out of proportion.

When the group had went over to study at Rika's house, Jeri was rather awed by the large home, knowing Rika came from a well to-do family but the sheer size reminded her of an old family home.

Rika's mother and grandmother were pleasant, and Jeri was surprised to see the model was nothing at all like how she imagined her. She had expected a mature, classy woman and instead she was greeted with a chipper, rather childish one who was absolutely delighted to learn her daughter had "made her first female friend" as she scooped up Jeri in a hug, ignoring Rika's begging to "please stop embarrassing me, mama."

Of course, she hadn't met Himiko yet - something she felt bad about considering she wanted to thank the woman for saving Ayaka's life.

_ When we get back, _ she decided. 

The group chatted inanely for a bit longer until the train finally pulled in. Grabbing his things, Takato looked it over, smiling wistfully before turning to Rika.

“Too bad it’s not a Locomon,” he laughed as everyone gathered their things and began to board it. “I bet  _ that _ would be cool to ride on. I bet it’d have old fashioned interiors and everything.”

"That'd be pretty cool," Rika agreed with a yawn as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, ignoring Henry as he asked her with a straight face if she wanted a "piggy back ride."

"Everyone keeps forgetting about poor Trailmon," Henry sighed wistfully as he stepped on the train and sat in one of the myriad of empty seats.

"We're going for a ride, not going into war," Rika said as she sat down on the hard plastic next to him, Jeri on his other side, who seemed to get excited now that they were actually leaving, looking out the window into the empty train station.

“Huh?” Takato asked, raising an eyebrow, seating himself next to Rika. “What do Trailmon have to do with war?”

As he waited, he spied a familiar, vulpine digimon step onto the train. He turned reflexively and waved in her direction, causing Ayaka to frown at him and follow his gaze.

“Who are you waving at?” she asked.

“Huh?” Takato’s eyes bulged as he realized what he was doing and quickly stilled his hand. “Oh! N-Nothing. My…My hand was…ah…just feeling…numb so I…um…shook it to get some feeling back into it.”

He laughed nervously, knowing full well that the excuse was not likely to be believed in the least, and he was right. However, he wasn’t about to tell Ayaka that there was a bipedal fox on the train with them.

Ayaka eyed the spot where Renamon stood, humming to herself before shrugging nonchalantly. “Whatever. Anyway, why do you dorks care about the Trainmon or whatever they are?”

"They're Digimon," Rika explained as she closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the window. "They are armored and typically used in war type situations. Locomon on the other hand’s main thing is to keep running and transport data across the Digital World."

"You sure know a lot," Jeri commented with a hum. While she was getting more into Digimon again for obvious reasons, Rika's knowledge seemed almost encyclopedic. Rika's eye peeked open and she grinned slightly.

"Well they didn't call me the Digimon Queen for nothing," she hummed.

“Digimon Queen?” Takato perked up at that, a half-remembered legend from his childhood, back when the Digimon Card Game had been much more prominent. “Wait… Are you saying that… You were… _ that  _ girl?” His eyes grew as wide as saucers while a broad grin burst forth upon his face. “Oh man! I’ve always wanted to meet you!”

"Oh that's right, you didn't know," Henry chuckled, although the better term would be didn't remember. After all in the past, Rika made it quite clear who she was and the fact it took this long for it to be brought up was impressive in of itself considering the size of Rika's ego regarding it.

"Yeah, that was me," Rika said, grinning as she opened her eyes as the train lurched forward slightly and began to move with only the children and Renamon on board. "You didn't know?"

"What's so special about Rika being the Digimon Queen?" Jeri asked as she slid back into her seat, head tilting curiously. The way Takato talked, it sounded like she was almost a celebrity.

“I never made it past the first couple rounds of the tournaments,” Takato answered Rika before leaning forward so he could look more fully at Jeri. “Rika  _ is  _ a celebrity. She’s one of the greatest Tamers of all time. She won year after year without interruption.” Laughing, he looked at Rika. “The game store I go too still says that the ghosts of all your defeated opponents still haunt the card aisles.”

"Really?" Jeri looked at Rika a bit surprised, who puffed her chest out proudly.

"Yeah," Rika said as an impish grin danced across her features. "I stopped going though eventually because what is the point if there is no challenge?"

Jeri merely hummed in response, not quite sure how to answer that or if it deserved an answer.

_ Just seems like another thing she's good at, _ Jeri noted as she leaned back against the seat, looking out the window thoughtfully. Part of her felt like she should be surprised, but she wasn't. After being in the same class as her for the past year, Jeri learned there was very little she couldn't do if she put her mind to things.

"Careful. Don't inflate her ego too much," Henry warned with a chuckle. "Otherwise I will have to deflate it again before her head gets too big."

Takato looked up at the ceiling, his imagination already envisioning Rika’s head blowing up like a balloon while Henry stood nearby with a pin in one hand, ready to poke her with it and make her go pop. Takato laughed at that before dropping his face into his hands, shoulders shaking as he tried to calm himself.

“My Mom’s right. My imagination can be a curse…”

“Yeah,” Ayaka said, her expression flat as she leaned back in her seat. “It can be.”

Rika didn't really have much to add to the conversation, and with Renamon making sure she was awake and ready to go - practically pushing the tired girl to the station; she wanted to catch up on some sleep on the long train ride.

Closing her eyes again and hugging her bag to her chest, she felt slightly bad that she or the others couldn't talk to Renamon with Ayaka right there, but she was sure her partner could amuse herself somehow in the meantime.

_ I wonder if we ever took trips like this in the past, _ she thought sleepily as she drifted off.

Renamon smiled as she watched Rika begin to doze off, wondering what would happen. On past trips she had taken with her friends, she had the habit of using one of them as a pillow. Would she do so again or…?

_ There she goes, _ she thought as Rika’s head dipped and she slowly slid onto Takato’s side. The boy froze at the unexpected contact, as if he had a wasp land on him and he looked helplessly around at the others.

“Uh…Rika?” he began before mouthing to Henry,  _ What do I do? _

Renamon folded her arms over her chest, rather enjoying the scene. Her tail flicked in amusement. What would the girl do?

Rika just grunted stubbornly at the person who was trying to wake her up, turning her head slightly but didn't leave Takato's shoulder. Instead she made herself more comfortable.

Henry grinned, amused, at Takato's reaction as he shrugged his shoulders unhelpfully.

"If you don't want her to sleep on you, just push her off," he said matter-o-factly. It was something he had done plenty of times when they watched movies together and she got bored. "She gets grumpy though if you wake her up though," he added as an unnecessary afterthought, not bothering to explain she would merely sulk and loudly complain instead of biting off their heads.

Takato looked back and forth between the others and Rika before sighing, resigning himself to being her temporary pillow. She was so strange to him. She could be such a pillar of maturity one moment and then a complete kid another. This get-together was a case in point, at least for him. The trip cost money; money that he didn’t have. Most people he knew would have accepted that he couldn’t make it, but Rika – with a bizarre insistence – wore him down, promising to cover his costs as long as he cooked for the group.

Ayaka chuckled. “Told you that you only traded one bully for another,” she chided, causing Takato to scowl at her.

“She’s not like that!” he snapped defensively.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ayaka laughed, raising a hand apologetically. “I’m just teasing.” Humming quietly to herself, she raised her cell phone and took a quick snapshot. “There. Just in case we need evidence to show the police for when she does end up mauling you.”

“You’re crazy, Ayaka. As crazy as I remember. Rika won’t…” Takato blinked and looked down at the girl in question. _Is she drooling_ _on me?_

Henry snorted, trying and failing, to keep from laughing. Rika was indeed drooling ever so slightly - one of the reasons actually he didn't let her sleep on him. It wasn't  _ often _ but just often enough that each time she leaned against him, she quickly found herself on the floor or on the other side of the couch, looking at him irritably.

"You two look cute," Jeri commented, smiling slightly, ever the shipper. While in the past she might have been jealous of the fact Rika was sleeping so brazenly on Takato's shoulder - and if she was honest, part of her still was a bit - she had a boyfriend. While her feelings for the crimson-eyed boy remained, however muted, she was more than willing to ship him with other people.

"Like one of your mangas, right?" Henry offered innocently, although with his eyes glimmering in amusement and a wicked grin spreading across his face. Jeri felt herself blush. "No. 6 was it maybe?"

"Henry!" Jeri hissed, her face now in full flush wondering how exactly Henry knew what she liked to read.

A smile split across Ayaka’s face. “Ohhh… Henry,” she said slyly. “Good catch.”

“Uh…huh?” Takato asked, perplexed. “No. 6? What’s that?”

"It's a mystery, science-fiction manga about a supposedly utopian society taking place in a city called No. 6. There's more to it than that, but that is the gist of it," Jeri explained hurriedly, shooting Henry a glare daring him to add on anything else as she tried - and failed - not to imagine Rika as Nezumi and Takato as Shion.

_ Even their personalities are similar! _ she groaned, wondering since when Henry could be this ... this ...  _ impish. _

“Science fiction, huh?” Takato asked grinning a little. “Sounds pretty cool.”

“Jeri doesn’t read it for the science fiction though,” Ayaka smirked, winking at the poor girl. She didn’t know whether or not Henry would dare to add anything else, but she most certainly would.

“Uh…” Takato tilted his head to one side. “If she doesn’t then…what does she read it for?”

"Well considering this is Jeri, the romance" Henry hummed, more than delighted that Ayaka had jumped on with him in teasing Jeri.

The fact he even knew about No. 6 was a complete accident, noticing the girl read it one day. When he saw it in the book store later, he had flipped through it and quickly learned what probably attracted her to it considering he didn't exactly take her as the person who enjoyed a good dystonia novel, which is the reason he ended up reading it.

Jeri's face turned even redder as she shot both Ayaka and Henry glares, before folding her arms and turning away as she proceeded to sulk.

_ Oooh, those two _ , she thought darkly, trying to ignore the burning of her face while simultaneously for the first time thanking Takato's obliviousness and the fact Rika was asleep.  _ I'll get back at them, just they wait. _

**###**

Seiko's phone buzzed about a half an hour after the train which Rika and her friends were supposed to be on left. Putting down her chopsticks and opening up her phone, slightly worried, she raised an eyebrow to see a media attachment from Henry.

Quickly opening it, a small smile bloomed across her lips to see her granddaughter sleeping and her new male friend, Takato, sleeping on each other peacefully.

"I got a picture from Henry," she announced, causing Rumiko to lift her head groggily from the table - a rare early morning photo shoot demanding her attention, and Himiko looked over from the coffee pot, about to run out the door to return to work.

"Hm?" Rumiko hummed as she blinked, drinking in the photo before letting out a high pitched squeal, all lethargy instantly disappearing.

"So cute!" she squealed, springing up in her chair, causing Himiko to take a surprised step backwards from the 180 personality turn.

"What the," Himiko asked incredulously, grasping her mug tightly for dear life, her other arm hanging useless in its sling.

"Rika's got a boyfriend!" Rumiko squealed before hugging the nearest person, who happened to be Himiko and Seiko chuckled as her niece demanded for Rumiko to "let go" as she returned her attention back to her phone.

_ Hm, _ she hummed thoughtfully before switching the phone to the camera function and angling it so it could get all three women in the picture.

###

Henry's phone buzzed a minute later and he grinned when he flipped it open. It was a photo of the Hata matriarch giving a thumbs up as Rumiko fangirling as she hugged an irritable-looking woman who Henry only could assume was Himiko in the background.

“Well, well, well…” Ayaka grinned, eyeing Henry mischievously. “And here I thought you were  _ nice  _ like Takato.”

"I am nice," Henry said grinning as he put his phone back into his pocket knowing full well that Rika would be much more upset that he sent the photo to her family then the fact he actually took it. "Her poor mother and grandmother are always worried about her. I'm doing a service by keeping them informed and up-to-date."

Ayaka continued to eye Henry, her smirk taking on a knowing expression. “Yes,” she said simply, eyes sparkling. “I am sure you do.”

**###**

Himiko shook her head as she finally managed to escape her cousin, unable to believe Rumiko’s complete immaturity – and all over a stupid picture of her daughter sleeping on some boy! She narrowed her eyes, wondering distractedly why she was even doing that in the first place – especially with a boy who was a clear trouble maker, what with that black eye of his.

_ I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Rika’s file is full of fights with various classmates, and now she’s being taught  _ martial arts!

Himiko  _ tsked _ at the absurdity of it all. Teaching a girl with a history of exploding on people around her to become more effective at hurting them was just… She couldn’t understand the logic behind it! The martial arts may have had a philosophy emphasizing mindfulness and patience, but Rika had none of those traits in abundance.

_ Neither woman can expect their daughter to exercise restraint. I can see this kind of nonsense coming from Rumiko, but Seiko? It seems that I’ve given her too much cred… _

Himiko stopped and glared at the living room table, spying what appeared to be a deck of cards with a blue and green design on their backs labeled  _ Digimon. _ Groaning mentally, Himiko bent down and picked it up.

_ That child can’t even put away her toys when she’s done with them, _ she thought, storming in the direction of Rika’s room. As she neared it, she flipped through the cards absently, if with some difficulty with one arm held in a sling, curious as to what it was about this game that preoccupied Rika’s attention.

Moving from one card to the next, she didn’t see anything that really caught her attention. Just a bunch of monsters that resembled something from an artificial intelligence project in the 1980’s; nothing more than a footnote in the government archives…

Himiko’s foot tripped on the floor, causing the cards to spill out of her hands. Cursing under her breath, she bent down to pick them up, only to pause as she spied one in particular that had landed face up.

This one had an image of a yellow-furred fox wearing purple armguards. The name printed above the image was  _ Renamon. _

A thought occurred to her then. Thinking quickly, she pulled out a notepad from her pocket and jotted down a reminder for herself as quickly as her off-arm could allow. She swore as her good writing hand twitched, itching to do the job that it’s less talented sibling was attempting to perform.

_ Investigate Renamon card. Rika’s room. _

“Is everything all right, Himiko?” came Seiko’s voice from behind her. Jumping in surprise, Himiko quickly pocketed the notebook and then shook her head.

“I’m fine,” she said simply. “Could you have a talk with your granddaughter when she gets back about leaving her things lying around the house? I would hate to have to risk breaking  _ another _ bone because she didn’t clean up after herself.”

_ I’ll have to write out something a bit more detailed later as a reminder, _ she thought with a slight shudder.  _ If only I could remember whether or not these notes I wrote are even legitimate! _

 

**###**

Takato’s eyes fluttered open and he started to stretch and yawn, only to stop when he felt the pressure from Rika’s head as she napped on him. He glanced over at the others – all of whom were busy with their cell phones for one reason or another – before returning his attention to Rika.

_ She looks so peaceful sleeping like that, _ he thought, a small smile creeping onto his face as she snoozed softly. Not for the first time did he realize just how beautiful she was, and her sleeping against him, a content look on her face, only made him even more aware of this fact. A small tint of red colored his cheeks as he thought about drawing her sleeping face.

_ Don’t be stupid Takato, _ he berated himself, looking away, feeling guilty for even entertaining such thoughts in the first place.  _ Just because she says she’s okay with that doesn’t mean you should. _

No. He had learned his lesson the first time. As far as Rika was concerned, she was off limits to his pencil and sketchbook.

_ It’s not like I could reach them without waking her up anyway, _ he thought, sighing as he realized that the arm she fell asleep on was feeling a bit peculiar, like it had gone to sleep. He shifted slightly, causing her to frown and adjust her head against his shoulder. As if annoyed by his movement, she sleepily grabbed hold of his wrist and clenched tight, her fingers saying,  _ stay still you damn pillow.  _ Takato ceased, remembering that she could break bones when mad enough. It didn’t matter in the end. Blood flowed more freely now, and now he felt the sting that accompanied the resumption of circulation.

Carefully, he snuck a glance back at Rika. He knotted his brow together worriedly seeing tension in her face now.  _ Did I wake her? No… It looks like she’s still asleep. _

Sighing, Takato offered her a sympathetic glance, wishing he could take away whatever it was that was making her so tense.

_ Guess I’ll just settle for being her pillow for now, _ he thought.  _ I wonder what she’s dreaming about… _

###

It was a sea of red. With each breath she took, bubbles escaped her mouth and drifted upwards. It felt like her entire body was weightless as it drifted in the depth of the ocean.

_ Is this... my destiny? _

Her head turned to look for the source of the voice which seemed to echo from everywhere. It sounded familiar almost, tickling at her brain just teasing her.

_ Why can't you see...? _

This time Rika noticed a large bubble drifting up from the depths of the darkness, a dark crimson red in color and as it passed by, it morphed into Leomon, a hole in his chest as pieces of what could only be data slowly left his body like a stream of blood.

A scream was stifled by the bubbles, shooting out like a stream as she propelled herself backwards. Watching in mute horror as Leomon disappeared before she reached the surface, she felt herself starting to sink down deeper into the black depths.

There was something familiar about the darkness as she got pulled down deeper, black tendrils wrapping around her throat and body, squeezing uncomfortably.

_ Be my partner, Rika. _

Suddenly the tendrils turned to white wings, and the bubbles that escaped her mouth were instead white will-o-wisps.

_ When the others were so desperately trying to look for Leomon, to see what happened to him, you gave up rather quickly. After all, digimon are just data. It's not like they were alive. It wasn't like Leomon was alive. _

"That's not true!" Rika yelled out, but for some reason her words weren't as full of anger and denial as she wanted them to be. "I cared!"

"No you don't." This time the voice was clearer, more velvety. A single red finger ran across her cheek, and her body shuddered in revulsion. Something in her screamed at her to runaway, that there was danger, but she felt ... trapped.

"After all ..." the voice continued as a wall of water cascaded down in front of her before freezing into a sheet of ice. Noticing something in the reflection, she felt the bile rise as she stared in shock at the lifeless body of a yellow vulpine laying at her feet, behind her a pale version of what appeared to be her younger self, only with pupil-less dark purple eyes, pale skin and instead of her broken heart shirt ... some sort of  _ bat  _ signal.

_ I'm you. _

###

Rika's eyes flew open with a snap as she gasped for air, her violet eyes darting around the cart rapidly trying to push down the rising panic in her chest. When she saw her partner, alive and well, sitting across from her, her heart beat and breathing slowed as she sighed in relief.

_ Oh thank god, it was just a dream, _ she thought as she just then realized that she was sleeping on somebody.

Not something which was wholly unusual, but slightly different this time in the fact it was Takato instead of Henry.

“Um… Welcome back?” Takato asked, seeing that Rika was awake now. His cheeks had a bit of a rosy color about them, still uncertain – and afraid – as to how she would react waking up on him like this. “Are you okay? You were dreaming about something and…ah…you seemed kind of upset by it.”

"Mn?" Rika asked sleepily as she looked up at Takato before deciding to removed herself as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Yeah ... I'm fine. Thanks. Are we there yet?"

“Yeah,” Takato nodded, rubbing his arm to work more circulation through it. “We just got there.” Getting up, he began to collect his things, glancing every so often at Rika, feeling a mixture of relief that she wasn’t mad waking up on him like that and simultaneously concerned. She had been mumbling something about caring, and denying something else, though what that was he wasn’t sure. Grabbing her bag, he handed it to her politely.

"Thanks," Rika yawned as she took it and slung it over her shoulders as Henry grinned at her with a wink as he passed by.

"Have a good nap?" he asked as they got off the train.

"Mn," she hummed noncommittally as she shielded her eyes against the bright sun as they got off the station, causing her tongue to click in annoyance as she squinted slightly, glaring at the star in the sky.

“So where are we going now?” Takato asked, looking at the others as Renamon phased into view behind him.

“We should probably grab some supplies in town before heading to the cabin,” Ayaka said, shrugging her bag into a more comfortable position. “Be cheaper than what they have at there I bet.”

"Sounds good," Rika shrugged as Jeri looked at her phone, practically bouncing up and down like a rabbit now they were actually here.

"I was doing a lot of research, both yesterday and on the train, and I think I found some stores with some good sales going on we can visit," she said excitedly, her eyes practically shining.

"Well, it's good to know we can rely on at least one person to be on the ball," Henry grinned.

“All right,” Takato nodded with a smile at the brown-haired girl. “Lead the way Jeri.”

**###**

Takato felt the grocery bags full of meat, rice and vegetables bump against the sides of his legs as the straps pinched at his fingers. He didn’t complain however and indeed hummed quietly to himself despite the distance walked and the soreness of his hands. They were almost at their destination now, and he was with his friends. To him, that was all that mattered.

“I think I see it,” he heard Ayaka say as they rounded a bend. “Yep!” she said, raising one hand to her forehead to blot out the sun. “There it is. Our cabin. Take a look at it everyone. Feast your eyes. This is our home for the rest of this week.”

"Finally," Rika complained, adjusting the large box of water bottles which were causing her arm to cramp up. She too had been roped into helping carrying the bags with the other two boys. While Ayaka and Jeri helped with the groceries as well, compared to the other three, their load wasn't nearly as heavy.

_ "Well you are strong like one anyway," _ Jeri smiled at her as they were checking out, and while that didn't exactly help lighten her mood, it did cut down on her complaining by 25 percent.

"So what are we eating? I'm hungry," Rika asked, looking right at Takato as she said this. After all, it was agreed that in exchange for Rika help footing Takato's portion of the bill, he would be the one to cook. It was aggravating during their discussion to get him to agree to take the money as he insisted on wanting to pay it back - something about debts - until she finally came up with the idea of him cooking.

“Well,” Takato began, lifting one bag carrying hand to scratch at the side of his face a bit anxiously. “I was thinking curry since we have all the ingredients for it. I could experiment too and just…throw stuff together at random and see what happens.”

Ayaka exchanged looks with Jeri before returning her attention back to the ‘Gogglehead’. “Takato, I know you’re the designated cook for this trip…for some reason…but I don’t know if I’m ready to trust my digestion tract to your cooking. Just because you work at a bakery doesn’t mean that you’re a chef.”

“Of course I’m not,” Takato replied, tilting his head to one side. “But I can guarantee that I won’t burn anything I make.”

Ayaka snorted, folding her arms over her chest before looking at Jeri. “I bet you’re going to vouch for him,” she grumbled, “and all because you liked his cooking in home economics.”

"Maybeeee," Jeri hummed, blushing slightly, but continued to sport a grin spinning around as she skipped up the path to the cabin, her mood drastically better than it was this morning.

_ Well, it's not like Ayaka's wrong, _ she thought. Takato was a great cook though as far as she was concerned.  _ And him in that apron ... _

A stupid smile crossed her face almost dreamily as she imagined the other boy just smiling brightly, flour all over him.

Despite Takato seemingly being oblivious to it, he was adorable - part of the many reasons she had been attracted to him.

“Oookay…” Takato cocked an eyebrow as they followed Jeri up the path and up the steps to the cabin. He remembered his home economics experience, and how for some reason every girl there seemed to want his help with something. Some of them had been a bit…odd with the sheer amount of help they needed, and it seemed more like they were using it as an excuse to chat. Their teacher, Ms. Tachikawa, claimed she had never had a class so unproductive until Takato’s. To his knowledge, she never had a class so unproductive again.

_ Although it seems like every cooking class I take I end up with the same problem… _

Takato shook his head, a faint touch of crimson staining his cheeks. He didn’t want to think about that. Best to concentrate on just having fun and making a good meal, if only to pay Rika back for her paying for his share in the trip. It still felt awkward, but she had been so insistent that he dared not show it.

 

“Okay,” he said as Jeri pushed the door open to the cabin. “Let’s get started.”

 

**###**

 

“OK Takato, let’s get down to business while the others have a look around,” Jeri declared, hands on her hips as she surveyed the kitchen with an expert eye. While Takato was the one in charge of cooking for this trip, she felt bad about making him do it all by himself and felt he needed some help - even if her help was to make the process go faster to keep the other three from eating him alive out of impatient hunger. 

 

“‘Let’s’?” Takato raised an eyebrow at the brown-haired girl as he began to pull out the vegetables and lay them by the sink. “You’re helping too Jeri? You don’t have to. I’m pretty sure I’ve got this under control. It shouldn’t take that long.”

 

“Of course I’m helping,” Jeri said as she began to root through the drawers looking for some knives, inspecting them with a critical eye. “Unless of course you don’t trust me with a knife.” She looked up at him and smirked, running a single finger down the spine of the knife before lifting it. She had half of the mind to lick it, like killers did in the movies, but she didn’t feel like doing dishes just yet. 

 

“Of course I trust you with a knife,” Takato replied, tilting his head to one side in confusion. They had worked together in their home economics class enough times for him to know that she was definitely skilled at preparing food and cooking it.  _ Why would she even ask that? _ “I was just...um…” He glanced at Rika, unsure if he should bring up their conversation before finally deciding it wasn’t worth the trouble. “Never mind. The more the better, right?”

 

“Exactly,” Jeri said as she started pulling bowls and other dishes and pans out of the cupboards. “So what exactly do we need? Do you have a recipe by any chance I can look at?”

 

“Ah… Not exactly? I mean, I suppose you could, but it’s all up here.” Takato tapped his head. “You’d have to get it out of me to look at it. Um…” He glanced over at the vegetables by the sink - celery, onions, carrots and red potatoes. “If you want you can get started on cutting some of the vegetables. I can take the onions if you want the carrots.”

 

“Sure,” Jeri agreed before smirking at him. “Just don’t cry too hard, OK?”

 

“I think we already know how that’s going to go,” Takato sighed, gathering the onions together and bringing them over to the counter where he began to set himself up. He  _ always _ cried when he cut onions, no matter what he did or what precautions he took. The tears flowed.

 

He didn’t mind the crying so much. Although it could be uncomfortable, it had the benefit of clearing his sinuses during allergy season. However the drawback to it had always been during home economics when the girls would  _ coo _ over him as if he had experienced some great tragedy.

 

Quickly peeling the skin off, he set to work, slicing off the ends - bottom first as he had been taught - and then proceeding to the top before cutting down the middle. He worked quickly and efficiently, losing himself in the steady  _ thunk, thunk, thunk _ of the knife blade as it shorn through the first onion, and then the next, followed by the one after that until, within short order, he was dicing up what he had cut into smaller, more manageable pieces.

 

His eyes stung, signaling the beginning of the water works. His face flushing, tears began to roll down his cheeks and he sniffed, trying to hold it back, but he didn’t bother wiping his face. The knife continued its duty, hand and blade as one, ignoring the tears that landed upon them.

 

He found himself thinking of Rika’s drool for some reason, but he brushed the memory aside and continued to dice up the onions until he stepped back.

 

“Done,” he announced,  _ now _ allowing himself to dry his face off with one arm. “How...How are you doing over there, Jeri?”

 

“I’m finished as well,” Jeri said as she showed the carrots, cut up into small little shapes, looking like flowers. While it had taken some extra effort on her part, she saw no reason why she couldn’t add a little cute flair to their food. After all, food made with love was the best kind. “What next?”

 

“We’ll need the celery cut up and some work started on the rice,” Takato said as Ayaka and the others reentered the kitchen, having finished putting their bags in their rooms and exploring the cabin. “Which do you want? I think I saw a rice maker earlier down in one of the cabinets below.”

 

“The food’s not ready yet?” Ayaka complained sarcastically, seating herself down on one of the kitchen chairs across from them. “What’s going on? Are you two too busy flirting with each other to finish things up?”

 

“Say whaaa…?” Takato blushed instantly, his mind scrambling for something... _ anything... _ to say that wouldn’t make Jeri think that he  _ liked  _ her in any way shape or form that suggested anything beyond mere friendship. Unfortunately for him, he was failing to find even words at all to convey any message. “Um...ah… That’s…”

 

“Less flirting and more cooking, Takato,” Rika said as she collapsed on the couch in the nearby living room, partly hanging over the side of the armrest like a sloth.

 

“Yeah, Takato,” Henry added, smirking as he sat down in the kitchen, eyeing the two with a mischievous glint. While he was sure if anybody was flirting here, it would be Jeri. He already gave Jeri a hard enough time on the train though, and Takato needed a turn.

 

“Honestly Takato,” Jeri clicked her tongue with a shake of her head, although her face was blushing from Ayaka’s suggestion as she busied herself looking for the rice maker. All the same, she was more than glad to push the heat off her and on to the poor boy, least they turn their attention to her.  _ Again _ . “Here I thought you were a professional cook. The kitchen is plenty hot enough.” 

 

Takato felt his throat constrict at that, and he mumbled something about getting back to work before grabbing the celery to resume his work. However, in his distraction as he applied the knife to the green and pushed down, he felt the edge push into a finger. White hot pain sliced skin, causing Takato to yelp and yank his hand away with a sharp curse. 

 

“Ah, nuts,” he sighed, inspecting the injury. Blood was flowing from a thin, clean cut, but fortunately it wasn’t anything serious.  _ Going to need a bandaid though, _ he thought, but before he could say or do anything, Ayaka was suddenly right there beside him, taking hold of his injured hand and pulling it toward her so she could get a better look at it. 

 

“Uh...Ayaka?” he began. “I’m okay, I just…”

 

“How does this feel?” Ayaka asked, pressing her fingers against the cut tightly, causing the teen to wince.

 

“H-Hey!” he exclaimed, trying to pull away, but the girl held fast. “Ayaka! What are you…?”

 

“I asked how it felt,” the girl repeated, angling her head to get a better look. Dabbing at the cut with one finger, she pulled it away and narrowed her eyes at the red stain on its surface.

 

“Weird,” he heard her whisper under her breath, and once more he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

 

“Ayaka…?” he breathed, his voice barely leaving his mouth. Just looking at her eyes… It felt as though there was something...empty inside them. Seeing, but not quite seeing at the same time.

 

“Ayaka,” Jeri said worriedly as she put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, put off by her sudden odd behavior. While it seemed her friend had been getting better and more like her usual self, there were moments like this it seemed all of her wasn’t … quite there. To add to Jeri’s troubled feeling, there was something oddly … familiar about the way she was acting.

 

_ Did she have a break up in the past?  _ she worried, biting her bottom lip, still not done alphabetizing her own memories yet. There was so much after all, and a lot of them were conflicting with one another. It was proving rather hard to sort.

 

“Here.” Henry appeared suddenly, holding a band aid between his fingers before looking at Ayaka, his brow furrowing. “You can let go of him now, Ayaka.”

 

While he never got to know Ayaka as well as the other Tamers, she had hung out with the group enough in the past for the Chinese boy to get a handle on her personality. This was definitely odd for her.

 

_ After all who in their right mind would press on an injury and ask if it would hurt _ , Henry thought, only to get reminded of the D-Reaper. He repressed a shudder.

 

Rika, who had heard the commotion from the couch, was watching it from her perch, frowning slightly. There was socially awkward and then there was …  _ that _ .

 

“Renamon,” she breathed, keeping her voice low so nobody else - especially Ayaka - could hear her. “I’m worried.”

 

Renamon phased into view next to her partner, arms folded over her chest. “She  _ is _ acting peculiar,” she replied. She had kept an eye on the girl ever since, after becoming the class representative, she had begun giving Takato a hard time. Until Akio had come into her knowledge, she half expected the girl nursed a crush on the boy and was... _ acting _ out on that crush.

 

This however was...different from what she normally came to expect from her after months of partial observation. 

 

_ I wonder if I should have kept a closer eye on her after all, _ she mused, eyes narrowing as she watched Ayaka rub the bloodied finger with her thumb, looking at it in a cool, almost studious manner before finally realizing she was getting strange looks from the others.

 

“Sorry,” she said, dropping Takato’s hand. “That did come off as creepy, didn’t it?” 

 

Blushing lightly, as though in shame, she headed toward the door. “I’m stepping out for a bit,” she called over her shoulder as she opened it. She slid the door shut without even waiting for an answer.

 

“Uh… Oookay then…” Takato could only say as he released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

 

“That was … odd,” Henry said thoughtfully in a low undertone in case she was still within earshot, rubbing his chin as he looked at the door where Ayaka just left.

 

“That’s a weird way to pronounce creepy,” Rika commented dryly as she slid off the couch and joined the others in the kitchen, looking suspiciously at the door almost as if it would open again. 

 

Jeri rubbed her wrist worriedly as she looked at the door, biting her bottom lip wondering if she should chase after Ayaka or not. She had wanted to take the trip to help cheer Ayaka up, and while her friend was acting more like her old self, there was moments like  _ this _ where she was suddenly and coldly reminded of that …  _ ghost _ in the hospital. 

 

“She’s normally not like that,” Jeri fretted almost to herself.

 

“No,  _ you think _ ?” Rika asked sarcastically as she leaned against the refrigerator. “Nobody’s like that. It’s like she never saw blood before, which I have a  _ very  _ hard time believing for a  _ lot _ of reasons. Plus what did she mean, ‘how did it feel?’ I’m sorry, but despite what some teachers want students to believe, there  _ are _ stupid questions, and that one was within the top 10 at least.”  

 

“Maybe she’s still a bit wigged out about nearly dying,” Takato said, walking over to the sink. Flipping it on he ran his injured finger underneath it “She was kind of…okay, a  _ lot _ weird after that, but she’s been getting better. And, you know, the whole point of this vacation was to relax and work the bugs out of us.”

Turning off the faucet, he took out Henry's band-aid and wrapping it around his finger.

"Maybe one of us should go check up on her," he suggested.

"I will," Jeri volunteered almost immediately. There was no one else really who could go as they weren't as close to Ayaka as she was, but even if there was, Jeri felt it was her responsibility to see how her friend was faring.

_ Should I asked what she was thinking? _ she thought distractedly.

"Alright," Henry said nodding his head. "Hopefully lunch will be done before you two get back. If anything comes up though, call one of us."

"OK," Jeri said as she went over to the sink and washed her hands - a behavior ingrained in her from helping out in the tavern. 

“Uh…okay,” Takato nodded. “In that case, while she’s doing that, I’ll finish things up.”

While Jeri headed outside, Takato began to route through their supplies, muttering to himself about milk and curry roux.

**###**

Ayaka sat out on the porch, angling her bloody finger in front of her brown eyes as she frowned at it, her eyes studious.

“This…causes pain,” she muttered to herself under herself. “This is the source of pain? No…”

"Ayaka?" Jeri called out to her friend, straining her ears, curious what she was mumbling to herself about as she stared at the bloody finger.

Her friend's behavior was a bit worrisome, but it had only been a week since her accident and her whole world crashing down.

_ Exams probably didn't help either... _ Jeri thought.

Ayaka regarded her for a moment before glancing away. “Sorry about that…stuff with Gogglehead,” she said, wiping her finger on her jeans, a distasteful look on her face. “That’s what you’re out here to talk about, right?”

"We're just worried about you," Jeri replied, sitting down next to her, smoothing her dress down before she did so.

She didn't want to admit to the fact, especially since they were worried, but Jeri was supposed to be supporting her friend, not acting accusatory.

“I get that,” Ayaka said, still not meeting her friend’s gaze. “I’ve just been a little… _ fuzzy _ in the head ever since… _ that _ happened.”

She finally looked at Jeri, her gaze settling on her right arm. “What made you come back from that?”

Jeri flinched as her hand went to cover her wrist, rubbing it awkwardly.

"I just ... took it one day at a time," she said awkwardly, as a phantom pain stung at her arm and she clenched it as if to stop the blood flow.

_ I hate you! _

Jeri closed her eyes as she forced down the memory, the lifeless eyes of the mangled sock puppet staring at her ruined on the bathroom floor.

"Reminded myself that there were people who cared about me. That I had to be brave, not just for them, but for myself too."

Ayaka hummed softly to herself in response. “Just having other people was enough, huh? Other helping hands.”

Her eyes dulled. “You know, I couldn’t believe it when you did that. I freaked out. Anyone would. But…until I saw that truck speeding toward me, I don’t think I quite understood what it meant to look at that final stoplight at the end of the tunnel.”

Ayaka picked at her hands a little, tilting her head to one side. “There’s really not much to us, is there? Akio…didn’t matter. When I heard Kazu got his ass suspended because he clobbered the jerk, I…didn’t feel anything. Felt like he stopped mattering. And Takato cutting his finger back there…”

Ayaka curled her fingers. “I…don’t know. I feel a little disjointed. Like… _ this… _ ” she raised her hands indicatively before tapping her head, “…and  _ this _ are operating on different wavelengths. I looked at Takato and it’s like… “You’re feeling that, right? You’re  _ alive _ , right?” It’s like…if he told me, I’d know for sure, because I can’t feel it from him.”

Lowering her hands, Ayaka dropped her gaze. “Is that all there is to knowing you’re alive? Nerves telling you you’re hurting or feeling good?”

"I think ... there is more to it than that," Jeri said slowly as she tentatively put a hand on Ayaka's, curling her fingers around her friend's hand. She never noticed how  _ small _ it was before. Whenever they held hands in the past, Ayaka's always seemed much bigger than hers, but now...

_ It's so fragile, _ she thought as she struggled to adequately answer the extensional question she didn't quite expect from Ayaka, although looking back, probably should have.

"I mean ... it's like ..." she frowned as her brow furrowed. She felt like she was describing color to a blind person. "When you take your photographs ... doesn't that make you happy? I think there is a difference between being alive and living."

_ I don't want to survive. I want to live! _

She was sure she had heard that somewhere before, although where she couldn't just place.

"Being alive ... means just like you said. Your organs working and your body doing the right thing. You just fight to survive each day," she paused before smiling, looking down at the path. "But living ... living is doing more than the bare minimum to survive. Living is doing things you enjoy whether it is taking photographs, or going on hikes or ... whatever. Living means dancing in the rain and getting up when life knocks you down."

She looked over at her friend, her eyes softening. "You're just depressed right now. There's nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly normal," she assured her, squeezing her hand tight. "Just know ... I'm here for you. You  _ aren't _ alone. You never will be."

“I’m not talking about just being alone though,” Ayaka said raising her finger that earlier had Takato’s blood on it. “I just…” She stared at her finger a moment longer before running her hand through her hair. “I don’t know what I mean. But it’s not about being alone or with someone. I don’t even know if it’s doing stuff I like and enjoy. I just…what… _ makes _ …me alive? What’s  _ being _ alive? How does anything I do make me  _ alive? _ ”

She sighed again. “Maybe I am just depressed,” she grumbled, dropping her hands helplessly on her knees. “I just feel weird.” She grimaced. “Sorry if I creeped everyone out back there. Can you tell them I didn’t mean to start off our first day on such a weird note?”

"It's alright," Jeri assured her, resting her head on Ayaka's shoulder. She didn't know how to answer her question about what makes one alive. It was a question asked by humans since the dawn of time, and Jeri felt it probably wouldn't be an appropriate time to answer with '42,'

"Besides, they're weirdos anyway." She took a small peek at her and smiled slightly, hoping to change the subject. "It seems I've finally corrupted you to the weird side."

Ayaka snorted. “‘Finally?’ Jeri, I don’t think you’ve noticed, but I’ve been friends with you since we were in the second grade. I think I was on the weird side a long time ago.”

"You were a visitor," Jeri teased, grinning. "After all, you were always the mature one. Now..." she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "You're a dork."

“Pretty sure I’d need to be a boy to be a dork,” Ayaka grinned back, though it fell short of her usual level of animation. “They have the equipment after all.”

Jeri looked at Ayaka for a long minute, not quite understanding the comment until it finally clicked.

Her face turning bright red, she hit her friend on the shoulder, admonishing her with a high pitched, "Ayaka!" as her voice cracked in embarrassment.

“You said it,” the copper-haired girl smirked, her expression becoming more lifelike. “You  _ kept _ saying it. All those years too.”

Reaching out she tapped Jeri’s nose mischievously. “Biggest  _ dork _ right here. This is why you should study English more closely.”

"But ... you ... I'm not ..." she spluttered in embarrassment, trying to come up with a comeback but finding none as her face only became redder with each second she struggled for a witty comeback.

"Ohh..." she groaned as she tried to bury her face in her hands, as if she couldn't see Ayaka, Ayaka couldn't see how ungodly embarrassed and flustered she was.

Reaching out, Ayaka patted her friend, laughing lightly. “Don’t worry. I hear most people don’t know that about the word anyway. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” A pause before she grinned. “Dork.”

"If you two are done flirting, lunch is done."

Jeri's head snapped upward as she looked behind her to see Rika leaning in the door, a small, amused smirk playing on her lips.

"We're not ... I'm ..." Jeri stuttered, still flustered from her conversations second ago with Ayaka only for Rika to stop her with a single hand, causing Jeri to pause in her speech before she started imitating Takato.

"It's fine. I don't judge," she said with a wink before walking back inside again.

Jeri's shoulders slumped and she sighed. While it was hardly the first time they got mistaken for a couple, nor she doubted it would be the last, it didn't make it any less irritating.

“You really need to lighten up, Jeri,” Ayaka said, still smiling as she shook her head at her friend. “You’ll be a lot less like the girl version of Takato if you did that you know.”

"You don't help you know," Jeri pouted, puffing her cheeks out as she stood up, holding her hand out for her friend to take.

“That’s because you’re too cute,” Ayaka replied, allowing herself to be lifted to her feet. “But don’t let that put any ideas in your head. Time to eat.”

Jeri mumbled something about Ayaka being the one to put them there in the first place as the two walked back into the cabin only to be assaulted by the delicious aroma of the curry. Almost instantly, Jeri perked up as she walked quicker to the table.

"Ohh, this smells good," she cooed excitedly, pulling a chair out before sitting down.

“It’s not pretty,” Takato smiled, setting down dishes and chopsticks, “but it’s something that should fill the stomach. Hope it works.”

“Give me a break, Gogglehead,” Ayaka grunted, seating herself next to Jeri. “I don’t know anyone from your home economics courses who turned their nose up at your stuff.”

Laughing lightly, Takato rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. “Thanks.”

Ayaka grunted again. “Sorry about earlier.”

“It’s no big deal,” Takato replied. “We understand. Don’t we…uh…everyone?”

"Of course," Henry said, smiling at her pleasantly.

"Yeah," Rika agreed as she broke apart the wooden chopsticks, mumbling "itadakimasu" before digging into the curry like a ravenous beast. "Mn ... this is good," she said, thankfully swallowing before taking a swing of water as Henry laughed, humming "itadakimasu" as well before he started eating as well, except with way more restraint.

"That's because it's made with love," Jeri hummed causing Rika to look at her flatly, an unamused expression plastered across her face.

Coughing, Takato laughed and broke his chopsticks apart. “I think she means ‘made with  _ cool’, _ Rika.”

"I'm sure she did," Rika remarked sarcastically. Jeri dug into the curry, amazed at how Takato's skills had only grown since they were in home economics class together.

While his family did own a bakery, Ayaka was right to point out that cooking and baking were two different things.

"You'd make a good husband some day," she commented, her cheeks turning red slightly.

_ Although it's not like Kazu is a bad cook either, _ she reminded herself.  _ Takato's just ... better. _

“Ah, jeez Jeri…” Takato blushed, laughing loudly. “You’re just  _ way _ too funny sometimes, you know that?” Clapping his hands together he smiled at all his friends before finishing off with an  _ itadakimasu. _

_ But I was being serious. _

The thought, however, didn't leave her lips as a wan smile stretched across them. Henry gave her a sympathetic, understanding look as Rika looked at Takato with an eyebrow raised as if she couldn't believe what he just said.

"I don't know. She sounded pretty ser-ow!" Rika looked over to Jeri, who was glaring at her to  _ please shut up right now, Rika, _ and frowned.

“Uh…” Takato looked at the two girls with raised eyebrows. “Everything all right?”

“Just someone making it known that they don’t want any more blushing going on at this table,” Ayaka remarked as she dug in. “Something I don’t think has a snowball's chance in hell of happening, but I guess one can hope.”

Almost as if to further prove Ayaka's words, Jeri blushed again, deciding to ignore the other two women at the table who seemed  _ very _ intent on embarrassing her and busied herself with the curry.

After all you couldn't make more of a fool out of yourself if your mouth was full.

**###**

Kazu bit into his pocky and glared at the textbooks and notes laid out in front of him, wishing they would just disappear.

_ This could have been done last week, _ a voice inside him spoke up, but he forcefully pushed it to the side. One week…all gone. Wasted. All because of a suspension he got from beating the crud out of Akio.

_Not to mention_ Chumley, he thought bitterly. _Just what was up with him, getting involved like that? He should have known better._

Of course, Kazu knew he was wrong about that. Takato  _ never _ knew better. He didn’t even  _ see _ Jeri’s interest in him and he refused to see that that Rika girl was nothing but trouble. What was one more thing for him to do that was absolutely stupid?

_ The guy is one giant, walking mistake, _ he thought angrily, one finger pressing against his mechanical pencil, a vein standing out quite prominently on his hand.  _ If you looked up the word mistake in the dictionary, his picture would be right there on it. _

_ Mistake.  _ That word got his gears grinding together now. His mother had used that word when giving him one hell of an earful regarding the whole mess of affairs. While Jeri had been…kinder (though terribly displeased with him), he sensed the word just hovering in the background like bad radiation. If they weren’t in a relationship, she most certainly would have thrown it at him.

_ No, _ he thought. _ Don’t think like that. Focus on studying for makeup exams. _

He supposed that was one thing he could take pleasure out of this. At least Takato would have to take a makeup exam for what he missed on his  _ only _ day of suspension. Then  _ he’d _ have another mistake under his belt.

Takato was no better at studying than he was.

“Stupid…” he growled under his breath, glaring at the textbooks.

"Putting yourself down like that isn't going to help you with the tests," Kenta remarked dryly as he looked up from the practice problems Kazu had done earlier.

He almost loathed to mark them up with the red pen in his hand, fearful that Kazu would take out his frustration out on him as well. Still, he had promised Kazu he would help him study when Jeri was out of town, passing her own exams despite being in turmoil.

_ Of course, if I don't help him pass, he'll just blame me,  _ Kenta thought glumly. It was a no win situation, and since Kazu just snapped and beat the living  _ shit _ out of Akio and badly injured Takato, Kenta feared anything which could turn Kazu's wrath on him.

He desperately wanted to ask Takato how he was, if he was OK, take advantage of the fact Kazu wasn't in school to try to make amends with the boy like Jeri had.

Unlike Jeri though, he was a coward and each time he mustered the courage to talk to Takato, he was the last one in the classroom.

_ Is this my punishment? _ he thought.  _ My karma for allowing Kazu to get this bad? _

“Putting myself down?” Kazu turned a baleful glare up at Kenta. “Why the hell would I be doing that,  _ Chumley?” _

He practically snarled the last word as he locked eyes with Kenta. His anger beat just beneath the surface, stabbing daggers in the other boy’s direction.

“All I said was,  _ stupid. _ I was talking about these stupid  _ books, _ Kenta.”

_ Well the books aren't the only stupid ones. _

However, Kenta didn't say anything and instead went back to correcting Kazu's practice problems; jotting down  _ where  _ exactly Kazu had went wrong. While it took longer, if he did it this way, Kazu was less likely to interrupt him in his rage.

“Are you almost done yet?” Kazu griped, tapping his fingers on the table in a steady drumbeat. “I thought you  _ passed. _ This stuff should be a breeze for you, right?”

"Taking tests and correcting are two different things," Kenta mumbled. "I'm making sure you understand the material so you can pass as well. Either way, here."

Lifting his pen, he pushed the notebook paper back toward Kazu, red pen spilling across the page. While not every problem had Kenta's little notes written in his small, neat scrawl, a good majority did.

If it had been the test, Kazu would have failed.

Kazu could see it too. He only had to skim the notes to know the reality of his situation. His mother, mad as she already was about his suspension and fight, would be absolutely  _ livid _ if he flunked his exams. Seeing red wouldn’t quite describe it. She would be mad enough for red to come right out of the walls.

“Great,” the teen grumbled. “So it’s that bad, huh? Is there even a point for me taking these things then?”

"Well, you always pull through, don't you?" Kenta said slowly, recalling Kazu's bragging that fateful day. "Plus if you don't take them ... you'll fail for sure. It's better to try then to just give up without doing anything. Besides, I'm sure Jeri would be more upset if you didn't try at all then if you tried and failed."

He knew that using Jeri was a dirty trick to get Kazu to take studying more seriously, but he  _ seriously _ didn't want Kazu to fail, if only for his own survival means. If using Jeri was the means to accomplish that, he would use whatever tool he had at his disposal.

Kazu pondered his words for a moment before nodding in concession. “BlackWarKazumon doesn’t quit,” he said almost begrudgingly. “Jeri used to say something about how it’s always ‘darkest before morning’ or whatever. Remember that? A few years ago after she left school for about a month or something because she was sick? She came back kind of weird.”

Kazu looked at his notes, swarming with red like one giant, bloody mess. “But she was…different after that. It was like she got tough on herself.”

Curling his fingers into his palm, he drew confidence from that memory. “Yeah. I’m tough too. I can beat these stupid tests.”

Kenta hummed at the memory, remembering it as well. It had been so long ago, he actually forgotten until Kazu brought it up.

_ The fact she got into such a good school despite missing a lot is really indicative of her work ethic and smarts,  _ he thought wistfully, wishing, not for the first time, he managed to get into the accredited high school. The fact his number wasn't up on the board that day still haunted him.

While their current school wasn't  _ bad, _ it just wasn't as good as he - or his parents - had hoped for. The fact Kazu of all people managed to get in showed its standards were much lower than what he had hoped for.

_ Either that or he's the luckiest bastard in the world, _ Kenta thought irritably.

"Yeah," Kenta agreed absently, not sure if he was agreeing with Kazu or his own thoughts. 

Kazu raised an eyebrow at him, hearing his disinterested tone. “You okay, Chumley? You sound like you’ve got something on your brain?”

"Not really," Kenta said, having no intention on letting Kazu on to what he was really thinking. However, feeling like Kazu wouldn't really accept that, he decided to stretch the truth a bit. "I was just thinking how Jeri was really smart was all. Her school is pretty good. She'll get into a good college."

“Of course she will,” Kazu nodded with a grin. “She’s got brains to go with those good looks of hers. But why’s that got you bummed out? I know our school isn’t exactly the best, but we’ll get somewhere. All you’ve got to do is work hard. Take your own advice dude.”

"I wasn't bummed out. Just thinking was all. To miss a month of classes and then still get where she was ... that's not easy. I guess you can say I was impressed was all," Kenta said, although the better term would be  _ jealous. _ Still, he did feel a bit better, no doubt against his better judgment, that Kazu was trying his best to cheer him up.

_ How long is that going to last before he tears you down again? _ came the traitorous voice in the back of his head.

Yet … Kenta found himself agreeing. 


	18. Sand and Fire

By the time they got to the beach, it was a couple hours past noon. However, it was completely dead - a fact Takato had helpfully pointed out to the rest of them as it slowly sunk in they had the beach to themselves.

It didn't take long for the group to split off and do their own things. Ayaka seemed to zero in on the sunniest spot on the sand, throwing down her towel and declaring she would have a tan before she left. Rika, for her part, seemed to keep nearby and "read" - although with the book lying across her face like a blanket, it was hard to tell how much reading she was actually doing.

Takato wasn't that far away, sketching, and Renamon seemed to go between keeping her partner company to checking in on Takato.

Jeri and Henry were the only ones actually in the water; Jeri wading in the waves, picking up seashells, occasionally bringing one she seemed particularly excited about to show off to the others. Henry had been swimming earlier, but recently left the water to go explore the beach a bit more.

"Hey, Firebrand, how's the book?" Ayaka asked, peeking open a chocolate eye to glance over at Rika who hadn't really moved since they arrived.

Lifting up the book ever so slightly to look at Ayaka, Rika glanced at the words on the page before turning her attention back to Jeri's friend.

"Fantastic. Can't put it down."

Takato glanced up as their conversation wafted over to him and smiled at Rika’s response.

_ She is, if nothing else, a person of few words, _ he thought, beginning a sketch of Renamon’s foot as she crouched in front of him. She was keeping him company now for some reason, though her attention was on Rika, head tilted in curiosity. Returning his attention to his drawing, he resumed sketching, tracing lines with thin, but confident strokes.

_ Huh… _ he thought.  _ I never noticed that she didn’t have a shadow before… _

As Ayaka snorted, muttering something which sounded a bit like "dork" under her breath, Rika took the moment to check up on what the others were doing - most notably to see if anyone was hinting at doing anything competitive.

They were not.

_ Of course, _ she thought offput as her head turned over to Takato and Renamon. Takato was sketching - of course - and Renamon, despite keeping him company was looking right at her. Pushing the book further up so she could see more, she grinned.

"Hey, what are you drawing over there?" Rika asked, rolling around so she was on her stomach.

“Hm?” Takato looked up, a bit surprised at her question. “Oh… Ah… Rena…” He caught himself, remembering Ayaka’s presence. “I’m drawing the beach…with a Renamon in it.”

He grinned, glancing warily over at Ayaka to see how she took his explanation.

"You are such a dork," Ayaka scoffed as rolled over to her stomach, feeling that her back got tanned long enough. After all a tan which wasn't even all the way around was worse than no tan at all.

However, Rika's interest was perked and putting down the book - but not before making a big deal of bookmarking it as if she had a place to lose - she walked over to Takato to peek at his work, crouching so she was peering over his shoulder.

Takato raised an eyebrow at Rika’s presence, but shrugged, letting her stay as she wasn’t breaking his concentration or making him feel uncomfortable. He began to add the rest of Renamon to her foot, pausing just long enough to fill out some beach details behind her – a shell here, a piece of random driftwood there – before returning his focus to the vulpine digimon. Losing himself in his work, he almost forgot Rika was even there.

Rika watched Takato draw in quiet interest, wondering quietly how many hours it must have taken him to get good at this.

Suddenly there was a flash - a memory from when she was a child - as a young artist drew a rich girl in a romantic moment on a doomed ship destined to sink below the ocean. Even though Rika never liked romantic or tragic movies, this one captured her attention for whatever reason. Although, looking back, it could have easily been because she was with grams and gramps.

"Draw me like one of your French girls," she hummed, mostly to herself, amused at the sudden parallel between Takato and Jack in her thought process.

_ Don't think Takato as a con man though, _ she mused with a grin.  _ He can't lie to save his life. _

Takato’s pencil paused at Rika’s words as they pierced the haze of his concentration. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “French…girls?” he asked, confused.

"Apparently you've never seen the Titanic," she hummed as she covered her mouth, although it was too late to hide the grin crawling across her face.

“Uh…no,” Takato replied, assuming she was talking about a movie. Reaching down, he picked up his pencil sharpener and inserted his pencil into it, twisting and scraping off a layer of wood to refresh the tip. “Sorry, I…don’t always get out to the movie theaters.”

This was true. Between school, work at the bakery, and the seemingly countless hours he put into his artwork, it felt like he didn’t have much time for anything anymore. Fortunately, that was the whole point behind this trip; to provide time for a bit of rest and relaxation.

"It came out when we were kids," she said as she sat down next to him. "I watched it with my grandparents when I was real little. I'll ask grams to bring it down next time she visits, so you can watch it."

“Oh,” Takato smiled, removing his pencil and setting it back on the page, resuming his sketching. He was amazed at how Renamon hadn’t moved an inch – with the sole exception of her head – since setting herself down. She never seemed to get tired of being in one position. “Sounds like a good idea.”

"Although I should probably ask you if you like historical romantic tragic movies," Rika asked as she continued to watch him. "Or risqué scenes."

“Risqué scenes?” Takato asked, starting to lose himself in his concentration again.

"Well ... maybe you wouldn't see it as risqué being an artist and all," she amended herself thoughtfully. "After all, artists draw people in the nude all the time, don't they?"

“Not all the time,” Takato said, starting on Renamon’s head. Was that a twinkle he saw in Renamon’s eye?

_ Must be my imagination… _

“But it’s kind of a requirement if you want to get good at art. Get a feel for the human figure. I attended a single class once a couple years ago and…it…was kind of hard to sit through, but since I knew it was a good idea I just…kept at it. Eventually I got used to it.”

"What are you two talking about over here?"

Rika looked up to see Jeri walking toward them - wearing a cute one-piece bathing suit as she cradled a rather large conch shell in her hands.

"Takato drawing naked people," she answered bluntly. "What do you got there?"

"Oho, are you two now?" Jeri grinned mischievously as she peeked over to see what Takato was drawing only to see he was drawing Renamon. "Not drawing anybody like one of your French girls, eh Takato?"

"I already made that joke, Jeri," Rika answered amused causing Jeri to arch an eyebrow before beaming. Out of everybody who Jeri would have guessed of watching one of the greatest romantic stories of the last 20 years, Rika was at the very bottom of the list.

"You didn't strike me as the type to be into romance movies," she said pleasantly surprised. Maybe they had more in common than she initially thought.

"I'm not. I watched it with my grandparents when I was younger. Anyway, the shell?" Rika asked, returning Jeri to the topic at hand.

"Oh right!" Jeri said as she held it up to show the two. "Look at how big it is!" She paused as she felt it vibrate in her hands and frowned slightly. It had done that earlier when she scooped it out of the water. At first she thought it was due to the ocean water leaving the shell but now ..."It keeps vibrating though."

"That's because it's still alive, you know?" Rika asked causing Jeri to look at the shell slowly, turning it over to see a grey piece of  _ something _ stick out. Yelping in surprise, she dropped it and quickly moved away from it like she had touched something radioactive.

Takato chuckled at Jeri’s reaction to the sea-creature. “I’ll take that as payback for all the ‘drawing naked people and French girls’ stuff. Are you going to put it back in the ocean?”

"Of course," Jeri huffed as she tentatively picked it up, only to make a face when it started humming again. "Why didn't you tell me earlier it was still alive!"

"I'm sorry, next time I'll be sure to look into the future and let you know," Rika replied dryly.

"Well you can see into the past," Jeri said sticking her tongue out cheekily.

“Uh… Keep it down,” Takato said, indicating Ayaka with a tilt of his head in said-girl’s direction. “Hills has ears you know.”

Jeri bit her lip as she glanced at Ayaka who looked over at them, raising an eyebrow almost questioningly, asking silently,  _ "What are you dorks even doing?" _

"Er, right," Jeri mumbled, feeling embarrassed to let her  guard down. She was so used to being only with Henry, Rika, Takato and Renamon without any third-party mixed in, she forgot that Ayaka was not part of the Tamers, and thus, not privy to their ... powers.

_ Would she even believe me if I told her, _ she thought before remembering that she was supposed to be throwing the conch back into the ocean.

Excusing herself from the duo, she quickly jogged over and tossed the conch back into the water the second she got close. As it splashed, something else caught her eye. Something floating in the water she hadn’t noticed before.

Carefully wading over to it, she blinked in confusion as she drew closer.

_ Is that a person? _

Carefully flipping it over, her eyes widened to see the half torn off face of a man. It was only then did she realize she was standing in a sea of blood.

Her mind was blissfully blank for a moment before it processed the fully severity of the situation.

Then she screamed.

Takato’s eyes shot up at Jeri’s scream and he found himself on his feet before he even realized it. 

 

_ “Jeri!” _ he shouted, seeing her standing amidst a pool of crimson that was rapidly forming around her. Renamon likewise was on her feet and quickly vanished, teleporting next to the girl before Takato’s feet could even start moving.

Without even thinking, Renamon grabbed hold of Jeri and lifted her up, teleporting her over to the beach.

_ She seems unharmed, _ Renamon thought, placing Jeri down on the sand. Getting up, she turned in the direction of the crimson water, narrowing her eyes at the corpse floating in the water, the tides causing it to bump up against the edge of the beach.

“Jeri!” Takato shouted again, sliding to a halt and dropping down next to her. “Jeri, are you all right?”

“What happened?” Henry shouted, running toward them.

 

Gasping for air as if she nearly drowned, Jeri clenched her wrist, curling her legs up like a fetus, looking at the shore in shock. 

 

_ How could none of us notice that sooner?!  _ she thought incredulously as she gripped the sand, her mind buzzing as if it were drowning still. If it wasn’t for Renamon - her eyes widened in realization as they shot over to the vulpine Digimon who had saved her. When she had first been scooped out of the water and teleported away, she didn’t realize it but now…

 

“Renamon?” she gasped in surprise.

 

“What the hell is going on here?” Ayaka demanded as she ran over to join the others, stopping short as she looked on in horror as more bodies seemed to fill the sandy beach. It was like they were multiplying. “Where are all these bodies coming from!”

 

_ It’s like a scene right out of a horror film _ , the copper-haired girl thought in horror as a sudden wave of sadness for the fallen washed over her.  _ Military. They were just trying to do their jobs ... _

 

“There’s more,” Rika gasped, holding her head and gritting her teeth as if she was having a terrible migraine. She could  _ feel _ the lives around her disappearing. It was like lights in the back of her mind going out one by one, as if a mass blackout.

 

_ Why is this happening? Is this part of the echo? What is this! _ she thought as she forced herself to control her breathing. These were questions which could be answered later, when their own lives weren’t about to go out like a candle as well.

 

“This… This is…” Takato began, his voice barely above a whisper as he looked around them. Here… There… He could see some of them just appearing out of thin air now, sparkling light forming together into a shape before solidifying. He felt bile rise in his throat, but he forced it down.

 

Renamon waded out into the water and took hold of the first body Jeri saw, turning it over. It was human, that much was obvious at first glance. 

 

_ The injuries…  _ She turned him over. The face was a bloody mess, but that wasn’t what killed him.  _ It looks as though this was done  _ after  _ he died… Perhaps from a fall? Or...something else. _ She took a closer look. Now that she thought about it, the damage didn’t appear random, but rather oddly... _ fine. _ As though the flesh had been  _ cut _ away with something sharp. The area around the bone of the skull beneath was... _ clean.  _ No markings marred its surface that she could see.

 

_ An eye is missing, _ Renamon noted.

 

Pressing her paws around the body, she did a methodical search, finding what appeared to be a burn wound of some kind that pierced all the way through to the other side.  _ Some kind of heat-related attack? _ she wondered, poking a claw into the gaping wound.  _ Yes. Definitely heat related, and an intense one at that. The wound has been cauterized. Interesting… _

 

She looked out over toward one of the other bodies. Wading out, she repeated her analysis on another one, finding roughly similar injuries, although this time it appeared to have been torn apart by something else… Some other weapon. An explosive perhaps, though she couldn’t determine much else about it.

 

_ Something was definitely performing some kind of post-death surgery however, _ she thought, getting to her feet.

 

“I can’t explain anything here,” she said, turning toward the others. “Just that this was the site of a battle.”

 

“Is anybody else seeing this kitsune, or did Takato poison us with his cooking?” Ayaka’s voice cracked, taking a nervous step backwards as Renamon approached them. 

 

“It’s OK!” Jeri said quickly, deciding that right now was probably not the time to tell the story. At the same time she didn’t want Ayaka to be afraid of Renamon. “She’s a friend!”

 

“Is it just me, or is the sky getting red?” Rika asked, pointing to the horizon, her face pale and sweat dripping down her skin despite it not being  _ that _ hot outside.

 

Henry looked up. It was getting red, and a sense of dread fell over him. He recognized what was going on. The time frame that this echo was coming from.

 

“The D-Reaper,” he whispered under his breath, causing Takato to look at him.

 

“Henry?” he asked. “Did you say something?”

 

“We’ve got to get back to the house!” Henry exclaimed. “Don’t just stand there, move!”

 

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to go anywhere,” Rika said grimly, pointing to the path which lead back to the cabin. Standing in their way was … well Rika wasn’t quite sure how to describe it. It was this violet  _ creature  _ with two large arms a cylinder “head” with a rib cage - all of which was attached to a pink umbilical cord.

 

“ADR-05,” Rika turned around to look at Jeri in surprise, only for her eyes to widen at the glazed look which had taken over her friend’s face. She recognized this look. It was the same as that day, when Renamon hypnotized her, giving her back her memories but awakening something else deep inside. “Code name: Creep hands. Grappling Agent.”

 

“Jeri?” Ayaka asked worriedly as Rika clicked her tongue in annoyance, quickly taking in the situation.

 

_ We can’t be dealing with creepy Jeri and whatever is going on _ , she thought as she bent down in front of Jeri, a cold smile once again crossed her friend’s face.

 

“Subject: Ayaka Itou,” Jeri drawled, looking at the cooper haired girl whose mouth was moving wordlessly. “Best fr-”

 

Rika didn’t let her continue, giving her a quick punch to the gut, causing Jeri to gasp, her eyes widening.The glazed look left her eyes before they fluttered closed as she collapsed to the ground with a groan. Picking up her friend as if she didn’t just hit her, she looked at Henry and nodded her head.

 

“You think we can out run that thing?” she asked.

 

Henry shook his head. “No,” he said under his breath, remembering the day he first saw one. Or rather a group of them, chasing down a blond-haired, gothic-clothed girl and a dog-like digimon. They could barely stay ahead and it had been a losing race.

 

“What is it doing?” Takato asked, his voice quavering as he moved to stand protectively in front of his friends without even thinking about it. A part of him wanted to shout at Rika for hitting Jeri the way she did, but for the moment they had a much larger problem to be worried about. “Why is it just... _ standing _ there?”

 

“Maybe it’s a zombie and only hears loud sounds,” Rika whispered as she carefully tried to inch to the left, to get out of range. Just because Henry didn’t think they could outrun that thing didn’t mean they shouldn’t at least  _ try _ . “Either way standing here we’re going to meet the same fate as the poor bastards on this beach it’s already killed.”

 

“It’s not a zombie and it doesn’t only hear ‘loud sounds’,” Henry admonished. “I... _ remember _ this thing. It  _ sees _ us!”

 

“Uh...Henry?” Takato began. “It doesn’t have eyes.”

 

“It doesn’t need eyes like ours, Takato.”

 

“Either way,” began Renamon. “We could stand here flapping our gums all day or get out of here. This... _ creature _ feels tremendously powerful. I can’t fight it and expect to win.”

 

“You wouldn’t be able to,” Henry whispered back. “This agent is at least as strong as a Mega level digimon.”

 

Takato exchanged looks with the others, eyebrows raised. Clearly Henry knew something about what was going on.

 

“Well then, if we’re going to die either way, let’s at least die trying to live,” Rika snarked before she took off running, keeping an eye on the creature. 

 

“He-hey, wait!” Ayaka yelled as she stumbled in the sand, giving chase. She didn’t feel like standing around and dying either, but at the same time she was a bit annoyed at Firebrand just deciding things for herself.

 

_ Does she ever think?!  _ Ayaka thought annoyed.

 

Turning its head in Rika’s direction, it lurched toward her and slammed a massive hand in front of the girl, causing the beach to shake violently from the force of the blow.

 

_ “Rika!” _ Takato shouted, charging after the girl.

 

Skidding to a stop, her heart pounding in her chest, she kept her grip on Jeri as she glared defiantly up at the beast who was now looming over her. Taking a step backwards, her mind whirled as she tried to figure out how to get herself and the rest of them out of this mess without dying to something they clearly survived in the past.

 

_ Back then we had Digimon though _ , she thought as her violet eyes flickered around, wondering if she tried running underneath it if she would make it. If she was alone, she might try it, but she also had Jeri with her after knocking her out.  _ Damn it all _ …

 

That’s when a swarm of white bird like  _ creatures _ attacked the “agent.” Taking the moment to backpedal, Rika collided into Takato, who was coming up from behind her leaving the three teens tangled up on the beach. It could have been a bad situation to be in if the swarm didn’t utterly destroy the beast in front of them.

 

It was also at this time Jeri opened her eyes from her impromptu “nap,” watching in horror as screams which would haunt her nightmares echoed from the creatures, swatting at the birds as red particles drifted skyward. Soon, it was completely gone.  

 

Henry gaped at the ease at which the white, bird-like creatures had destroyed the D-Reaper agent. They were...saved? And by the very things that they were trying to learn more about...and potentially defeat?

 

_ What’s going on here? _ he wondered as Takato attempted to disentangle himself from Rika.

 

There was a moment of silence as the birds all turned and swiveled so they were looking at the children. However, instead of attacking them like it did the agent, they seemed to clump and merge together, glowing brightly as they did so, and an androgynous human appeared with coal black hair and obsidian eyes.

 

“ _ Tamers _ ,” it said simply before glancing at Ayaka, nodding it’s head slightly. “ _ And … guest.” _

 

“Mnemosyne,” Jeri breathed in shock, rolling off of Rika and Takato, not completely sure how she got into such a position in the first place but that was the furthest thing from her mind. “You’re … Mnemosyne.”

 

“ _ Ah. So it appears you remember our first meeting, Jeri Katou, _ ” Mnemosyne said, tilting it’s head, a small frown playing on it’s lip. “ _ How unfortunate.” _

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rika growled as she staggered to her feet, panting slightly. Mnemosyne turned it’s head toward the fiery redhead almost as if it was confused by the question.

 

_“Your lack of trust still hasn’t changed I see. Our first meeting was not the most … ideal, I suppose would be a sufficient word for it. It is not a memory I would wish you to relive or remember. Just like I don’t wish you to recall memories such as this one,”_ it said, gesturing to the beach where the dead bodies still lay. Almost as if it realized that they were there, it frowned, and with a snap of its fingers, they were gone. “ _They are painful memories_ ,” it continued. “ _If you think this is terrifying, if you continue down the road you are on, things are just going to get worse. I’m trying to_ protect _you from that, but, it seems at this point in the development process, humans are rather … stubborn. My past attempts to protect you have failed, so now I’m here to tell you in no uncertain terms you_ need _to stop._ ”

 

Henry frowned at the figure. “I can’t speak for the others since they don’t remember, but for myself… I get that what you did had good intentions, but you took a lot of important things from us. You should know why I’m not happy about it.” He hesitated before continuing. “I remember  _ everything. _ I know what we lost.”

 

“You what?!” Rika asked incredulously as she turned around to look at Henry, murder flaring in her eyes. “When I get done with-”

 

“ _ No. You know what  _ you  _ lost, _ ” Mnemosyne butted in, interrupting the red-haired girl. “ _ While I cannot help but be somewhat … impressed by your resilience and keeping it hidden, your experiences are different from your friends. _ ” It paused and glanced at the other Tamers. “ _ Tell me, Henry Wong, with your memories and your experiences, do you really think you have the right to decide that they are better off reliving those horrid experiences?” _

 

“What makes you think you have the right to decide for anyone what they live through?” Henry demanded. “There’s a phrase from the west that you might find relevant here. It’s about a pot calling the kettle black.”

 

“Shut up, both of you!” Rika snapped. “We’re going to have a  _ very _ long talk on why you didn’t tell us when you remembered!” She declared pointing a finger at Henry angrily before swiveling and glaring at ‘Mnemosyne.’ “And you! Don’t think you can decide what we can and can’t handle! Humans aren’t some frail things that need to be handled like they are porcelain dolls!”

 

“ _ You honestly want to relive those past memories? _ ” Mnemosyne asked, raising an eyebrow. “ _ Do you really wish to recall feeling life extinguish around you again?” _

 

Rika had to push down the bile rising up her throat angrily as she once again recalled the mass blackout just minutes earlier. It was  _ awful _ and the fact Mnemosyne knew about that made her feel … honestly she wasn’t sure what exactly, but more violated than she already did. She was swinging between anger and fear.

 

_ How can we win against something that knew the things we don’t even speak a loud?  _ she wondered. 

 

“You’re right, I don’t want to relive terrible memories! What kind of masochist do you take me for? But at the same time, I rather have them! It’s part of who  _ I  _ am. I rather go to hell and back then lose a part of myself because some asshole with a literal god-complex,  _ Mnemosyne _ ,” the name was practically spat, “decide what is best for me.”

 

“ _ If that is the case, Rika Nonaka, why can’t you remember a thing?”   _ Mnemosyne asked quietly. 

 

Takato glanced at Rika, eyebrows raised in confusion. “Uh...I...don’t understand. Besides Henry and...Jeri?” His gaze flicked over to Jeri briefly before returning to Mnemosyne. “Rika’s not the only one who doesn’t remember anything. I don’t.”

 

“ _ You have flashes. She does not _ ,” Mnemosyne said simply. “ _ You do not remember, but you are remembering. She … is not _ .” 

 

“Flashes?” Takato thought back, but try as he might he couldn’t remember anything remotely similar to what Mnemosyne was talking about. “You’re crazy. Why would I be having flashes but Rika isn’t?”

 

“ _ That is a question for Rika Nonaka, isn’t it _ ?” Mnemosyne said as the redhead gritted her teeth. Folding his arms, he glanced at Renamon, almost as if evaluating her. “ _ Although … I have a theory. I shall leave you all for now to think about my words, and as a show of good faith- _ ” it pointed to Renamon. Jeri gasped at the gesture and the memory - or better yet knowledge - of this thing being the one to kill Leomon  _ again _ entered her mind.

 

_ No! _ she yelled in her head as she scrambled to her feet. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she knew she had to do  _ something _ . It was bad enough she lost Leomon to this monster. She didn’t want Rika to lose Renamon. Echo or not, they were alive and sentient and didn’t deserve to live and die by the whims of a being, as Rika so eloquently put it, with a god-complex.

 

However, it’s next words caught her - and everybody else - by surprise.

 

“ _ I’ll let you exist for a bit longer,”   _ Mnemosyne finished. _ “You, after all, seem to be the only one who is capable of controlling that child. _ ”

 

Renamon narrowed her eyes at Mnemosyne suspiciously. “Thank you…” she said sarcastically. “I am so glad that my existence is dependent on my being  _ useful _ to you.”

 

“ _ As long as you understand _ ,” it replied dully and before anybody else could make a snarky or sarcastic remark, it disappeared into a burst of light leaving the five teens and one Digimon behind. As it left, Jeri couldn’t help but notice Renamon faded away like a ghost.

 

_ Is she still there _ , she thought fearfully as she quickly went for her phone, fumbling slightly. When she saw Renamon still standing where she was moments before. It seemed, despite everything, it kept it’s word. 

 

“Argh!” Rika yelled kicking her foot in the sand, spraying it everywhere. “I’m going to enjoy beating that smug asshole in the face!”

 

“We first have to be able to beat him in the face,” Takato sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “Well...this is a new wrinkle, but I guess at least we know what we’re dealing with now.”

 

“Yes,” Renamon nodded, glowering at the spot Mnemosyne had stood. “We have a face for our adversary, though I fail to see how it helps us. The power difference is quite considerable.” The vulpine digimon turned toward Henry. “You’ve spent considerable time researching events… Do you have anything in mind?”

 

“I...have ideas,” Henry admitted after Rika - rather grumpily with a slightly sarcastic touch - repeated the question for her partner. “But I’m not sure if any of it will be able to be of help.”

 

“What was that!” Ayaka snapped finally, throwing her hands up. “Who was that! What is going  _ on?! _ ”

 

“Ayaka…” Jeri said slowly, wincing slightly and her hand drifted toward her stomach. It hurt a bit, which didn’t make sense since her time of the month wasn’t due for another week. 

 

_ Odd,  _ she thought. 

 

“It’s … hard to explain,” she said, licking her lips. “Sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t expect you to get involved.” She looked down, as she rubbed her stomach slightly. “Especially considering part of the reason we were on this to get away from everything.”

 

“Well let’s start from the beginning,” Ayaka snapped irritably as she paced back and forth on the beach, her fingers running through her hair. 

 

“Right,” Henry sighed, mimicking Ayaka’s gesture by running a hand through his hair. “The beginning.”

 

**###**

 

Himiko danced a cigarette between her fingers as she read through the files in front of her, her eyes scanning them before glancing over at her laptop. Her open browser displayed a Wikipedia entry from the anime and gaming franchise of  _ digimon _ , specifically one entry titled  _ Renamon _ .

She tapped her cigarette on a note hand-written to herself and stuck to the front of a journal.

_ Look up Renamon! _ it read in big, red, aggressive kanji, etched so deep that when she saw it that morning she was almost certain she had been looking to kill someone.

And no wonder. Her other messages written to herself both within the journal and in other small sticky notes indicated a measure of frustration and confusion that steadily increased as time wore on.

Something was messing with her memories. Of that  _ she _ seemed certain, and it always occurred between the times that she fell asleep. Worse, it erased all the work she did on her computer.

_ Fortunately it doesn’t do anything for anything involving hardcopies like a journal or sticky notes. _

She chuckled to herself lightly, raising her still unlit cigarette to her mouth and suckling on it like a newborn. She wanted to light it up so badly…but she couldn’t. She  _ wouldn’t. _

_ Seems like one hell of an oversight from whatever’s messing with my head, _ she thought, printing up the Wikipedia article before returning her attention to the files in front of her. As yet, she hadn’t found anything that caught her attention concerning Renamon. There  _ was _ an outdated artificial intelligence project created by some college students back in the 1980’s, but nothing terribly…

_ Hello… _ she thought, her eyebrows rising slightly.  _ What’s this? _

Setting aside the page she had just turned over, she focused her attention on the new page labeled  _ D-Reaper. _

 

**###**

 

“Unbelievable,” Ayaka grumbled, her hand resting on her forehead as she sprawled across the couch, just finished listening to the Tamers story. They had moved back to the cabin - the desire to linger at the beach was no longer held in any of them. The mood had been destroyed, and it took a good hour to explain the situation to Ayaka, the narratives switching between Henry and Jeri, with some side comments from Rika and Takato thrown in as well.

 

“So you’re saying  _ Digimon _ was real, you guys were  _ digidestined _ and this … Mnemosyne has been erasing our memories for the past, what, six years?” she continued, looking at the others. “And that it links to this thing called the D-Reaper - whose echo we had seen today? And that echo is due to things getting out of control?”

 

“Well I think it’s more like five years, but essentially, yes,” Jeri said as she held an ice pack to her stomach, Rika awkwardly lingering nearby. The girl earlier admitted - and apologized - to hitting her without any real effort on Jeri’s part. Takato was also rather cross, putting it lightly, with Rika, demanding to know  _ exactly _ what she was thinking when she hit Jeri. While Jeri was rather irked at her friend resorting to violence, Rika’s half mumbled explanation as to her reason of  _ why _ was understandable.

 

_“You were going back into creepy Jeri mode, and honestly … I didn’t want to deal with that on top of_ _everything else_ ,” _Rika mumbled as she scratched the back of her head, looking anywhere but at Jeri. “It was simpler to simply knock you out, and carry you out of the situation as the rest of ran. Sorry.”_

 

“That’s how it was,” Henry said, taking a sip of tea and sighing heavily. “I was the first one to regain my memory and for that long of time I had to sit back and watch Takato and Rika gain and lose their memories over and over. Jeri’s...a unique case. I’m not sure what caused that, but I...suspect it had something to do with her experience with the D-Reaper.”

 

Henry winced at that, wishing that he didn’t agree with Mnemosyne to some extent. Of all the things for Jeri to remember having to deal with, that horrible experience was one of the  _ last _ he would have wanted her to have back.

 

Jeri rubbed her wrist uncomfortably at the subject of the D-Reaper. Vague memories of darkness and pain, surrounded by a sea of red floated in her mind. While Henry had mentioned the D-Reaper had held her captive and was using her to power it, she couldn’t help but feel there was something  _ more _ to the story. Something  _ darker _ .

 

_ I need to ask Henry in private _ , she thought. While she was remembering, she really didn’t want any shocks. Especially since powerful triggers - especially in regards to painful memories - seemed to cause her to go into “creepy Jeri mode” as Rika eloquently put it. She didn’t recall anything from the previous two times she went in it - not that she was in them long before Renamon and Rika quickly brought her out of it.  _ I have to be prepared, even if it’s scary. A lion’s heart. I need to keep a lion’s heart. _

 

“And you idiots have been trying to fight this thing,” Ayaka said incredulously. “I can understand wanting to get memories back, but don’t you think it’s kind of, oh I don’t know, insane to fight something more powerful than you?”

 

“A real Tamer doesn’t walk away from a fight,” Rika quipped grumpily. “We can’t let this thing do as it pleases. It may have taken a name from a god, but it isn’t one.”

 

“It’s having trouble doing whatever it wants to do,” Takato added, bobbing his head up and down in acknowledgment. “Renamon’s proof of that...uh…” He blanched, glancing at the vulpine digimon. “No offense.”

 

“None taken,” Renamon smiled at Takato before focusing her attention on Ayaka. “He’s right. I’m not supposed to exist. Nothing like me or what we encountered today was supposed to occur. Whatever Mnemosyne is, it clearly isn’t doing very well. Sooner or later it’s going to lose control completely, and then…”

 

Renamon trailed off, letting the others finish that train of thought themselves. 

 

“We’d be facing the D-Reaper or something again,” Takato shuddered. “And we don’t have our partners with us to face them.”

 

Silence filled the room after Takato’s statement, almost as if the realization just came to them that this would not be the last time they would be facing the D-Reaper. Rika looked over at Renamon, her mouth opening slightly as if she wanted to say something before glancing at Takato and Henry before deciding against it.

 

_ I have my partner … but Takato and Henry don’t _ , she thought miserably. Not to mention she was very bothered by the way Renamon talked about herself, even if it was technically true. Even if she wasn’t technically supposed to exist didn’t erase the point she did.

 

Jeri for her part felt sick. While she wouldn’t be inside that  _ thing _ this time, if this instance was anything to go by …

 

_ Things are just going to get worse _ , she realized as clenched her fingers together tightly, almost as if she were praying. Which she was in a way. They would need the blessing from a god after all to get through this mess.

 

“Well, what are we going to do then?” Ayaka asked, causing Rika to snap her attention to the copper haired girl.

 

“We?” she asked incredulously. 

 

“Of course, we!” Ayaka snapped back irritably. “Jeri is my best friend, and no offense, I’m not going to leave her alone with you dorks now that I know what is going on. After all, Takato is a clumsy gogglehead,  _ you _ have anger management problems on top of never taking the time to think things thoroughly, Renamon is for all intents on purpose a ghost, and Henry can’t watch all of you from almost getting yourselves killed.”

 

“I…don’t think we can really stop her if we wanted to,” Takato admitted. “She’s pretty stubborn. Once she gets something in her head, she doesn’t change course. Unless of course Mnemosyne decides to mess with her memory or something…”

“Like he did with Jeri not too long ago,” Henry nodded, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s possible that could happen. I know it said it would ‘leave us all as we are’ but does that include Ayaka too?”

"Well I guess that's something we'll just learn, isn't it?" Ayaka said as she sat up, her arm dangling over the couch. "It's no use worrying about it in the meantime."

“What about writing it down?” Takato suggested to her. “Just in case.”

"Couldn't hurt I suppose, keeping a diary," Ayaka agreed as Jeri's attention drifted toward the girl's room where her own lay. She didn't tell anybody she was keeping a diary - she wasn't quite sure why, it just felt personal.

"OK, so Ayaka keeps a diary so if she gets mind wiped again, she has evidence in her own handwriting. Problem solved on that front. What are we going to do about, oh I don't know, everything else?" Rika snapped finally irritably. "We know more than we did to start with, no thanks to Henry-" she shot a glare to the Chinese boy to let him know just because Renamon stopped her from hitting him, she hadn't quite forgiven him  _ yet,  _ "we still know painfully little about what we are dealing with."

“I don’t know any more now than I did before today,” Henry admitted. “Honestly, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do. I need more time to look over the program Renamon got me from Hypnos, but even with that, as long as Hypnos is closed off to us…”

“What about the digital world?” Takato asked, shooting Rika a small frown before focusing on Henry. “You remember everything, so can we go there?”

“No.” Henry shook his head. “I’m sorry, but a firewall was put into place after our partners were forced to go back. There hasn’t been a single digimon in our world since then. Only echoes. And Mnemosyne.”

“But...if that’s the case…” began Takato frowning. “…then how did Mnemosyne get here? He came from the digital world, right? He  _ had _ to have come from there. There’s nowhere else, is there?”

“It’s the only other place that we know of,” Henry admitted before heaving a sigh. “I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t know anything more about what’s going on. You all know about as much as I do now.”

"Well ... it's not completely closed off," Rika said slowly, frowning. "Himiko works in the government, so we have  _ some _ connection at least. The hardest part is going to get her to believe us."

"Do you think she would?" Ayaka asked arching her eyebrow. "Since if I didn't see it first hand, I wouldn't have either, honestly."

"Honestly, I doubt she would believe us even if Renamon did a jig on her desk," Rika grimaced. Her cousin was uptight and needing cold, hard facts in front of her. At least that's how it seemed. Rika had seen her writing things down at night in a notepad, seemingly bothered by something. The one time she had peeked - when nobody was home of course - it seemed to be a journal very meticulously kept.

_ A journal, _ she thought suddenly remembering Takato's suggestion, chewing on her thumbnail, musing.  _ But ... no. She never seems any different, besides the whole saving Ayaka thing. _

“Is it a good idea to approach her?” asked Takato. “I mean, Renamon did steal some pretty important documents from her, so…yeah. I think that breaks a lot of laws.”

“Perhaps knowing it was done in a good cause will change her mind,” Renamon suggested, though inwardly she wasn’t sure if it would do anything of the sort. From her own observations, she would not be the sort to show leniency.

Rika burst out laughing at that suggestion. An honest, open laugh as if Renamon told the greatest joke in the world.

Ayaka and Jeri looked at Rika slightly worried, wondered what the hell tipped her over the tipping point considering Takato didn't say anything particularly funny.

"Renamon, Himiko pulled up my rap sheet before coming here," Rika gasped as she wiped away a tear from her eye. "Whatever reasons I have for doing anything - good or bad - if it makes the family look bad, she doesn't care."

“Perhaps I was wrong in my statement,” Renamon said, tilting an ear to one side. “However, we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility. She may be our only chance after all.”

“Maybe we should go through Yamaki instead,” Henry interceded. “I know what he looks like after all and I’m the son of one of the Monster Makers. That should give me some kind of pull with him even with his memories altered.”

"It seems the better alternative than Himiko, if Rika's statement is anything to go by," Jeri said, frowning worriedly as Rika's shoulders continued to shake in mirth, and she couldn't help but wonder if the girl had finally snapped and gone off the deep end with all the stress she was going through.

_ Plus I don't want to think Himiko is that bad of a person if she saved Ayaka, _ Jeri thought as she looked over to her best friend.  _ Besides ... Rika has always been a bit of a problem child. I'm sure she was just looking out in her best interest. _

She shifted uncomfortably at the thought. Rika was her friend and it didn't make her feel good for her to stand against her even mentally when she never met the other woman in question.

"How are you going to go do that?" Ayaka asked before clearing her throat and lowering it a couple of octaves, clearly to imitate Henry. "Hello, my name is Henry Wong. I'm here to tell you that everything you know is a lie, Digimon is real, and I am in no way, crazy."

“Well, they say honesty is the best policy,” muttered Takato, earning him an amused look from Henry he before turned toward Ayaka.

“If this is the course we’re set on, leave the means to me,” he said. “Anyone have a better idea?”

Ayaka merely shrugged while Jeri shook her head. Rika, almost as if she remembered something funny again, burst out laughing again.

“Something to add?” Henry asked, turning to Rika.

"Just thinking about Himiko's reaction to if I told her what was actually going on," Rika responded as she staggered to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, chugging it down.

"Either way ... I don't think anybody is going to believe us. At least not without some solid evidence.

"I think it is well and good we go to this Yamaki guy for help, but-"

She shrugged as she refilled her glass, downing that as well. "Well, unless you have a plan for that as well."

“Leave that to me,” Henry said. “I don’t mean to sound like I’m being secretive, but I need some time to roll some ideas around in my head first.”

"Well you were always the smart one in the group," Rika allowed as she leaned her back against the fridge and slid to the floor, the mirth finally gone from her body only leaving emptiness.

"Kami ... what are we even doing ..."

“Going up against some digital entity trying to conquer the world?” Takato suggested, his eyebrows pressing themselves against each other in concern at Rika’s words. Getting up from his spot, he went over to her and knelt down, offering the girl a small attempt at an encouraging smile. “It seems to be the kind of thing we did on a regular basis.”

"No ... I know that ..." Rika said as she pushed her hair back with a sigh. "It's just that ..."

_ Why us? _ she thought as she pulled her legs closer. When she was a kid the thought of being special thrilled her. If she was honest, up until that scene on the beach, she was very willing to take on that role of being the 'chosen one,' like this was some sort of godforsaken story where the good guys triumphed no matter the odds.

_ If that is the case, Rika Nonaka, why haven't you remembered a thing? _

Mnemosyne's voice rung in her ears, almost as if mocking her. Her fingers clenched tighter together.

_ I'm not weak, _ she thought stubbornly.

“It’s just what?” Takato asked gently, tilting his head curiously as his worry increased. Rika looked…uncertain. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her look uncertain before. Raising one hand, he reached out to try and comfort her, only to hesitate in uncertainty himself. How would she interpret the gesture? Would she shrug him off with hostility and afterward view him in a negative light?

Quite against his will however, or perhaps out of the memories that hadn’t quite returned yet (if Mnemosyne was to be trusted), his hand finished its journey on its own and found itself atop Rika’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“We’ve got this,” he smiled, blushing while internally he was screaming at himself, his heart was demanding to know what his brain was thinking. Surely it was all over now. Any second now, Rika was going to hit him…

He didn’t let go, and instead continued to smile. “Yeah, it might look bad, but from what Henry’s said to us about our adventures means anything, we’ll get through it. We’ll do it because we have to. Because no one else can. Because…we’re Tamers. We make the impossible…possible.”

Jeri watched the exchange between the two, unable to help but feel the tiniest bit jealous. Ever since Rika came into their lives - or perhaps back was the better statement - Takato seemed to be drawn to her like a magnet.

_ Are they destined to be together? _ she couldn't help think as Rika didn't shrug Takato off or push him away. She felt like she should be surprised but-

_ She's always been very physically affectionate, _ she recalled. The girl never responded poorly to honest shows of affection before; why would she change now with Takato?

"I know," Rika whispered. "I was just thinking that stories made it look a lot easier."

She shook her head, a determined look crossing her eyes. She couldn't let herself waver or be bothered by Mnemosyne's words. She was a fighter. She was strong and would prove anyone or anything wrong who uttered otherwise.

"No. You're right. I shouldn't have wavered." She smiled at Takato. "Thanks."

“No problem,” Takato smiled, giving her hand one final squeeze before withdrawing. Blushing badly, he breathed a heavy sigh, as if releasing some of the trapped heat that was burning him up. “This is all pretty heavy for everyone. Why don’t we take a break?”

Takato suddenly gave a sharp laugh. “A break from our break that got interrupted… Never thought I’d see that one coming.”

"I good use a good drink," Ayaka sighed. "Getting plastered sounds really nice right about now."

“Unfortunately that’s probably not the best of ideas,” Henry pointed out with a chuckle. “I think the beach is out of the options for today so how about a movie?”

"As long as it isn't a horror movie," Jeri agreed, glad to take the conversation away from the depressing topic. "I think we had enough of that for one day."

"A movie sounds good," Ayaka agreed as Rika hummed a sound of agreement.


	19. Frost

The early morning sun peeked through the windows of the room the three girls shared. Birds chirped cheerfully. The early morning sun peeked through the windows of the room the three girls shared. Birds chirped cheerfully, as if death itself didn't pollute the beaches yesterday.

Violet eyes cracked open as the warm, white light brushed against her face only to be greeted with a head of brown hair which was  _ much _ too close that wasn't there yesterday.

Yelping in surprise, Rika pushed herself away from Jeri, who seemed to have gravitated toward her at some point during the night, waking the other girl in the process.

"Rika?" Jeri mumbled sleepily, now tangled in between the two futons. While Jeri might have moved closer, Rika's tendency to cuddle things - a fact she vehemently denies - had also come into play.

"I, uh, uhm," Rika stammered, completely caught off guard having someone so close to her, especially when she woke up. It was one thing to fall asleep on somebody when she got bored. It was a complete another to go to sleep by yourself and find yourself inches away from somebody you didn't expect to be there in the morning.

It didn't help matters that Rika was used to sleeping alone.

"Bathroom," she finally blurted, taking the time to abscond from the room leaving a very confused and half-asleep Jeri behind.

_ Weird, _ the brown-haired girl thought, groping tiredly for her phone to see what time it was. Her eyes squinted as 6:30 flashed back at her. With a tired grunt, her head once again hit the pillows.

_ Way too early in the morning for this, _ she thought as she closed her eyes, drifting back to sleep.

Renamon cracked an eye open as she spotted Rika entering the room. Becoming fully awake now, she raised her head and smiled softly at the girl.

“Good morning, Rika,” she greeted. “Sleep well?”

Rika looked at her partner, her face still flushed from the shock of waking up so close to Jeri, she decided to make a detour from the "bathroom" and sit next to her partner.

"OK, I guess," she mumbled, too embarrassed to recount what happened seconds ago. "How about you?"

“Well enough,” the vulpine digimon replied, rising to her feet and stretching. “It was a quiet night.  I overheard Takato yell in surprise at one point. I suspect Henry might be a bit…combative when he sleeps. It’s a good thing they weren’t in a bed, otherwise Takato would have split his head open on the floor.” Renamon paused before continuing. “Although  he does sleep on a bunk bed and I’ve never seen him fall out before.”

 

_ He’s surprisingly safe there, _ she thought with a touch of amusement. In her loneliness she would on occasion check up on each of the Tamers’ homes and see what they were up to. She got a good idea of what went on in their lives as a result. In this case, Takato’s clumsiness did not appear to translate to his bed, perhaps as a result of falling out of it in the past, necessitating some muscle memory that didn’t follow him during his daytime cycle.

 

"Hmm," Rika hummed noncommittally as she pulled her legs closer to her body, watching her partner. She took a mental note that Renamon in the past knew that Takato not only slept on a bunk bed and didn't fall off of it.

 

_ Wonder how much else she knows about us, _ she wondered as she looked at the window outside. She, surprisingly, didn't feel too bothered by the information Renamon was clearly watching them; probably because the vulpine was her partner. It was actually rather ... comforting in a way.

Resting her chin on her knees as a squirrel climbed up a nearby tree, she recalled the events of yesterday.

The heavy feeling in the air after meeting Mnemosyne and the appearance of the D-Reaper hadn't really disappeared. Plus with Henry's explanation ...

She sighed.

She was worried. Worried about Ayaka, who had no business being thrown into their world of danger but now was. Worried for Jeri, who was a victim of the D-Reaper. She could tell that Henry's explanation had been ... lacking.

_ If I just remembered... _ she thought frustrated. Mnemosyne had brought that up as well. Everybody else was remembering but her. There had to be a way ...

“Rika?” Renamon asked, tilting her head to one side. “Is something the matter?”

"I'm just worried about everyone," Rika admitted in a low undertone. "It's one thing for us to be involved; we're Tamers. Ayaka though is now thrown into danger needlessly, and Jeri ..." she sighed. "Something more than what Henry alluded to happened with Jeri and the D-Reaper. I can just  _ feel _ it."

“Perhaps,” Renamon replied, settling down next to her and draping her tail over the girl’s shoulder. A playful smile appeared on her face as she looked at her partner. “He was summarizing a considerable amount of history that we don’t have much knowledge of. It’s difficult to discuss all of it in a short amount of time. Perhaps he doesn’t fully understand what happened between them himself and didn’t want to hypothesize too much. Perhaps he didn’t want to upset Jeri as well.”

"Mn," Rika agreed as she leaned against the kitsune, closing her eyes as her head hit the soft fur. While she wasn't really tired - not anymore at any rate - she felt mentally exhausted. She knew Renamon had a point, and she didn't want to linger more on the things which happened last night this early in the morning.

_ Still ... that negative atmosphere is going to be back in this cabin once the others wake-up, _ she noted.

Renamon smiled at her partner’s contact, once again grateful for being reunited with the girl, even if she were only a ghost of the real Renamon. Her feelings were her own, and she would feel happy or sad in her stead as long as it meant Rika was happy.

“Perhaps you should do something that gets everyone’s spirits back up. This was supposed to be a vacation after all. It would be bad if it were ruined because of yesterday, when it had just started.”

"Yeah," Rika agreed as she opened her eyes again before standing up and cracking her back.

_ Well sweets usually do the trick for people, _ she mused. While she didn't have a sweet tooth that much herself - she preferred saltier things to be honest - it didn't mean she didn't enjoy eating cavity-inducing things from time to time.

_ Takato would probably know what best to buy, _ she thought.

"I'm going to get dressed. You want to come shopping with me? I'm going to get Takato up too since I figure sweet things would probably lift people's spirit and he's the best person to bring along."

“I’ll go wherever you go,” Renamon smiled, giving her a soft squeeze with her tail. “You only need to say the word, Rika.”

Rika smiled at Renamon appreciatively as her hand rested on Renamon's tail, petting it gently. She was glad to have the vulpine back in her life, even though she couldn't remember the time when she was in it previously. It felt like a part of herself had awakened again when Renamon appeared that day. Like a part of her soul returned.

"What are we waiting for then?"

“Just you,” Renamon smiled cryptically as the two of them got to their feet. “You and Takato.”

**###**

Rika snuck into the boy's room silently. While she wasn't a ninja like Renamon was, she was well versed into moving from place to place without making much of a sound. Growing up alone in a large empty house more than helped her practice such endeavors.

Both boys were sleeping soundly, although one wouldn't be doing so for long.

Reaching out, she grasped Takato's shoulder and shook him gently.

"Oi. Wake-up," she whispered.

Takato made a small moan as he rolled away from Rika’s grip, instead choosing to bury himself deeper into his blankets. Hiding his face into his pillow, he heaved a heavy sigh before settling back down, drifting back off to dreamland.

Rika growled, slightly annoyed, and decided that more drastic measures needed to be taken. Grabbing the blankets Takato wrapped himself up in, she pulled them off in one fluid motion.

Takato’s eyes shot open at the sudden onset of cold and he sat up in bewilderment, groping for the blanket and missing it by a mile. Blinking blearily, he looked around, trying to find where it went before finding Rika. Feeling suddenly self-conscious he pulled his legs up to his chest before clenching his eyes shut, ruffling his already unkempt hair.

“Wha…? Rika?! What are you…?” He shook his head, clearing out some of the cobwebs of sleep that stubbornly clung to his brain. “Dreaming. I must be dreaming or something. Yeah, that’s it…”

"You're not dreaming," Rika said bluntly in a low whisper, glancing at Henry, who despite the small racket going on, was still asleep. "Get up and get dressed. We're going shopping."

“What? Why?” Takato asked, looking around for a clock. “What _ time  _ is it?”

"About 7 a.m., give or take," Rika answered simply.

“Rika, why are you up at 7 and why are you waking me up? It’s way too early for this kind of stuff.”

Takato took hold of one corner of the blanket Rika had torn off him and tugged on it, attempting to wrap himself back up in it before it lost whatever was left of its cozy embrace.

"Because we're going  _ shopping," _ Rika reiterated as she pulled the blanket out of Takato's reach. She didn't understand what was so hard to understand about the simple statement. "I said that already."

“Yeah, I’m still waiting for the part of that which makes sense so I know for sure I’m not dreaming,” Takato pouted. “You’re taking  _ me _ shopping. That sounds more like something you’d do with Henry or Jeri since you’re kind of closer to them.”

He heard shifting behind him and Henry let out a small snore, causing the boy to frown and wonder how the heck he was sleeping through all of this.

Rika tilted her head a bit confused at that. While, yes, she was closer to Henry than anybody else in the cabin - save Renamon - she felt that she was rather close to Takato.

_ Just because I go to school with Jeri doesn't mean I'm closer to her ... does it? _ she wondered confused. She did like Jeri quite a bit, yes, but it wasn't like she liked Takato any less. If anything, she was quite fond of them about the same.

"Idiot, I'm close to you too," Rika said finally, deciding to think about it later. "Also I'm getting you because I think it would be good for us to have some sweet things, and I don't know what I'm doing otherwise. Plus, you're sort of the expert."

“Oh,” Takato said, relaxing a little and smiling now. “That makes sense.” Looking a bit embarrassed now, he rubbed the back of his head and glanced regretfully at the clock. “Still early though. I mean, not that I’m not used to that sort of thing. We get up early at the bakery all the time, it’s just…”

Realizing he was rambling, Takato turned a quirky smile toward Rika. “You know what? Never mind. I’ll come. I just…uh…need to change.”

"Right," Rika said, not quite sure what was going on in Takato's head as she dropped the blanket and walked back toward the door, before pausing in the doorway. "If you're not out in 15 minutes, I'm coming back in and dragging you out."

“Uh…Okay?” Takato replied with a raised eyebrow, wondering why she was bothering to make threats. If he said he was going with her, he was going with her. “Um… You know I can’t change if you’re still in here, right?”

Rika looked at him blankly before quickly leaving and shutting the door behind her.

Unknown to both of them, in his bed, Henry had to stifle laughter from the exchange.

He wanted to tell Takato that he was doing himself a disservice - besides Renamon, Rika had always been closest to Takato. However, he doubted the boy would believe him.

_ Well, he'll learn, _ he thought amused.  _... I hope they bring something good back. _

“I don’t get girls…” Takato muttered under his breath as he immediately began to sort through his clothes for something to wear.

**###**

Takato exited his room and closed the door with a gentle click so as to not disturb Henry. Smoothing his hair down, he quickly found Rika waiting for him just outside, Renamon by her side. Checking the time, he groaned, realizing that she probably wasn’t going to give him the time to tame his hair.

_ Oh well. I can do that later. Hope Rika doesn’t mind me looking like a mess. _ Opening the door, he stepped outside. “S-Sorry if I kept you waiting. I’m on time at least…for once.”

"For once," Rika said with a slight smirk before raising her eyebrow at Takato's mess of a hair. While she really didn't care much about personal appearance, she did tend to like to look good when she was out in public. It wasn't like she really cared that Takato looked disheveled. It was just ....

Reaching out, she attempted to pat the soft brown locks down for him only for it to spring back up the second she removed her hand.

She then decided it wasn't worth the trouble and turned around.

"Let's go then."

“So where are we going?” Takato asked as they started down the path toward the town.

“Rika has expressed a desire to purchase something sweet,” Renamon supplied, striding next to the pair. “She believes it would improve everyone’s spirits.”

“Well, she’s not wrong,” Takato smiled, thinking back on all the pastries sold to various customers over the years seeking solace from whatever stress was going on in their lives. The bakery had a reputation for being the sort of place that removed dark clouds, even if a person didn’t purchase anything. “That’s a pretty good idea actually.”

"Renamon put the idea in my head," Rika admitted. While she was more than glad to take credit, she also was a big believer in giving credit where credit was due. "I'm not sure though what we should get. What do you think?"

“Hmmm…” Takato tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “It’ll probably be better if it’s something we make ourselves, but that’s just a personal preference. I think it just means more when put a little of your heart into something rather than just purchase whatever in the store. Cakes and brownies are the easiest to get ingredients for.”

"Let's get a cake then," Rika decided. She enjoyed both, but to her, cakes felt more ... celebratory then brownies did. While there was nothing really to celebrate, she was hoping they would be better to bring back positive vibes to the cabin and the group.

“All right,” Takato beamed. “What kind of flavor do you think we should get? Chocolate? Vanilla?” A thought occurred to him and he looked over at Renamon. “Um… You can eat chocolate right? I know you’re a digimon, but you’re also based on a fox, which is…kind of a dog? Chocolate is bad for them.”

“Rest assured I can eat chocolate just fine,” Renamon smiled, swiping her tail in his direction in amusement at his concern.

"Renamon is more like a cat than a dog if we're making those comparisons," Rika said as she glanced at her partner, smirking slightly. "Although at the end of the day, she's definitely a kitsune."

“No question about that,” Takato said as they began to enter the town. “Anyway, so the grocery store is…um… Which way again?”

 

“This way,” Renamon pointed marching ahead toward the small mart and stepping inside. The doors swung open and she chuckled in amusement, wondering if the occupants within were wondering why the automatic doors were acting so odd – activating over nothing.

She took her small bits of entertainment where she could.

_ Case in point, _ Rika couldn't help but think as she rolled her eyes amused at her partner's shenanigans.

After all, kitsune were notorious tricksters, and while Renamon was never malicious, there was always a spark of mischief in her.

"So ... what do we need to get?" she asked looking around. She didn't go shopping often - mostly to pick up things at the convenience store for her grandmother. As a result, she had no idea where to begin.

Chuckling lightly, Takato grabbed a shopping cart. “Just leave it all to me,” he said, already scanning the aisles for the desired ingredients. Renamon glanced at Rika.

“Do we leave him be, or…?”

"Maybe we can find some other things while he's getting what we need," Rika suggested, already catching sight of some sparklers for sale.

She always liked fireworks.

**###**

 

It didn’t take Takato long to round up the list of supplies they needed to bake a cake, and soon enough he was hunting Rika down, browsing through each aisle in rapid succession before finally finding her perusing through the sparklers.

“Somebody’s got plans,” he grinned, wheeling over to her.

 

“Fireworks are fun,” she said as she held up two boxes for him to look at. “You think these will be enough? I couldn’t find any bottle rockets.”

 

“Are these going to be safe?” Takato asked, looking the boxes over. “My mom never let me use fireworks or anything.”

 

“As long as you don’t put your face next to the fire part, you should be fine,” Rika said as she turned her attention back toward them. “Mainly we have to worry about accidentally starting a fire, and if we put the dead ones into a bucket of water, it should be fine.” 

 

“Well that’s good,” Takato smiled, handing back the boxes. “Are we all set or do you want to keep looking?”

 

“I think we’re all set,” she said as she tossed the fireworks into the cart. “Let’s go check out and head back to the cabin.”

 

“All right,” Takato nodded, wheeling his cart around and heading toward the nearest checkout aisle that was close to being empty. It didn’t take them long to check out and pay for their purchases. Takato winced a little at the thought of racking up more debt to his friend

 

“Are you sure your family won’t mind spending so much stuff on us?” he asked nervously. Ice cream, cake mix and movies weren’t expensive, but it seemed to him - via the lens of his lower class status - that they were spending an awful lot of money. He knew his parents would object if he used this much for what they would consider ‘frivolous activities.’

 

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Rika said as she walked beside him. “It’s probably one of the few benefits of coming from a well-to-do family.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Beside, my mom and grandma were thrilled to death when I told them I was going out on vacation with you guys. Some food and fireworks isn’t exactly a dent in my family’s wallet.”

 

“That’s good,” Takato replied, though he still didn’t feel very comforted by that. “I just don’t like the idea of wasting food and money in case I mess it up. I’ve never done this before after all.”

 

“Takato you could botch the recipe and  _ still _ make it taste good,” Rika snorted amused. “Relax. You’ll be fine.”

 

Takato’s fingers fidgeted with the bag, uncertain as to what he did to earn such confidence. Still, Rika wasn’t demanding the impossible. True, he hadn’t baked a cake himself before, especially not from scratch, but it wasn’t outside his capabilities.

 

Could he do it? He was a bit certain on that score. 

 

_ I'll have to try,  _ he thought. _ I've still got to pay my debt off so I can't exactly say 'no'. _

 

“I’ll give you my best,” he said finally. “That’s about all I can do.” He suddenly barked a nervous laugh. “I guess as long as I make it with love, it should be all right.”

 

“Oh jeez, has Jeri rubbed off on you?” Rika asked as she sighed finding the saying a bit childish. “Honestly that sounds so  _ corny _ .” She peeked at Takato. “Well, whatever I guess. You two are dorks, but that’s what I like about you.”

 

“Well, it’s not exactly Jeri rubbing off on me,” Takato clarified, a little embarrassed by Rika’s admission. “It’s more something my mom always used to tell me about how when you make something yourself, you’re more invested in it. Which is kind of like what Jeri says in a way, only, you know, with a lot less of the romance stuff.”

 

“That makes sense,” Rika nodded her head. She always enjoyed her grandmother’s meals, and even mother managed not to botch up cooking, surprisingly enough. While she didn’t mind food from restaurants, home cooked meals were always the best.

 

Takato cocked an eyebrow at Rika as a thought occurred to him. “Hey, if you find what Jeri says so corny, than how come you bought that film you were talking about, ‘Titanic’?” He remembered the cover of the disc case which, as far as he was concerned, told him everything he needed to know about the plotline. “It kind of sounds like the sort of ‘corny’ stuff you were being...ah...grumpy about.”

 

Rika’s answer was an impish smirk and a wink, followed by a, “You’ll see” before she proceeded to cackle gleefully.

 

“I swear, every time you do that I get a chill running down my spine,” Takato blanched, suddenly becoming  _ very _ worried about whatever it was the girl had in mind for him.

 

“I wouldn’t know why,” Rika smirked at him.

 

“Rika, that has got to be the worst poker face I’ve ever seen from you, and the worst part about it is I know you’re doing it on purpose,” Takato said in a deadpan voice. In the short while he had known her, there was one thing that stood out immediately. She rarely did anything that wasn’t deliberate or calculated.

 

_ Except when she’s being casual and right now she’s...not.  _ He shivered.  _ It’s like I’m a mouse caught by a cat… _

 

“So you  _ are _ learning,” Rika chuckled as she winked at him. “Don’t worry it won’t be  _ too _ embarrassing for you. Probably.”

 

“Learning is painful,” Takato sighed, shaking his head at what was decidedly an inevitably embarrassing moment in his future. Still, as they drew near to the cabin, he felt that it was a far better fate to be concerned about than what else undoubtedly awaited them.

 

Looking out over the beach, he thought of yesterday and his expression softened. 

 

_ All those bodies… Echoes of people who died… They...could be us someday,  _ he thought with quiet realization. His eyes widened slightly as a seed of fear took root and sprouted in his heart.  _ Oh man… What if that Mnemosyne guy did something to the others while we were gone? What if… _

 

He tightened his grip on his bags.  _ No… He said he wouldn’t do anything for now. He’d...keep his word...right? _

 

Takato clung to that belief - however ill-founded it was - like a life preserver. For the moment, until he and Rika entered the cabin, it was the only thing keeping him from going crazy.

 

**###**

 

Henry was drinking some tea when Takato, Rika and Renamon came tramping back to the cabin. It was shortly before noon, and the remaining teenagers had taken turns in the bath that morning, Jeri getting out last. The hair dryer had just turned off moments before the door creaked open and was walking back into the kitchen just as they walked through the door.

 

“Where were you guys?” Jeri asked, raising an eyebrow when she saw the plastic bags - one of which was floating, which had to have been Renamon - the three were carrying. “Also what do you have there?”

 

“All kinds of things,” Takato smiled, glad to see that everyone was all right. He had been a bit concerned about whether or not Mnemosyne would do anything to them while they were out. “Cake stuff and ice cream. We also hit up a video store for something new to watch. It was all Rika’s idea. She dragged me out of bed wanting to get something that would take the sting out of yesterday.”

 

“I wouldn’t say it was  _ all _ my idea,” Rika said as she put the bags on the table, taking the ingredients out, momentarily inspecting some of the ingredients before shrugging and moving on. “Renamon gave me the idea.”

 

“Oho, did you two have a nice date then?” Jeri grinned as she wandered over to see what exactly they bought. Picking up some of the stuff Rika laid out on the table, she watched out of the corner of her eye for the two’s reaction.

 

“It wasn’t a date,” Takato blushed lightly, setting his bags on the table as well. “Rika just needed me to help her get the right ingredients for the cake, that’s all.”

 

Ayaka glanced back and forth between the trio with an amused look on her face. Jeri’s obsession with romance had her jumping at everything that went on between two people and assuming there was love in the air.

 

“Also I wouldn’t call shopping a date,” Rika said as she scrunched her nose in distaste. She never understood her mother’s passion for it, nor for her desire to relax after shopping with  _ more _ shopping. “So much as a necessary evil.”   
  
Jeri puffed her cheeks out, slightly out-put, but upon noticing the sparklers, quickly forgot about all thoughts of romance as she pulled out the fireworks. 

 

“Oh! Senko hanabi,” she chirped happily, turning it over excitedly. “Last time I played with one of these, I was a kid.” 

 

She could remember it like it was yesterday. It was a festival - she couldn’t remember which one - and she was dressed in a yuka. Mama had bought them …

 

_ That’s right…  _ she remembered, her smile turning slightly melancholy as her hand itched to go toward her wrist as she put the boxes down.  _ Last time I played with one of these, mama was still alive. _

 

“You all played with them more recently,” Renamon said, setting her bag down. “Before one of your mind wipes.”

 

“Renamon just said that you used them not too long ago,” Takato said. “Mnemosyne made you forget though.”

 

“Really?” Jeri asked, latching on to that instead of remembering the painful things of the past. Reaching into the bookcase of her brain, she quickly flipped through the alphabetized memories and came across the one she believed Renamon was referring to.

 

It was a spring festival, a couple years ago before they entered high school. The group was much larger at the time, and although Ayaka wasn’t with them, Kazu and Kenta were, as well as Henry’s younger sister. The girls - and Henry - had been wearing yukas, as they sat at the edge of street lining the festival, playing with the fireworks.

 

“That’s right…” Jeri murmured. “We did.”

 

“It was one of the more peaceful moments,” Henry agreed, remembering the incident as well with a slight smile. 

 

“If by peaceful,” began Renamon with a touch of amusement, “you mean how Kazu and Suzie insisted on setting Takato and Rika up.”

 

“What do you mean Kazu and Suzie tried to set Takato and I up?” Rika demanded as Jeri’s interest immediately perked up again. 

 

“You know...set up.” Henry smirked at her knowingly. “At any rate, you didn’t end up punching anybody, so that was a nice surprise,” Henry added with a slight chuckle, remembering it wasn’t from a lack of trying. Takato had been so oblivious, although became increasingly flustered as the night wore on while Rika got increasingly annoyed with their shenanigans. 

 

“I’m surprised she wouldn’t have,” Takato laughed. “Kazu’s pretty bad with pranks and they made Ayaka punch him on more than one occasion.”

 

“I don’t think that’s what they meant,  _ Gogglehead,” _ Ayaka grinned, causing the teen to raise an eyebrow.

 

“What did they mean then?” he asked, tilting his head to one side.

 

While Jeri wasn’t the most comfortable with the others speaking about her boyfriend - especially with only Ayaka knowing that she was dating the boy - she kept it to herself. It wasn’t like they were bashing him; merely remembering things of the past. Still, it felt  _ odd  _ to her in the past Kazu (along with Suzie) tried to set up Takato with Rika. While the two always seemed to have a strange sort of magnetism in the books of her memory, it was still hard to separate at times they were different realities.

 

“It means you two would make a good couple,” she sang instead, wrapping an arm around Takato and Rika each, grinning at both of them. Rika gave her a deadpan look, almost as if she weren’t exactly amused with Jeri’s statement as she shrugged off the girl’s arm. 

 

“Y-You’re pretty fun…ny...” Takato began, his face flushing, but one look at Rika’s deadpan face. His quirky, embarrassed smile slipping, he untangled himself from Jeri’s grasp and ducked around the kitchen counter. 

 

“I’ve got to get started on the cake,” he mumbled uneasily. “It’s not exactly going to cook itself you know. I’ve never made Poke cake before, so I need all the time I can get to make it right.”

 

“Poke cake?” Rika asked, confused as she wandered over to the kitchen, unsure how to take Takato’s sudden change in demeanor as she looked at the recipe. Recognizing it from watching her grandmother bake it for her whenever she visited for her birthday, her eyes light up. “Oh! Pope cake!”

 

Takato raised an eyebrow at her. “Uh… No, it’s Poke cake.”

 

“He’s right,” Ayaka said, an eyebrow arching as well at Takato’s sudden change. “My aunt used to bring some home before she moved overseas. Why do you call it… What was it?  _ Pope _ cake?”

 

“Because that’s what my grandma calls it,” Rika said frowning, crossing her arms. “She’s from America, so-”   
  
“I thought your grandmother was from Japan,” Jeri butted in confused causing Rika to glance at her, eyebrow raising before remembering she never talked about her  _ other _ side of the family before. 

 

“My paternal grandmother,” she corrected herself. “Anyway, I think she would know how to pronounce it correctly.”

 

“Well, she’s wrong,” Takato said, showing her the recipe. “We sell some of these at the bakery. A family friend let’s us stock some from their business. It’s definitely Poke cake.”

 

“Let me see that,” Rika said, grabbing the recipe, her violet eyes crawling over the paper as a small frown crossed her lips. Finally she put it down and took out her cell phone. “... I’ll be right back. I need to make a phone call,” she said as she walked outside. 

 

“Well that was anticlimactic,” Ayaka noted, watching the girl leave. “I kind of expected her to dig in and argue about it.”

 

Seconds later Rika’s voice could be heard from inside the cabin.

 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS POKE CAKE?!”

 

“Aaand there we go,” Ayaka chuckled before raising a hand to her mouth. “TALK LOUDER RIKA! I DON’T THINK THEY HEARD YOU IN EUROPE!”

 

“SHUT UP!” Rika yelled back, as Jeri and Henry grinned, Rika going back to her phone call, and if they were close enough to the red-head girl, they could hear hysterical laughing coming from the other end of the phone line. 

 

“Does she have to yell like that?” Takato asked, looking at the door in concern. “It’s not like it’s that big of a deal.”

 

“Ahhh… She’s just mad because she has to admit she was wrong about something,” Ayaka snorted. “Seems to be that sort of person.”

 

“Hmmm…” Takato shook his head and began to assemble the ingredients in the order he intended to work in. Getting out a pan, he brought out the eggs. “I guess I can see that. I don’t know.”

 

Rika slunk back into the cabin, her face bright red from embarrassment, as she clicked her phone closed.

 

“My grandparents say ‘hi,’” she mumbled as she desperately tried to pretend like that entire exchange didn’t happen. 

 

“That was one very loud and very long ‘hi’,” Ayaka observed. “You kiss your mom with that mouth?”

 

“Ayaka, Rika didn’t swear…” Takato interceded, hesitating with the egg before cracking it open on the rim of the bowl and dunking the yolk inside.

 

“So you’ll have to tell us if Takato’s ‘pope cake’ is as good as your grandparents,” Henry grinned, causing Rika to glare at him, promising him death if he uttered another word. Henry, instead, laughed.

 

“I’m going outside,” Rika huffed childishly before looking over to her partner. “Renamon?”

 

Renamon nodded and phased out of view at her request. Takato shook his head at Henry.

 

“No way I’ll make anything better than her grandparents,” he said to the half-Chinese Tamer. “Like I said, this is my first time making it. I mean, I’m familiar with the recipe, but knowing a recipe and making one are two different things.”

 

“Anything you make will be good,” Rika said as she walked outside, holding the door open as she looked at them. “Someone come get me when food is ready,” she declared as she shut the door. 

 

Takato had just been cracking open an egg at Rika’s compliment. At it, his hand slipped, causing the yolk to spill out and land directly on his shoes.

 

“Ahhh… man~!” he groaned, rolling his eyes. Slipping out of the shoe so as to not track egg yolk all over the floor, he immediately went over to grab a towel. Giggling, Ayaka looked over at the closed door.

 

“You want us to tell you when Takato screws up too?” she laughed.

 

Jeri quickly got up to help him, but not before she glanced at the door half expecting Rika to barge back in. However, it seemed the red-haired girl was gone to who knows where to sulk, and so the brunette wet a paper towel before helping to wipe up the floor.

 

“Thanks Jeri,” Takato smiled at her as he cleaned off his shoes.

 

“Anytime,” she smiled back as she threw the dirty towel into the trash.

 

_ It feels like things are getting back to normal between us,  _ she mused. While it was in part her own fault things were so awkward over the course of the month or so, it wasn’t like she enjoyed the negative feelings she harbored toward Takato, no matter how justified she felt. While she still had feelings for him, she was with Kazu now, and there was no use crying over spilled milk. 

 

In some ways, it actually was easier to talk with Takato now that she didn’t feel the need to attract his attention with constant failed flirting. 

 

**###**

 

Renamon padded after Rika, a bit concerned about her Tamer’s sudden and abrupt departure from the others, as well as her unexpected silence since leaving the cabin. It wasn’t as though she could never be quiet. Far from it, but there were times where silence hung heavy around her like a curtain, making Renamon a touch wary about provoking her.

 

However, she felt the need to do so...at least a little bit.

 

“Rika,” she began carefully, a small, barely perceptible grin on her muzzle. “I see that there was finally something you didn’t know.” She shook her head. “I’m starting to wonder if this is all just a dream.”

 

“Oh come on, don’t you start too,” Rika complained, her face flushing in embarrassment again. She never felt so stupid before - how could she mix up the name that badly? And for years too! She always wondered why it was named after the pontiff, but she never questioned it, figuring it was some crazy American thing. 

 

“My apologies,” Renamon said, though her small grin remained. “I won’t bring it up again if it troubles you so… Even though it’s just a cake name.”

 

“Doubt you are very sorry,” Rika mumbled, but all the same she gently hit her partner with her shoulder to let her know she wasn’t upset at her - not really. 

 

“Perhaps, but perhaps not. However I sense that’s not what truly troubles you at the moment.” 

 

Renamon’s tail slashed through the air slightly as she continued. “What’s on your mind, Rika? You seem troubled about something.”

 

“Between you and Henry, I must seem like an open book,” Rika noted dryly as she stopped far enough away from the cabin that they were well out of earshot of the others, but close enough they could be found, before sitting on a log. Gesturing for Renamon to sit next to her, she continued. “I’ve sort have been thinking … you managed to get Jeri’s memories back with hypnotism, right? Can you do the same for me?”

 

“I’m having doubts about the use of my abilities to awaken your memories,” Renamon frowned. “I’m...not sure what happened with Jeri except that it awakened  _ something _ inside her, which you’ve seen twice now. I recall both events were...distressing.”

 

She didn’t mention that it had been stressful for Takato as well, though for entirely different reasons than attempting to bring out memories, but instead to see Mnemosyne.  _ I’m currently batting 3 for zero, _ she thought to herself.

 

“Well as far as I know, I wasn’t kidnapped by the D-Reaper,” Rika pointed out before she threaded her fingers together and frowned. “Mnemosyne was right when it said I haven’t remembered anything. All I recall is things I experienced when diving into echoes, and even those don’t feel like my memories. It’s like … they were someone else. Some other Rika.

 

“And it’s a bit … disconcerting to me that I’m the only one.” She paused and looked at Renamon in the eyes. “It called me a coward, Renamon. It didn’t use those words but … the implication was there. I could  _ feel _ it.”

 

And to Rika that was the worst part. Because it was one thing to be wrong. It was another thing for her bravery to be called into question. She didn’t run from anything, yet … yet …

 

_ I totally am _ , she grimaced. It was a hard pill to swallow, but if she was going to hinder herself, however subconsciously, well she would just need to take a different route to prove it - and herself - wrong.

 

“Again Rika, I would like to point out my concern for using this technique. I’m not certain that I’m skilled enough to awaken your memories. What I  _ do _ know is that it’s better to not force anything.” 

 

Reaching out, she placed a hand on Rika’s shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. “But...if this is what you feel is right… If it’s what you  _ want…” _

 

Rika turned and smiled at Renamon, moving closer to hug her partner.

 

“I trust in you,” she told her. “Believe in you. You are right in some things shouldn’t be forced … but … I know when it comes to myself, I sometimes need a kick in the butt.”

 

Renamon reluctantly nodded to her partner. “Very well,” she said, taking hold of Rika’s other shoulder and pulling her back so that they were now looking at each other in the eyes. “All you have to do is to not break eye contact and...relax. I should warn you though. It can be a bit...disorienting.”

 

“OK,” Rika said as she took a breath and forced herself to relax as she stared into Renamon’s bright blue eyes. She wasn’t worried - at least not about being hypnotized by Renamon. After all, no matter what happened, she knew Renamon would always protect her. 

 

Renamon nodded, not saying a word. They sat like that in silence for a moment before the kitsune’s eyes glowed ever so slightly. Rika’s eyes glazed over as her shoulders slumped and suddenly Renamon found herself standing on the shores of a lake.

 

It was large and nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains all around, although it seemed there was some well-worn paths to the interior. The lake itself seemed to be frozen solid, although as Renamon watched, an occasional bubble seemed to pass through the layer of ice and waft lazily upwards. Stepping lightly on the ice to test if it would hold her weight, it seemed Renamon didn’t need to worry as the ice itself was a few inches thick. Interestingly enough though, it was crystal clear and Renamon was able to see to the very bottom.

 

Walking further out on the lake, the kitsune paused when another bubble drifted lazily upwards. However, upon closer inspection, inside the bubble showed a woman with long orange hair - the exact same hue as Rika’s - with a warm smile and blue eyes holding out what appeared to be a piece of cake.

 

“Her paternal grandmother,” Renamon mused, kneeling down to get a better view of the image. Placing a paw on the surface of the, she wiped it down to clear it of some of the frost. The ice was so smooth… Almost like a mirror or a window.

 

_ Should I break this? _ she wondered.  _ Is this what’s sealing Rika’s memories? _

 

Her paw shook briefly before she willed it still. No. There was no need to act yet. She needed more information first.

 

_ Curious that I appear to have been brought here, _ she thought, getting back up.  _ I didn’t have anything like this when I hypnotized Takato and Jeri. I don’t even have a link with Rika that would explain this. _

 

The bubble continued to drift upward and through the ice as two small hands reached out and took the cake. Little fingers fumbled with the fork as the view shifted to the table, bouncing as Rika - for who else could it be - ran to sit down.

 

However, it seemed not all bubbles seemed to get through the ice. In fact, most didn’t. 

 

Another nearby bubble was a different memory - one from six years ago. It was one Renamon remembered, as she could see herself inside lying injured on the ground after taking Dokugumon’s attack to save her partner. It seemed as if this one was through some sort of watery filter. 

 

Renamon both shuddered and felt a touch of pride at the memory. It had been a time when Rika had broken past her barriers to show how much she cared for her partner. It had been a rocky start, and their partnership suffered some rocky roads ahead, but that night had been the first step.

 

So why did Rika hide it?

 

_ Perhaps I should destroy all of this, _ she thought.  _ Break the ice once and for all… _

 

She still worried though. Was that right? Could she be doing damage to Rika by doing just that? She wasn’t sure. She did know however that the ice appeared to function in the role of a barrier, preventing Rika from properly remembering. 

 

_ If not destroy than...perhaps a hole in the ice? _

 

That sounded about right. Placing her hand against the ice, she tested it. It didn’t flex. More force would be necessary. Renamon frowned at the thought.

 

_ “Power Paw,” _ she intoned, and blue flame leapt about her hand. Pressing it against the ice, steam began to rise, but the ice did not so much as melt against her attack. It seemed the ice, for all intents and purposes, was another barrier Rika had put up to protect herself.

 

Like all barriers with the girl, it would not be one to come down easily. 

 

Frowning slightly, Renamon lifted her paw up as she looked around. While the ice here did not so much as melt, it could be weaker that deeper she went in. Walking across the ice, the lake itself seemed to get deeper and the bubbles more plentiful. Some were from scenes from her future - Rika’s past - and others were memories she had seen from watching Rika these past three years.

 

However, suddenly pausing, she noticed something else in the lake which wasn’t a bubble.

 

Floating in the water, almost as if she were sleeping, was Rika. She looked how she was when she was 10, except instead of a broken-heart t-shirt, she was wearing one which was completed.

 

_ “Rika?!” _ Renamon exclaimed, dropping back down to one knee and wiping at its surface again so as to make sure she hadn’t imagined it. She hadn’t seen Rika like this before. The full heart on her shirt felt important, and the look on her face…

 

If Rika was into princess movies at all, she no doubt would liken it to Sleeping Beauty. No scowl. No smile. Just … peaceful. 

 

However, as Renamon called her name, Rika’s eyes squeezed together before opening them. Upon seeing Renamon, her violet eyes widened, her hand reaching out before she coughed and air bubbles escaped her lips.

 

And suddenly Renamon was no longer in that landscape and was back into the forest, Rika coughing and holding her throat as if she almost drowned herself. 

 

Renamon shook her head, feeling dazed by the experience, before taking hold of her partner by the shoulder. 

 

“Rika? Are you all right?”

 

"Yeah..." Rika said as she massaged her throat. Furrowing her brow in confusion, she looked up at Renamon. "What happened?"

 

“I was wondering if you could tell me,” the vulpine digimon asked. “That was...unexpected. Do you remember anything?”

 

"No..." Rika replied frowning. She didn't understand. It should have  _ worked. _ "The last thing I remember was your eyes … and then, I felt like I was  _ drowning." _

 

The sensation was odd. She knew how to swim. While she wasn't going to join the swim team anytime soon, she was no slouch either. She never came close to drowning in her entire life, so where did the sensation come from?

 

“Strange…” Renamon murmured, brushing a claw across Rika’s bangs to clear her eyes. “I didn’t encounter anything like this when I used it on Takato and Jeri… We should end things here tonight. I’m not sure what more can be done and I don’t want to hurt you by accident.”

 

"What?" Rika asked surprised, her eyebrows shooting up. She didn't want to give up just yet. "Let's try one more time."

 

"Try what?" Rika turned her head to see Jeri looking at her curiously. She had come out to let Rika know the cake was ready, but as she approached, Rika had been acting  _ weird. _

 

"Uhm, nothing," Rika said, flushing embarrassed. She didn't want to tell Jeri, or anyone really, what she was up to. At least not until she succeeded.

 

"Well the cake is ready," she said, looking suspicious. "You sure you OK?"

 

Rika nodded her head and stood up. 

 

Renamon got up and brushed the sand out of her fur, azure eyes watching Jeri as she turned back toward the house. For an instant, it seemed as though their eyes met, but Renamon knew that couldn’t be the case as the girl couldn’t see her. Shrugging the notion off, she turned back toward her partner. Reaching out, she placed a paw on her shoulder.

 

“Rika,” she began in a warning tone. “I know that you want to regain your memories, but what happened in your mind… I have no idea what happened or what it’s about. If we rush things, we could end up making things  _ worse _ for you. I will  _ not _ allow that. Not until we have a better idea about what Mnemosyne did to you and the others.”

 

Rika sighed as she followed Jeri, who kept looking behind her to make sure that the two were following. She knew Renamon had a point, but still she wanted answers now.

 

"Alright," she agreed in a low murmur. There wasn't anything she could do without Renamon anyway, and it wasn't like she hadn't been getting anywhere, memories or no. "You know probably better than me." She looked up at Renamon. "You said you didn't encounter the same thing as Jeri or Takato. What  _ did  _ you encounter?"

 

Renamon’s azure eyes met Rika’s. “Ice,” she said. “Ice over a lake, and you were inside of it.”


	20. The Hand of God

Once, in the past that now felt like a lifetime ago, Renamon had told Rika – her partner of many months before being snatched away from her – that digimon did not have parents. They were not ‘born’ in the traditional sense as they were amongst Earth life. An egg appeared, it hatched, and the life cycle began. Throughout all of its days, the digimon would know no friends, few allies, and the concept of ‘family’ was completely alien.

 

Times change.

 

“I keep telling you I didn’t _do_ anything!” snapped a pink-ball with long ears and a wide mouth – a Koromon.

 

“But you _did!”_ shouted back a Motimon, a bald, bubble-gum-like creature with little…something’s for legs (Renamon was never sure what they were save that they resembled the edge of a dress). A large vein stood out prominently on his forehead. Renamon narrowed her eyes at the pair.

 

“That is quite enough out of the both of you,” Renamon said, her tone firm, but not quite rising to a harsh level yet. The two In-Training digimon ceased their squabble long enough to look first at her and then at each other. ‘Momma-Renamon’ was speaking, and she would brook no backtalk regardless of how they felt.

 

“Now, I was not here, so I don’t know which of you started this… _trouble,”_ she continued, emphasizing the last word as it hardly did justice to what went on between them, “but it ends here. _Now._ Is that _clear?”_

 

The two digimon exchanged looks again before nodding under Renamon’s withering stare.

 

“Yeah…” Koromon said reluctantly. “Sorry.” And thus began the tradition of making up. Shaking hands – or in this case an ear and a roundish-mitt – apologizing and moving on. No doubt they would hold a grudge, but Renamon wasn’t quite sure what to do about that for the moment. She needed time to think about it, or to have one of the other, gentler souls handle them.

 

 _I don’t know how Rika’s mother managed,_ she thought as the two In-Training went their separate ways, giving each other ugly glares. She sighed, deciding to search out Calumon. He always had the best luck, though Guilmon tended to be a bit wiser than he.

 

_I need a better idea how to handle children…_

 

Now _there_ was a thought that never occurred to her. She was a warrior. Raising new digimon never occurred to her.

 

Yet it did for Calumon. A simple enough idea to help make the digital world a better place.

 

_Now here we are, years after creating the digital world’s first actual ‘Village of Beginnings’. How strange the destinies we choose for ourselves sometimes…_

 

The In-Training digimon had seen what had happened from his “hiding” spot in a tree in the center of the small village. When they had first started it years ago, it had been a small little sapling, but over time it grew quickly to provide shade and cover for a good portion of their new home.

 

While he was in the middle of a game of hide-and-go seek as they hadn’t found him yet - he was the best hider after all - Calumon didn’t feel too worried that they would find him anytime in the near future. Ears expanding, he jumped out of the tree, gliding down to rest on Renamon’s head. As usual, his landing was perfect.

 

“They’re so silly,” Calumon giggled. “Why fight when you can _play_?”

 

“Feelings of anger don’t belong in play,” Renamon pointed out, smiling at Calumon’s innocence. It could be annoying sometimes, but in the harshness of the digital world it was more often than not a breath of fresh air. The dream - the _goal -_ of a better tomorrow in the digital world, where digimon didn’t always have to fight and kill each other, was one that kept Renamon’s spirits up.

 

Rika would have wanted it that way. Nonetheless, there was reality to consider, and part of reality was the emotional weather other digimon brought into their daily lives.

 

“I’m not sure Koromon and Motimon are ever going to get along,” she said, crossing her arms. “This is the fifth time in the past thirty day cycles that they have fought. I’m reasonably sure that playing together isn’t in their future.”

 

 _If it ever was,_ she thought to herself.

 

Calumon’s ears shrunk for a moment, a bit sad at the thought that the two In-Trainings couldn’t get along. However, it didn’t last long as they expanded again as yet _another_ brilliant idea came to mind. In fact it was his most brilliant one yet, and Calumon had a _lot_ of brilliant ideas, if he did say so himself.

 

“Cream puffs!” he declared. “Nobody can be mad or sad when eating cream puffs! It’s _impossible_.”

 

“None of which we have here,” Renamon said flatly.

 

“We’ll just make some!” Calumon declared, undeterred.

 

Renamon could only shake her head, suddenly feeling very foolish for expecting some kind of wisdom from Calumon to depart on her for dealing with the In-Trainings. The Fresh levels were easier to deal with, but the In-Trainings had wild emotions at times, a consequence of their level opening up a broad range of feelings for them. She wondered if they needed to emphasize self-control at an earlier age...start teaching them sooner.

 

 _Perhaps that Togemon who passed through a few weeks ago had the right idea…_ she mused.

 

“In either case, if you could find some way to smooth things over…” she said to Calumon.

 

Calumon had giggled, holding on to her head when she moved it, finding the motion funny. Upon her request, he let go and flipped off her head, landing on the ground in front of her.

 

“Of course!” he chirped before looking around, suddenly remembering he was in a game. “But you can’t tell Terriermon where I am.” He lowered his voice in a hushed whisper. “He’s it.”

 

“I won’t,” Renamon replied, smiling softly as the tiny digimon giggled conspiratorially at her. No, she wouldn’t tell Terriermon. Considering all his pranks and the bad examples he set for the children, he deserved all the minor karma that came his way.

 

Looking skyward, where the globe of the Earth’s information network hung, transmitting pink Data Streams across the landscape, she wondered - and not for the first time, nor would it be the last - how her partner was getting along without her.

 

**###**

 

Standing on top of the hill overlooking the “Village of Beginnings” as it had become known in the Digital World, obsidian eyes watched the Digimon saviors of not only the human world but the digital world raise and take care of the new generation of Digimon which would live in this world. It was an admirable goal, and one Mnemosyne supported wholeheartedly.

 

Smiling slightly as Terriermon - who had found Guilmon early in what appeared to be a game of hide-and-go-seek - seemed to be convincing the dinosaur Digimon to use his keen sense of smell to find the other participants. It was this sort of light-hearted behavior it had hoped to see from the humans. However, when it found them all those years ago they were not only in trouble, but still in pain.

 

Now things were just getting worse and worse, spiraling more and more out of control.

 

The smile slipped off its face and was replaced by a frown.

 

 _Is this truly the right thing to do_ ? it wondered. When it had confronted the teenagers, instead of seeing the logic it presented to them - the pain in their past - it expected for them to see that it was only trying to _protect_ them. Instead, they had decried Mnemosyne as the villian, much to it’s confusion. Despite all logic, all _common sense_ , they had wanted their memories, or at least that is what they said they did.

 

 _Not that their further actions seemed to suggest a change of heart_ , it thought, tearing it’s eyes away from the village and looking at the Earth’s information network.

 

Reconstruction of the Digital World was going at a painfully slow place. Even with the amount of data from the human world being limited to the best of Mnemosyne’s ability as so the digital world wasn’t overrun by data it couldn’t handle, six years into the project and less than 25 percent was repaired. Not only that, but Digimon births remained at a painfully slow pace. It was doing everything it could to protect this world but still … it didn’t seem to be enough.

 

Not that the “echoes” as the Tamer children called it were helping.

 

Mnemosyne had no idea where they came from, or why they were appearing at a rapid pace now. It hadn’t been this way with the initial mind wipes, but lately, it seemed everything was spiraling out of control. It could barely keep up with the echoes, let alone make sure the Digital World was rebuilding as planned.

 

 _Help is needed_ , it admitted to itself.

 

However, before it could ruminate more on the thought, a sharp pain - almost as if like something was trying to tear away from Mnemosyne’s very _being_ tore through it’s “body.” Gasping in shock, the dark-haired figure with obsidian eyes on the knoll disappeared in a burst of data.

 

Moments later it was standing in an area which could be described as … no where in the Digital World really, overlooking a deep dark void.The pain still clawed at its inner being, but Mnemosyne fought it off, frowning. That _thing_ was a tenacious one, but Mnemosyne would not give in. Not after all it had worked for. Progress may be slow, but everything would be undone if _it_ ever got out.

 

That was the one thing Mnemosyne would never allow.

 

“You cannot escape,” it said, closing it’s eyes. After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to die down before vanishing utterly. For now. It would be back… _It_ would _always_ be back.

 

_Speaking of back...I should probably check on the Tamers…_

 

Reaching out with its mind, it saw two figures snuggling on a train - one with red hair and the other with brown. A word came to mind.

 

_Cute._

 

**###**

 

“So cute,” Ayaka grinned, snapping a photo of Takato and Rika as once again the boy found himself being the unwilling pillow of the red-haired girl. He had looked at them helplessly for a while, silently begging for some kind of assistance but, true to form, everyone in their little group was having more fun watching him squirm.

 

In the end, he fell asleep on Rika back, resting his head atop hers.

 

“At least he doesn’t drool,” Ayaka noted, taking another picture and showing it to Jeri.

 

“More than what could be said for Rika,” Henry grinned as Jeri looked at the picture, trying to contain her fangirling least she wake them up. She was doing a rather good job of it she thought, all things considering.

 

“They’re adorable together,” she sighed, wondering why the duo just couldn’t _see_ it. It was obvious to her, and she was pretty sure it was obvious to everyone else. While she wouldn’t hold her breath about Takato coming to the light any time soon, she felt Rika at the very least was a _bit_ more observant in these sort of things.

 

So far she seemed content on proving her painfully wrong.

 

Renamon, for her part, was busily tapping away on Rika’s cell phone - offered to her as a means of communication during their trip back to Shinjuku - exploring its functions. She had seen Ayaka and the others taking photos and found it fairly easy to accomplish once she knew what to look for.

 

What else to do? Glancing up at Rika, she allowed a small, barely visible smirk to cross her features. She _had_ gotten better at reading kanji over the years, and it helped her find one more thing she could do to tease her partner.

 

She had discovered how to change the wallpaper for the cell phone.

 

 _Aaand...there we go,_ Renamon chuckled, gazing at the picture of the pair with amusement. It would be the first thing Rika would see upon using her phone. She wondered how she would react to it.

 

“I’ve got to say, this trip has been... _informative,”_ Ayaka said, locking her phone and putting it away. “Wonder what else is going to be coming our way.”

 

“Hoping nothing _too_ big,” Jeri said, frowning worriedly. While they managed to recover the purpose of the trip, in thanks to Takato and Rika’s efforts on the second day, she would be lying if she didn’t say the sense of unease didn’t hang over the air.

 

“Not to mention we’re going to be third years. We’re going to have to start focusing on college too,” Henry pointed out. It was hard enough to balance school work, cram school and Mnemosyne business prior. He wasn’t sure how well they all would be able to juggle this on top of their other responsibilities with things only seeming to get worse.

 

“Maybe the end of the world would be nice enough to _wait_ until we’re all settled before kicking off,” Ayaka joked. “Would be a nice change of pace.”

 

“It would be,” Jeri agreed smiling a bit. “What did you two decide you were going to go to school for?”

 

“Computer programming, what else?” Henry grinned. While he didn’t use the computer much as of late due to the paranoia Mnemosyne had evoked in him, he still wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.

 

 _Except maybe not with the bit of creating digital lifeforms_ , the thought with a wry smile.

 

“Photojournalist maybe,” Ayaka shrugged. “I’d like to make a living off selling photos, but I need to have a backup plan. My gramps says that it’s hard to make a living as an art student, especially in photography. He knew a lot of artists like that.”

 

“I think you would do well as a photojournalist!” Jeri gushed, clapping her hands in excitement. Ayaka was the best photographer she knew. If anybody was going to make it, it was Ayaka. After all, talent was just part of it, but Ayaka also had the _passion_.

 

“What about you, Jeri?” Henry asked, looking at the brunette girl. Suddenly becoming very shy and self conscious, Jeri rubbed her wrist as she looked down, kicking her feet a bit before answer.

 

“A social worker,” she admitted. “I want to help others who are going through hard times and are down on their luck.”

 

“So any bets on what these two clowns are going to be?” Ayaka asked, indicating the still-sleeping Takato and Rika - the latter of whom was adjusting herself so as to get more comfortable on Takato’s shoulder. “I can see Firebrand there looking to get into martial arts competitions. Gogglehead’s going to try for being a mangaka for sure. It’s about all he does anyway.”

 

“Rika told me she actually wants to be a cop,” Henry said with a grin, not at all disagreeing with Ayaka’s assessment about Takato. It was a foregone conclusion as far as he was concerned. “She said, and I quote, ‘if I’m going to be getting into fights anyway, might as well be with the bad guys.’” While Henry at the time was a bit worried about her reasons, especially with the fact she was still rather an active volcano, he believed now if she continued down the path her reasons would become more selfless in nature.

 

He hoped at any rate, as long as things didn’t get messed up.

 

**###**

 

Again.

 

_Again, again, and damn it again._

 

Himiko scowled at her desk, utterly loathing the notes and the diary that had come to clutter it. Hating the increasingly detailed and frustrated scrawling that littered the pages and papers.

 

Here was one about a children’s card game. Here was another about her cousin’s daughter. Another about a boy and a bakery. Another about something called D-Reaper… Juggernaut… Devas… _Digimon!_ The list went on and on, seemingly without end.

 

 _I don’t know what’s worse,_ she thought, cracking open the notebook again. _The fact that all of this sounds like I’m going crazy or the fact that I have proof that I’m actually not._

 

Interspersed throughout her diary were clippings, photocopies, photos and various documents taken from the archives regarding each and every incident commented on. The diary was overflowing with them in fact. There were profiles on her cousin’s daughter and ‘Tamers’ she apparently hung out with… Unsettlingly detailed profiles ranging from the innocuous to the point where it sounded as though Rika had broken numerous federal laws.

 

And the photos of digimon and this…D-Reaper. That last one was especially disconcerting, as it appeared to have come within a hairs breath of destroying all life on the planet.

 

Through it all was a recurring theme summarized in one line: _“My memories are being rewritten.”_

 

 _Oh kami… What the hell did I stumble into,_ Himiko thought, inadvertently breaking the tip of a cigarette. Tobacco crumpled onto the diary and she stared at it for a moment before absently brushed it off.

 

Never before did she need a cigarette so bad. This was insane.

 

“Whenever I see humans with cigarettes, they seem to prefer them lit. Yet whenever I see you with one, it is not.” A tall, androgynous _person_ stood in the doorway of Himiko’s office. Short black hair didn’t do anything to hide the obsidian black eyes the director of Mnemosyne shared. Dressed smartly in a business suit, it was impossible to tell without asking if the person in front of her was a man or a woman without asking. “Would you like a light?”

 

Himiko didn’t recognize the individual and they bore nothing that suggested they were a guest. No message regarding a visitor was sent. Himiko ran down the checklist as she reached under her desk and hit the panic button.

 

“Do you mind telling me who you are and what the hell you’re doing in my office?” she asked, grinding the remnants of her cigarette into the ashtray without even bothering to answer their question. “I don’t remember being told I was expecting anyone who didn’t work for me.”

 

“That’s the thing. I don’t work for you. You work for me.” The figure smiled and chuckled, as if they were laughing at an inside joke. “My name after all is the name of this organization which you run.”

 

“Right,” Himiko said. “I’m going to need a little bit more than that for proof,” she said, wondering where her security detail was. “Otherwise I might as well be talking to someone crazy.”

 

“Hmm, I suppose that’s a normal reaction coming from you. After all, I have never seen someone so _tenacious_ \- well besides your younger cousin and the other Tamers of course. That goes without saying,” they said, making their way across the room before sitting down at a chair facing her desk. “As I’m going to need your help at any rate, I’ll give you back some of what you lost.”

 

 _“Beware the Trojans bearing gifts,”_ Himiko quoted. _Where_ is _that security detail?!_ “Why should I accept anything from you? Why should I help you? Who are you?” Leaning back in her chair to make herself more comfortable, she glowered at _Mnemosyne._ “I don’t know about you, but around here it’s customary to provide some introductions.”

 

Instead of answering right away, it reached for one of the papers on her desk, one of the photographs she had pulled regarding the “D-Reaper,” and held it up.

 

“My name is Mnemosyne.”

 

The photo glowed slightly and at once Himiko twitched, gasping in surprise as a rush of memories surged through her. Grasping the arms of her chair, the muscles in her body grew tight as she struggled with them. “What…?!” she rasped, cracking open a glaring eye at Mnemosyne. “What did you _do?!_ What...What _are_ you?”

 

“Gave back your memories so I don’t have to explain to you why you are needed, and not important,” Mnemosyne said. “What is important is that I need your help.” Sitting back down in the chair, it crossed it’s legs. “Ever since the D-Reaper nearly destroyed not only your human world but the digital world, I have been working for the last six years to fix it. However, to do that human interference needed to be removed. When Takato Matsuki, however, managed to break through the _first_ Firewall, I realized that the walls keeping the two apart were less stable than what I hoped for.

 

“So in order to save the Digital World - and as well as to save humans from the horrid memory of that _thing_ , I rewrote memories so not only did they forget the D-Reaper, but that Digimon and the Digital World ever existed at all outside entertainment. It was a long and tedious process, but it was for the good of everyone that it was simply … forgotten.

 

“Unfortunately, the Tamers, the Digidestined, whatever you wish to call the children who had been chosen by the Digignomes, were not ones to simply let things be.” Pausing for a moment, Mnemosyne rubbed it’s hand across it’s face before continuing.

 

“I had to keep rewriting their memories every couple months it seemed. Yet … recently it seems that my attempts to protect them no longer work. To make matters more complicated, memories themselves have been appearing and even becoming sentient. While they were invisible - for the most part - just recently I learned they are becoming more powerful. While in the past echoes, the name the Tamers called them, could only be seen with cameras - with the odd exception of your cousin, Rika Nonaka, and the Hazard Tamer, Takato Matsuki, who were able to see and communicate with them without such devices - others who did not share the same … gift can now see them without aid.”

 

Another pause as Mnemosyne leaned forward, it’s black eyes intense as it stared deep into Himiko’s own obsidian eyes.

 

“They can kill, if not attended to,” it warned. “They _need_ to be destroyed, and I’ve spread myself too thin taking care of it that I can no longer handle the problem myself. So I need your help, Himiko Hata, to keep these echoes from hurting humans _as well_ as keeping an eye on the Tamers who, despite the risks, seem determined to keep running down this path toward pain. As you are living in the house with Rika Nonaka, as well as the director of this organization, you are in a prime spot to make a difference.”

 

Himiko was shaking as she struggled to reintegrate her memories. They were _painful_ to process. The fear she remembered feeling back during the D-Reaper war and the first broadcasts of the digimon battles… It was as though a band aid had been ripped off and a nerve was left exposed. Everything was fresh again despite the age.

 

“You…” she rasped before shaking her head, catching herself. This... _creature..._ whatever it was, possessed considerable power. It needed her, but it could both kill her and erase all memory she had.

 

 _Better to pretend to be useful,_ she thought, forcing herself to focus on Mnemosyne. It and nothing else. Swallowing - Kami was it taxing! - she forced her gaze on the figure.

 

“You want me to help you keep an eye on these... _echoes._ I don’t...I don’t have the equipment for it. I never knew they existed until now.”

 

 _Largely because you’ve been in charge of everything,_ she thought miserably to herself. _Yamaki was right. Better to be a raging paranoid than to be like this…._

 

“Sure you do,” Mnemosyne said simply. “The equipment Mitsuo Yamaki spent the money on, thus leading to your own promotion, is calibrated to detect echoes although the previous director didn’t quite know that. As for destroying them, all it takes is tweaking the Yuggoth program - which I can do with ease - and sending it after the abnormalities which arise.”

 

Himiko’s eyes locked with Mnemosyne’s. “You used us,” she said flatly. “This whole time we were just...pawns for your games.”

 

“I can assure you this is no game,” Mnemosyne replied. “Also I wasn’t the one who forced Mitsuo Yamaki to buy the updated equipment. True while I used the organization to keep eyes on things, I never once used you all, as you say, as ‘pawns.’ After all, I find humans rather messy and doing typically the exact _opposite_ of what you want to them to do.”

 

 _But you were tugging at things behind the scenes, just in case you needed us,_ Himiko thought quietly to herself, yet she chose to keep quiet on this point.

 

Taking a shuddering breath, she closed her eyes to steady herself. “All right,” she said finally. “You have my attention. But...let’s say I refuse? What do you do then?”

 

“Re-erase your memories and probably try to see if Mitsuo Yamaki is a bit more open to the possibility,” Mnemosyne said truthfully.

 

Himiko nodded. “Yeah… That’s what I thought you’d say.” A pause before she continued. “My security detail isn’t coming, are they? You’ve blocked all outgoing communications and alarms haven’t you?”

 

“I thought that was fairly obvious,” Mnemosyne said, leaning back in the chair, the black leather squeaking slightly. “I have no intention to hurt you, if that is what you are worried about.”

 

Himiko nodded. “All right. So let’s say then I agree to do as you’ve ordered… Do I get to keep my memories?”

 

“Yes,” Mnemosyne answered. “After all it would be rather illogical to erase them. You wouldn’t be able to do what I asked properly.”

 

Himiko swallowed nervously. “Then I guess you’ve got my help,” she agreed. Mnemosyne’s response was exactly what she thought it would be. She would be allowed to keep her memories, but the response was phrased in such a way that it offered no promises beyond the completion of her duties. She was in a precarious position, and one that allowed little room for bargaining.

 

 _What I need to do is buy time until I can figure out more._ Her eyes flicked down to the folder. _I don’t know much about you, Mnemosyne, but you seem to be digital in nature. I need to get rid of you...._

 

She doubted that Yuggoth would be able to do the trick. Yamaki’s program, she recalled, was powerful, but had an amusing track record of success.

 

Besides, she wanted to make absolutely certain that she got the job done.

 

That left Juggernaut. She would need time to find it.

 

“Excellent,” Mnemosyne said beaming and clapping its hands, standing up. It was so _nice_ to talk to a human for a change who could be persuaded by logic. It was a refreshing change of pace from dealing with the bullheaded Tamers. “I’m glad we can come to an agreement. Yuggoth will be calibrated by the time you come into work tomorrow, and the Tamers, and their guest, should be back by the time you decide to go home.” It paused and rubbed its chin thoughtfully. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but your cousin and her friends are notoriously stubborn headed. I doubt they will listen to reason, so I’ll just need you to make sure they don’t do anything foolish.”

 

“I’ll do what I can,” Himiko frowned, hating this particular wrinkle. She dreaded what she would have to do to make sure her cousin didn’t get on Mnemosyne’s radar.

 

 _But...as long as I buy enough time to be able to nuke this fucker from orbit…_ She tightened her grip on her armrests. Yes, she could live with Rika hating her. It wasn’t as though there was any love lost between them anyway.

 

**###**

 

A small bird chirped as it searched for food on the forest floor. Hopping as it pecked at the ground, digging in the soft earth for some worms, out of the corner of its beady little eye it noticed something move. Startled it took flight as a pair of blue eyes creaked open.

 

Sitting up, a young teenager with messy brown hair and a red sweater looked around. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t seem to sport any injuries despite being covered by dirt and leaves. However, his head ached though, and gingerly touching it, he hissed as he drew his hand away quickly from the pain. Looking at his hand, red covered his fingertips where there was none before.

 

 _What … what happened?_ he thought, looking around but failed to recognize his surroundings. _Where am I? How did I get here?_

 

Standing up, he tried to walk a couple of feet before got dizzy and fell back down. Breathing heavily, he tried to calm himself down as he tried to pull together facts he knew. However, nothing came to him.

 

Why he was here. How he got here. Where he was from. Who is family was.

 

Who he was.

 

As his hands rested on the ground, fear gripped his chest, and a strangled scream of horror erupted from his throat.

 

“SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

 


	21. Ares and Aphrodite

Henry made his way down the streets, the grocery bag bouncing along his leg rhythmically. The weather was nice welcoming. So much so that when his mother asked for him to pick something up for her, he went and did it without hesitation or complaint, basking in the warm glow of the sunlight and the chirps of the birds as they flitted around. While he wasn’t exactly one for nature – owing to his preference for technology – there was always something comforting to him about the outside world that put him at ease.

 

Turning a corner, his ease came to an end as he spotted black, unmarked vans blocking his path. Agents milled about, frowning at passersby while men and women wearing what appeared to be some kind of environmental hazard outfit – white and plastic-looking – cleaning up the area behind the vans. A wall and part of the street lay ashen and dark, as if struck by extremely powerful lightning.

 

He took out his phone and quickly snapped a picture.

 

It was a scene familiar to Henry, so he wasn’t that particularly surprised. He had seen it dozens of times so far since vacation ended. They had spoken of it in their meetings.

 

“Hey!” one of the agents called out to him suddenly. “Move along kid, this area is cordoned off.”

 

“Understood,” Henry replied, quickly pocketing his phone and turning away, realizing he was going to have to find another way home.

 

A new mystery had appeared.

 

**###**

 

It had been practically two weeks since Mnemosyne first approached Himiko. The director of Hypnos - she no longer liked referring to it by its true name as it was a grim reminder they were just pawns in this  _ thing's _ game - had convinced Mnemosyne that her workers, Tally, Riley and Yamaki, needed their memories of the echoes back at the very least if it wanted the job done with minimal difficulty.

 

However, while the destruction of echoes was proceeding smoothly, Himiko had found herself in a troublesome position of she needed something to tell the government soon of her findings, lest she get removed from her position. It was no longer about rising to the top, so much as it was protecting an ungrateful world and even more ungrateful brat of a cousin from some digital  _ psychopath. _

 

She doubted very heavily though her higher ups would accept that explanation. She needed to find something which would buy her time and allow her to keep the director's chair to keep herself important to Mnemosyne. After this was done, Yamaki could have it back for all she cared. However, she wasn't going to leave the job half finished.

 

In the past Himiko never had trouble concentrating on any task at hand. However, as she chewed on a cigarette, flakes of tobacco dropping into her (fifth) cup of coffee, which had surprisingly gone cold, she found it near impossible to think of some sort of bullshit excuse those who would never understand.

 

In the manner of speaking, the actual reason she was here was the least of her priorities now, but the highest of those who would pull her away without knowing (or caring) how they would absolutely ruin everything.

 

The control room provided an unusual peaceful escape from the thoughts, even with Yamaki's annoying habit of playing with his damned lighter. A lighter which Himiko was tempted to grab and toss out the nearest window. She struggled enough to keep the cigarette in her mouth unlit. Yamaki was not helping.

 

Said lighter clicked shut with a metal snap as Yamaki glanced in her direction. Seeing Himiko chewing on her cigarette, he frowned slightly and nodded to her.

 

“Director Hata,” he said simply, flicking his lighter open as above them Riley and Tally swiveled about on their chairs, plugging in information. “Is something the matter?”

 

On one of the screens, a red dot marked as a network anomaly vanished as a trio of spheres collided with it. He glanced up at it, wondering when Hypnos had designed this ‘Yuggoth’ program. It had all the hallmarks of his coding, but he couldn’t remember designing it. Either way, it was destroying the anomalies with ease.

 

It did, however, sometimes cause physical damage to the surrounding area it struck, so a general evacuation was becoming the norm for some places – necessitating a convenient cover story. Currently it involved exercises for dealing with bio or nuclear terrorists. Certainly the world was becoming unstable enough that it would be a concern anyway.

 

_ The best lies are those found in truth, _ he thought to himself.

 

Himiko blinked as she tore her eyes away from the now destroyed echo. She wanted to strangle Mnemosyne for failing to mention that Yuggoth had the tendency to cause physical damage to surrounding areas. While creating cover stories were simple enough, it was another thing to have the higher ups on her ass for.

 

"Is it possible to code Yuggoth to decrease the collateral damage when dealing with these abnormalities?" she asked, glancing down to see that the tobacco floating in her cup. Frowning a bit, she chucked the coffee in the trash. She liked tobacco, but not enough to drink it.

 

“I’ll have to look the code over in greater detail,” Yamaki replied. “Although it seems to share some similarities with the anomalies that keep appearing, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

 

He clicked the lighter open as he mulled things around. He didn’t understand how this program had simply been sitting around in the archives until Himiko fished it out. It didn’t seem like something they would use… Never mind that  _ how _ they were using it went against everything they knew about programs. Generally they impacted the network, but never the real world.

 

It was almost as though…as though it were made to fight something both here and on the information highway. But that didn’t make any sense.

 

"Do whatever you have to do," Himiko said as she took the cigarette out of her mouth, rolling it around between her fingers. "Also, after you get that done, I found something else I want you to take a look at."

 

Of course she didn't "find" anything - after all, find insinuated she didn't know where it was.

 

While she would like to nuke Mnemosyne into orbit at first chance she got, with Yuggoth's track-record of damaging the nearby area, she didn't want to accidentally destroy part of Japan with Juggernaut, which was much more powerful.

 

She could only imagine the headlines if that happened.

 

“Very well,” Yamaki nodded. “Is there anything about this new project that I should know about? Should I detail Riley to handle the Yuggoth technology? She has experience with it after all.”

 

Thinking about it for a moment, Himiko nodded her head, putting the cigarette back in her mouth, wishing she could just take a nice long drag from it.

 

"That might be for the best," she said. The quicker things moved the better. She had already put Tally up to the task of searching down the Monster Makers, feeling that she would need their expertise seeing as they were the reason for all this unnecessary problems in the first place.

 

"It's a program called Juggernaut," she continued. "It's much more powerful than Yuggoth, and could possibly take care of the problem once and for all if we manage to trace it back to its source. Problem is I'm not sure how stable it is. I rather avoid any accidents and keep potential collateral damage to a bare minimum."

 

Yamaki nodded. He could understand that. Yuggoth caused considerable damage just on its own despite its programming being a fairly straightforward one. If Juggernaut was even  _ more _ powerful… “All right. Show me this Juggernaut and I’ll see what I can do.”

 

**###**

 

Two weeks. He hadn't seen Jeri in  _ two weeks. _

 

Well, three weeks if he counted that vacation she went and took with Ayaka shortly after she passed her final exams.

 

Each time he texted or called attempting to set up a date, she kept coming up with excuses that she was busy, often citing school, and if not that, needing to help out with the family's tavern.

 

Kazu knew when he was being avoided, and it bothered him that his girlfriend was giving him the cold shoulder. He thought they had made up after their minor fight about him getting suspended due to punching out the piece of trash as well as beating up Takato. She refused to tell him how she knew, but it was obvious to the boy Ayaka told her.

 

It had bothered him that she was still friends with the boy who broke her heart (not nearly as bothered though when Kenta let it slip she had befriended the goddamn  _ Demon Queen _ of all people) but he let it slide considering this was Jeri he was talking about. She was kind and forgiving toward anyone, even if they didn't deserve it.

 

_ Except her boyfriend it seems, _ he thought, taking another long drag from a cigarette as he walked toward her house. He had quit smoking after dating Jeri since she said she didn't like it when he did so, but the stress had forced him to return to the comfort nicotine provided to him.

 

Pausing outside of the tavern, he took one last long drag before flicking the cigarette to the ground, grounding it out with the heel of his foot.

 

_ Alright, remember, you aren't here to attack her. Just find out why she's still upset and if the two of you are OK,  _ he reminded himself as he took a deep breath.  _ After all, girls can be irrational. You are here to do whatever you need to make her not mad at you anymore. Just keep your cool and let her know everything will be OK. _

 

Nodding to himself, he walked in, pausing a bit when he saw her father standing behind the counter.

 

Smiling awkwardly - he always had the feeling her father for whatever reason didn't like him much - he approached him and made sure to be as polite and respectful as possible.

 

"Excuse me Mr. Katou, but is Jeri home?" he asked.

 

Tadashi Katou glanced over at Kazu, running his eyes over him with something approximating a disapproving glare, albeit as toned down as he could possibly make it. He didn’t like any of the boys his baby girl brought home, be they mere friends such as with Kenta and Henry, a boyfriend – as he strongly suspected to be the case with Kazu – or a crush, as had been the case with Takato. Henry he had more or less liked as he seemed to be the best of the lot, but he always appeared to think of himself too highly, and Jeri was persistent in fixating her on Takato, who shook and stammered nervously so often it made him want to tear his hair out.

 

Still, Jeri chose who she was friends with and who she dated. He would respect that, even when it was a troublemaker like Kazu.

 

“She’s upstairs,” he grunted, turning. “Jeri!” he called. “You have a visitor!”

 

_ “Coming!” _ came the reply from upstairs, and there followed a light  _ thump-thump _ of feet as the brown-haired girl rushed down the stairs. She was all smiles at first, but upon seeing Kazu, her expression slipped and a mask went on right away.

 

“Oh… Hi Kazu,” she greeted.

 

To say Kazu wasn’t the slightest bit hurt when Jeri’s smile slipped would be a complete lie. However, he brushed it off, reminding himself of why he came. It was to make sure things were still good between them, although if he was honest, her reaction wasn’t the sign he was looking for.

 

“Hi Jeri,” he said, smiling all the same. “Sorry to come without warning. Do you have a moment?”

 

Jeri’s eyes flickered over to her father for a moment before returning back to Kazu.

 

“Sure,” she nodded, approaching him cautiously, heading toward the door. Making a decision as she passed him, she took hold of his wrist and pulled him along.

 

_ Please don’t get mad, _ a part of her thought as they stepped outside. Letting go of his wrist, she turned to face him.

 

“So…” She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and took a nervous breath. “...what’s up?”

 

Kazu wasn’t quite sure what to think when she brought him outside, but he wasn’t going to argue. As long as she talked, he didn’t care where as long as it made her comfortable, and eventually happy. 

 

“Well … I couldn’t help but notice you’ve been avoiding me lately,” Kazu said, cutting right to the chase as he nervously wrung his hands, rocking on the balls of his feet. He wasn’t one to beat around the bush, and while he had more social skills than Kenta or Takato, he wasn’t one to mince words. “And I was wondering if you were mad at me for something?”

 

“I’ve been busy,” she said, and that much was the truth. She  _ had _ been busy. Schoolwork mostly, but also trying to determine why the number of echoes appearing had been decreasing, replaced by increasing incidents of detours, damage to public grounds and vehicles, military and police drills… It all seemed a little too convenient to be a coincidence, especially with how often it happened of late.

 

_ “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action,” _ Renamon had typed on Rika’s phone during one of their meetings. They all were of one mind that Mnemosyne had discovered a way to deal with echoes more effectively than before...which begged the question: How much time did they have left? How much time did  _ Renamon _ have left.

 

The fact that the vulpine digimon seemed undisturbed regarding her potential ‘death’ did not sit well in Jeri’s mind. But none of these were things she could confide in to Kazu.

 

That truth however, was only half. She  _ was _ still mad at him. She chewed on her lower lip, wondering if she should tell him so. Honesty was the best policy in relationships it was said, but did that apply here? When she didn’t want to risk getting into a confrontation with the boy she...loved?

 

_ Do I love him? _ a part of her questioned as she looked up at Kazu, eyes sad.  _ He had been so sweet before but...then he hurt Takato… _

 

Kazu noticed she once again avoided his question, giving him the same excuse she’s been using. If she wasn’t mad at him, wouldn’t she just say so? Would asking her again get her more mad? He never had a girlfriend before, a steady one at least, beyond a few flings. He hadn’t ever been emotionally invested in a girl prior to Jeri, and he wasn’t sure what words he needed to say or buttons to press to earn her forgiveness. 

 

_ It’s easier in video games _ , he bemoaned mentally. There, at least, there were a few choices to choose from. And if you fucked up, you could restart from your last save. You couldn’t do that in real life. 

 

“I know. You’ve told me,” Kazu said finally. “That’s fine, I get that, but I’m just worried about our relationship. I haven’t seen you in three weeks. It’s like we’re in a long-distance relationship except without, you know … the relationship part.” 

 

Jeri sighed. “I know, it’s just...I’ve had a lot on my mind and…” reflexively she reached up and began to rub her arm. She hated that habit, and quickly stilled the the offending hand and returned it to her side, clenching it tightly. 

 

_ Maybe I should just stop beating around the bush, _ she thought. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge.

 

“All right,” she confessed. “I’m just...a bit shaken after what happened between you and Takato. I...I saw the video of that fight after all and...you just...scared me. You didn’t act like the boy I liked. You were...different.”

 

Kazu was surprised before becoming somewhat confused and a little annoyed. While, yes, he should probably have not hit the traitor since of  _ course _ that would make Jeri upset, the whole reason he got into the fight in the first place was for  _ her _ .

 

He told her as much.

 

“How was I different?” he asked. “That guy deserved it for what he did to Ayaka! He was a snake! Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have hit Takato,”  _ even if he deserved it for not fucking helping and siding with the snake _ , “but I already apologized for that!”

 

Jeri flinched slightly at the sudden rise in his tone, but she knew this would happen. She had to bear with it until they were through the other side. “I know, but you apologized to me. Not Takato. It’s...different. And…” She frowned slightly. “I guess I’m just...not that happy with the idea of you going after someone like that. I…”

 

She thought back to the digital world… Her memories were much more organized now than they had been when Renamon sparked them back to life. She saw Takato and Guilmon - as Gallantmon - preparing to kill Beelzemon for murdering Leomon. She hated Beelzemon for what he did, yet there was nothing to be gained by killing him. And there was worse… If Takato had finished through on his attack, his hands would carry the stain of that murder for the rest of his life.

 

That was something she wasn’t prepared to live with… To allow him to live with. Not for her.

 

Kazu however had been very different from Takato in his dealing with Akio. Takato took no pleasure in pummeling Beelzemon and preparing to execute him. Kazu looked as though he had been  _ enjoying _ the massacre - a far cry from the boy she remembered during their adventures in the digital world. It reminded her a little of...Megidramon in a way.

 

But she couldn’t mention that. Not while he still didn’t remember.

 

“Just...please understand Kazu,” she said, reaching up and touching his arm. “I saw a side of you I didn’t think I’d see. I...need some time for that. Yeah, you apologized, but...it still frightened me. And the fact that you didn’t apologize at all to Takato about what happened...it...does make me wonder if you feel bad about it at all.”

 

“Why  _ should _ I apologize to him?” Kazu demanded, upset. “He still hasn’t apologize to me when he threw me into the wall at the karaoke bar. Remember that? The wall cracked! Yet you still forgave him clearly since you’re obviously still friends with him. Why am I any different when I’m your  _ boyfriend _ ?”

 

Kazu didn’t understand. Why did Takato get a free pass and he didn’t when everything Kazu ever did was for the girl in front of him. Takato couldn’t even work up enough courage to make a damn move before giving up at the first sign of difficulty. He was the one who broke her heart, yet she was still standing up for him. 

 

Jeri narrowed her eyes at him. “I do remember,” she told him quietly, though her tone now held a touch of anger to it. “I was there. You kept pushing him, well past the point where even  _ I  _ was telling you to back off.”

 

“I was pushing him because he  _ lied _ to you!” Kazu yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration. How was what happened his fault?! It was Takato’s fault - and Rika’s. “Then he makes this bullshit excuse that he was chasing around  _ ghosts _ of all things with that psychotic bitch, then leaves us - his friends - for some girl he only knew for a  _ month _ . You liked him, yet he totally left you in the dust for some crazy girl with anger control problems who  _ broke my nose,  _ yet somehow  _ I’m _ the bad guy in that situation?” 

 

Jeri narrowed her eyes at Kazu, feeling Kazu was being unfair to someone he barely knew while  _ she  _ at least went to the trouble of getting to know Rika. “Except you reacted to Akio the same way Rika reacted to you. I’m not saying what either of you did was the right thing, but you two are more alike than you know. The difference is you have a harder time backing off when you should. Like you did with Takato. I…”

 

She paused before continuing, realizing that she was doing as he had back then - perpetuating the lie. But the truth, unfortunately, was still too fantastic to be believed, and the way Kazu was right now, it would only inflame him more.

 

“...Takato...needed time to sort himself out after what happened at the karaoke. I can understand why he didn’t want to tell me the truth. I wouldn’t have either. I’m not always a good girl you know. Everyone knows I was  _ sick, _ but no one knows from what. Takato may have had different reasons...and maybe fewer good ones...but I can understand them. You were looking to punish him for not having the courage to tell us the truth.”

 

“Oh so you know this truth?” Kazu demanded, his blood boiling as he folded his arms. “Did he eventually man up and actually tell you why he was being a crappy friend? Or are you just guessing?”

 

“I talked to Rika. She goes to the same school as me after all. And he  _ wasn’t _ being a  _ crappy friend.” _ At this, Jeri jabbed a finger into Kazu’s chest. Her eyes were  _ shining _ now with anger. “If you think he doesn’t care about his friends or even for  _ me... _ then you don’t really know him. He tried to stop you from that fight with Akio to  _ save _ you, Kazu Shiota. What you were doing to him… Kazu, you  _ know _ no one at the school tolerates that kind of behavior. And you hurt him  _ bad. _ If Takato let you continue…”

 

She trailed off, not wanting to finish. She desperately prayed that Kazu would come to the realization on his own. He was dense - far denser than Takato was at the moment - but she never saw him as quite so dense that he wouldn’t realize the ramifications of how his actions on that day could impact him if he had been allowed to continue.

 

“You think I would have  _ killed _ Akio?!” Kazu asked, his eyes widening before narrowing again. He didn’t understand her. He didn’t understand why she kept sticking up for Takato. He thought that maybe,  _ maybe _ her feelings for the boy had gone away under his love and devotion. He tried so hard for her, but despite it all, she just refused to see his side.  _ And then there is the fact she doesn’t trust me not to off someone... _ “Jeri, I’m not a  _ murderer _ .”

 

Jeri thought of Takato, and how he had nearly killed Beelzemon. “Not everyone looks to kill, you know. I’m not calling you a murderer either, but I saw that video. To anyone, it would have looked like you were trying to. Kazu,  _ please _ understand he was trying to look out for you!”

 

She desperately wanted him to see her point of view, but so far Kazu stubbornly kept insisting that nothing he did was his fault. It was everyone else who was in the wrong, and anyone who wasn’t behind him...was just another enemy or a traitor.

 

_ Why didn’t I see this before? _ she realized, feeling hot tears beginning to form in her eyes.

 

Part of Kazu flinched when he saw Jeri start to cry. The other part though was angry, betrayed. She was his  _ girlfriend _ . Supposed to be his girlfriend. That meant she was supposed to support him unconditionally, yet she still was defending a boy who broke her heart and ignored the one who put it back together. Pulling at his hair, he let out a frustrated yell.

 

“Takato, Takato, Takato!” he snapped. “You’re  _ my _ girlfriend, Jeri, yet you are defending  _ him _ . I didn’t  _ need _ his supposed ‘help,’ since I wouldn’t kill  _ anybody _ . Yet the way you’re going off is that I’m some  _ demon _ and he’s the knight in shining armor!” 

 

“That’s because he  _ is!” _ Jeri snapped back before she could even think. Deafening silence reigned just then, and Jeri clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. She hadn’t meant for that to come out...or for it to sound the way it did. She had been thinking of Takato as Gallantmon… Takato who had become the kind of boy she could - did and was becoming again - fall in love with.

 

None of that would matter though to someone who didn’t remember those things.

 

“Fine,” Kazu said finally, his heart dropping to the pits of the stomach as his fists tightened. “Fine, if that’s how you feel, go chase after him again.”

 

“Kazu, I’m  _ not _ chasing after…” she tried to interrupt, but Kazu wasn’t listening.

 

“I don’t even know why you went out with me in the first place.”

 

“Kazu, please… I’m not in love with Takato. I picked  _ you _ , remember?” She threaded her fingers through her hair, trying to figure out a way to explain all of this without letting slip of what Kazu saw as the ‘crazy story.’ “I care about  _ you.” _

 

Her voice had become weaker now, having lost much of its ire in her bid for damage control. It didn’t matter though, as it appeared Kazu wasn’t listening to her.

 

“Yeah, well you have a real funny way of showing it,” Kazu growled before he turned around. “We’re over. That’s what you want right? Go back to your shining knight. Maybe this time he’ll see you. I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

 

“He’s  _ not _ my knight in shining armor!” Jeri said, her anger reestablishing itself a little in her attempt to make him listen to her. “I  _ don’t _ want him. I…” She wiped at her eyes. “Kazu… I just wanted  _ you. _ I wanted things to be the way they were… When we were all friends and… I wanted you and Takato to be friends again.” 

 

Her vision was blurring badly now, the tears becoming an unstoppable torrent. “I don’t know why I said that about him. I was just getting so...so  _ mad! _ You weren’t listening to me and...and…”

 

She blinked back her tears and looked at the teen. “Kazu… Please...look at me.”

 

Kazu did look at her. He saw her tears, and for a moment, he thought about turning around. He didn’t  _ like _ seeing her cry … but he turned around again. He couldn’t do it. Couldn’t do this - be with a girl who was still pining over someone else. He didn’t believe that she still wasn’t in love with Takato - she had pined after him since  _ elementary _ school. Kazu was stupid in a lot of things, but he wasn’t so stupid to believe she didn’t have feelings for Takato still. There was no way he could compete with that. Not anymore.

 

He walked away.

 

Jeri’s eyes widened as he left her. Her throat worked as she tried to speak, not understanding while at the same time...understanding. She reached out, shaking her head numbly.

 

“No…” she whispered. Internally she was yelling at herself to chase after him, but her feet remained firmly planted where they were, refusing to budge so much as an inch. As Kazu disappeared into the crowd, she bit down on her scarred arm and screamed into it, the tears coming once more, and this time there was no stopping them.

 

**###**

 

Himiko stared dumbly down holding her (tenth - or was it her twelfth, she had lost count) cup of coffee as Jeri Katou stood on the Hata’s porch looking disheveled if not distraught, asking if Rika was there.

 

Part of her wondered if her cousin’s daughter had anything to do with the teen’s state - she honestly wouldn’t put it past her if she was completely honest - but she looked too depressed for Rika to be at blame. If it was Rika’s fault, it would be anger no doubt, with perhaps a touch of murderous rage. 

 

That still didn’t explain why she was there. 

 

_ As long as it doesn’t have to do with Mnemosyne, I don’t care _ , Himiko decided then, not wanting to deal with whatever hot mess was going on as she stepped to the side and pointed to the hallway.

 

“Last room on your left,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee.

 

Jeri muttered a thanks as she stepped inside. She padded down the yard and in the direction pointed and upon reaching the household, she took off her shoes and stepped onto the porch. Holding her breath, she knocked on Rika’s slide door.

 

“Rika…” she said throatily. “It’s… It’s me...Jeri. Are you… Are you there?”

 

There was silence for a moment before creaking and within seconds the door slid open to a slightly worried looking Rika, her orange hair disheveled as if she hadn’t combed it in a bit, or all day, and upon one look at Jeri’s state only one sentence escaped her lips.

 

“Who am I murdering?”

 

Jeri’s only answer was to rush forward and crush Rika to her in a tight hug. Tears she thought she had long ago cried out returned full force. She didn’t care though. She was beyond caring at this point. She just...wanted someone to hold...and to comfort her.

 

While not the answer she was looking for (or expected, although a quick retrospection should have alerted her it being the one she should have), Rika pulled the sobbing Jeri into a confused hug, rubbing her back.

 

“H-hey, it’s OK,” she said, having  _ no _ clue what was wrong or what she should be doing, but was worried all the same. She made a mental note to make whoever did this to her friend feel the full extent of her wrath. She didn’t like people hurting her friends, emotionally or physically. “You want to sit down? Uhm…”

 

_ What do I do?!  _ she thought in a panic. She was used to people crying, but normally she was the one making them do so, not comforting them. Henry was good at this,  _ dealt _ with this stuff. Renamon too was good at knowing what to do (at least in Rika’s perspective), but she wasn’t here at the moment to give her guidance, stepping out a bit earlier, albeit with a promise to return. 

 

In response, Jeri merely tightened her grip around the girl. “K-Kazu…” she finally choked out. “I...he… We…” 

 

She couldn’t quite get the words out of her mouth. She was still too badly upset by their argument to form coherent words. Instead she  _ thought _ her feelings at Rika, hoping, as if by slim chance, the girl would understand. It was a  _ Takato-ish _ idea, one not guaranteed to work, but Jeri didn’t care.

 

“That bastard,” Rika growled as her grip around her friend tightened possessively, having  _ no _ idea what Kazu did, but honestly didn’t care. First he insulted her mother. Then he beat up Takato. Now he hurt Jeri in some regard. Rika didn’t care for people who hurt anybody who was dear to her once. Kazu had hurt three of her precious people. She would make sure he suffered.

 

Jeri flinched at Rika’s tone and abruptly tightened her grip all the more.

 

_ “No!” _ she exclaimed. “Please… Rika, don’t do anything!”

 

“But-” Rika said before stopping herself at the look on Jeri’s face and giving in instantly, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “ _ Fine _ . I won’t beat him up even if he deserves it.”

 

She didn’t understand why Jeri didn’t want her to beat up the sleazeball, but then again Jeri was sensitive to this sort of thing. It was annoying since Rika had  _ zero _ idea how to make it better otherwise, but she wouldn’t go against Jeri’s wishes even if she disagreed with them. A lot.

 

Jeri relaxed her grip around her friend and heaved a sigh of relief. Pulling away, she sniffed. “Sorry,” she mumbled weakly.

 

“Don’t apologize,” Rika chided as she grabbed Jeri’s hand and pulled her into her room. Before Jeri had come, she had been staring at the ceiling, thinking about well … everything. The sudden decrease in echoes. Her inability to remember  _ anything _ . That she was “encased” in ice. The increase in government presence. Renamon. Her cards were strewn on the floor a bit - Rika pushed those to the side with her foot as she sat Jeri down and began looking for a cloth to wipe away Jeri’s tears.

 

The hafu’s room was rather … Spartan in appearance. There was a small table, about a foot off the ground, no doubt where Rika did her homework (as evidenced by school books on the wood, a notebook next to it), as well an area where to change her clothes and a small wastepaper basket. In fact it seemed there was nothing which could even give a  _ hint  _ to her interests, let alone hobbies out in the open except for two Digimon posters on the wall. It was unnaturally … empty, especially for a teenage girl.  

 

“I’m not sure what’s wrong, but you don’t need to apologize to me,” she said, finding one as she returned to Jeri’s side and reached out to dry her face. “Whatever it is, I’m here for you. Not sure how much help I’ll be since you won’t let me punch the bastard, but I can listen if you wanna talk at the very least.” 

 

Jeri nodded, blushing a little beneath Rika’s ministrations and for an instant she was reminded once more of Kazu in their more tender moment after love-making… The way he cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb beneath her eyes while smiling down at her warmly…

 

Oh, but it hurt to think of that moment now with what had just happened.

 

“I...I can handle it,” she murmured, taking the cloth from Rika and doing her best on her own. “I’m...I’m not sure where to begin… There’s some things...between me and Kazu you don’t know about...and I’m not sure how you’ll react.”

 

Rika let go when Jeri took the cloth, but sat down next to her, crossing her legs as she watched Jeri with a slight tilt of her head.

 

"Well, whatever it is I'm not going to be angry at you," she said confused, not quite sure how to react to that statement. It almost sounded like she was  _ datin _ g Kazu.

 

Jeri swallowed nervously, her face flushing all the more deeply. “Kazu and I...we...broke up.”

 

Rika had an impressive poker face. Despite being an open book in some ways, she had developed the ability to hide her feelings and what she was thinking.

 

Still she was caught off guard as her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened.

 

"What?" she asked incredulously. While she typically preferred to stay out of relationships, especially ones that weren't here own, as they were messy things, she couldn't help but wonder what the hell happened.

 

It was one thing Jeri was dating Kazu - while Rika had quite a few thoughts on her apparent taste in men, she wasn't going to say any of them when her friend was hurting - but it was another that Kazu broke Jeri's heart.

 

After all, with Jeri reacting this way, so broken-hearted, Rika was sure as hell the romantic-minded girl wasn't the one initiating it.

 

“We’ve been... _ were _ ...dating for a couple months now,” Jeri replied, not meeting Rika’s eyes. “We started a little after…” She swallowed again, feeling her breathing becoming erratic. “...after Kazu had a fight with Takato. Not…! Not the recent one, it was after we went...karaoking, back before you first showed me echoes...that Takato had been telling the truth about them. Kazu...was mad at Takato for lying at the time and for...not...noticing me.”

 

She blushed again and tightened her grip on the hem of her skirt. “I know that’s a dumb reason for dating someone…”

 

_ Yes it is, _ Rika couldn't help but agree mentally, but had enough common sense not to blurt that out loud.

 

"Right," Rika said carefully, trying not to cause Jeri any more distress than what she already was in. "So then what happened?"

 

“Well...you can already guess…” Jeri said, looking utterly miserable. “I was angry with him for hitting Takato and I’ve been avoiding him since...since we got back from vacation. He came to check up on me and...it started out all right, but...he thinks that he didn’t do anything wrong and...thought that I was still in love with Takato. Because I was mad about his fighting him.”

 

It was a very abridged version of events, but she didn’t think she could give the entirety of the gritty details without breaking down again. It was...too soon for her to do so.

 

"Oh Jeri," Rika sighed as she scooted closer, pulling Jeri into a hug.

 

She didn't know what to say to make her feel better. Anything going through her mind - such as "Kazu didn't deserve you anyway" - she wasn't sure were the right things to say to the girl in her emotional state.

 

A long time ago, or at least it seemed it to Rika, Henry had told her that Jeri was big on love because she rejected it when she was younger after her mother died. Prior to that, Rika thought the girl was a masochist, especially when it came to her opinions on love.

 

_ I don't think that's the case anymore. _

 

Jeri allowed herself to be enveloped into Rika’s hug, just wanting to be held and comforted. Closing her eyes, a new tear formed in the corner of one eye.

 

“I just wish I knew what to say to make him  _ see…” _ she whispered. “Back before our memories were wiped...he...he was a much better person. Even  _ you _ said he was a friend once. He’d always be there for his friends...even when he wasn’t getting along with them. And...And he was always so sweet to me…”

 

"Well ... that just means we need to work harder on getting everyone's memory back then," Rika said, not really believing that she could say someone like Kazu could be her friend once, but Jeri remembered and she didn't - much to her chagrin.

 

Still, who knows how much things had changed? How much were they different without those memories? Experiences shaped a person after all.

 

“Yeah…” Jeri nodded quietly, the tear tracing a path down her face. Sniffing, she rubbed at it. “I hate this…” she muttered. “I hate...that we lost so much...because of Mnemosyne. I didn’t even notice it, but now that I know…” She clenched her eyes shut tightly, trying to prevent the tears from escaping.

 

They squeezed out anyway.

 

“...How are we going to stop Mnemosyne? How are we going to get our memories back?  _ Can  _ we?”

 

"Sure we can," Rika said automatically as she awkwardly rubbed at Jeri's tear stained face was her sleeve as the girl still had the cloth from earlier in her hand.

 

She smiled crookedly, and attempted to make a joke.

 

"I'm a sore loser, Jeri.  _ Hell knows no fury like a woman's wrath,"  _ she quoted. "I'm not going to stop until we win and prove that son-of-a-bitch wrong. So it's not so much as an 'if' we get our memories but a 'when' we get our memories back as far as I'm concerned."

 

Of course she wasn't completely sure on that herself, but she was telling the truth that she had no intention of losing. To anybody.

 

Jeri sniffed and gave a light smile. “That’s one of the things I liked best about you,” she said softly, wiping her nose with the cloth. “You were always so strong and confident… You’d never let anything get you down.”

 

Rika smiled softly at that, but couldn't help but feel she was misleading Jeri, however slightly. After all, it was easy to put on a show of bravado and do things to spite people, prove them wrong about her.

 

Rika didn't like losing, being pushed down. That was all there was to it. In all honesty, she wasn't as confident in things as she lead others to believe.

 

But Jeri needed that person she thought she was. Confident. Strong. Someone who wouldn't run away from things, however subconsciously, because she was afraid.

 

"Yeah, well, it's not like I'm not the only one who is like that," Rika coughed as she played with her hair. "I think you're pretty awesome too."

 

It was true too. Jeri did a lot of things Rika found awe-inspiring. Like her ability to look past people's obvious, obvious flaws and see the good in them. Or be willing to let herself get hurt.

 

Those were things Rika struggled with doing. She wasn't even sure if she could.

 

Jeri blushed, and one arm reached up to return Rika’s hug. “It was because of you,” she smiled. “You, Leomon and the others who helped teach me to be awesome.”

 

Rika flushed at that. She had a hard time believing she was a good influence on  _ anybody  _ when all she was good for was fighting.

 

"Well then," Rika said grinning awkwardly, trying to push her embarrassment down. "I'm glad I could help in some small way."

 

_ I really must have had my shit together back then. _

 

Time passed for them in silence before, finally, Jeri shifted in Rika’s grasp.

 

“Hey… Do you...think I could sleep over tonight?” she asked quietly. “I don’t want to impose but...it’s just...I don’t want to be alone. I could use a friendly face.”

 

"Sure," Rika said automatically, not needing to think about it. "You're not imposing, and I don't mind, and I don't  think my mom and grandma will either. You might want to call your folks though."

 

Other thoughts came to mind as she suddenly realized that despite sharing a room with Jeri and Ayaka in the cabin, she had no idea what to do for a sleepover, and began to panic internally.

 

Pulling away from Jeri, she went to her drawer opening them up and began to rummage through them.

 

"I don't have any PJs - I stopped wearing actual PJs awhile ago - but if you want to borrow a t-shirt and sweatpants, I think I might have something..." she rambled slightly, although not nearly as bad as Takato would have if put in a similar position. 

 

“That’ll be fine,” Jeri nodded, caressing her arm while looking at the door. Pulling out her phone, she began to flip through her address book for her stepmother, feeling that she would be the safer bet to ask permission from. She quickly fired off a text before looking back at Rika. “Thanks. This means a lot to me.”

 

Rika looked back at Jeri, pulling out a shirt which was a bit small on her, but would probably fit Jeri considering she was smaller than her.

 

"Of course," Rika said with a smile as she tossed the garment at Jeri - it was one she had taken a liking to a few years back. It was one of the few ones with English on it she had - mostly because Rika wouldn't be caught dead outside in a shirt with random gibberish. This one said "English Words on a Shirt" and she had found it hilarious, so she bought it.

 

"Anyway you hungry? We had dinner a bit earlier, but there should still be some leftovers in the fridge if you don't care about that sort of thing."

 

“I don’t mind at all,” Jeri smiled. “It’s made with love after all.”

 

"Dork," Rika rolled her eyes with a smile after finding a pair of sweatpants and handing them over to her. "I'm going to go let ma and grandma know you're staying over. Make yourself comfortable."

 

Jeri nodded, taking the clothes and adjusted herself. After Rika left, she cast her gaze about the girl’s room, taking in its emptiness. Some people would have seen the empty and decided Rika had an empty life. Jeri didn’t see it that way though. Rika was always more of an internal person. She made room in her heart for people and things she cared about. When she allowed someone inside, they saw a room that was very different from what was outside.

 

“Don’t ever change, Rika,” she whispered, tightening her grip on the borrowed clothes, her cellphone buzzing as her stepmother texted her back. “Don’t ever change.”


	22. Intertwining Threads

_ I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. _

Jeri gasped as the bloody sock puppet on the floor morphed into Kazu's face. Holding her arm, which was bleeding and filling the room with more blood than which should be in the human body and honestly should have killed her twice over, she shuddered as the warm eyes which looked at her with so much love glared at her with what could only be described as pure loathing.

_ I hate you. _

Jolting awake, sweat dripping down her brow as her breaths came in short gasps, it took her a minute to realize where she was.

Two strong arms wrapped around her body, making movement difficult, as the unconcerned sleeping face of Rika slid into focus.

_ That's right, _ she thought as she forced herself to calm down.  _ I'm at Rika's. _

Memories from last night filed themselves into her brain and she sighed, her heart becoming heavy again upon remembering her and Kazu's break-up. While she was a bit confused on how they were in Rika's room since she was pretty sure the two fell asleep on the couch, cuddling after a rather heavy conversation, she suspected Renamon had something to do with it. Either that or Rika woke up in the middle of the night and carried her back. Both weren't out of the question.

_ What time is it? _ she thought, although she made no move to find out. She was rather comfortable where she was, and quite enjoyed studying Rika's sleeping face.

_ Wonder what she is dreaming about, _ Jeri mused as she reached up to wipe off some drool escaping Rika's mouth, smiling slightly.

She was glad to see that despite everything, Rika hadn't changed much.

She was still the sweet, angry kitten she was as a child, although thanks to Mnemonsyne's meddling, her anger management problem had gotten worse. Jeri suspected though once she got her memories back, whenever that was, she would no longer have any issues at all. As it were, she was making so much progress. She just needed to be ... tempered from time to time.

"Mn..." Rika groaned and Jeri removed her hand quickly as the violet eyes creaked open.

"Morning, sleepy head," Jeri giggled as she watched the mental gears in Rika's mind catch up to everything. The best part of watching Rika sleep was her reactions upon waking up. Completely unguarded, it was one of the few times Jeri felt like she got a glimpse into whatever went on in the girl's mind without the need to guess.

She could only laugh again as Rika's eyes widened as she flushed upon realizing the two were closer than expected. Stammering an apology, she let go of Jeri, much to the brunette's internal disappointment.

"It's OK," Jeri smiled at her, pulling the futon over her shoulders like a cape as she sat up. "I didn't mind." She gave a slight smirk and a sly wink. "You've always been a rather big teddy bear."

"If anybody is the teddy bear here, it would be you," Rika sniffed as she pulled at her hair, not quite looking at Jeri. Jeri always found it rather intriguing how self-conscious Rika could be about the oddest things while a complete narcissist on others. "After all teddy bears are cute," Rika paused and finally looked at Jeri, a small smirk playing on her lips. "And small."

Jeri puffed her cheeks out at that.

"I'm completely average," she huffed. "You're just abnormally huge."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself to make yourself feel better," Rika laughed as she stood up, holding out her hand to Jeri like a gentleman. Jeri might have found it chivalrous if Rika didn't have that smug little smirk plastered on her face with the impish twinkle in her eyes.

"You're so obnoxious," Jeri grumbled, but took her hand anyway as Rika lifted her to her feet.

"Yet you love me," Rika replied back, the smug smirk only growing wider.

"Quite possibly against better judgment," Jeri shot back, sticking her tongue out at Rika although a small smile played on her face.

Rika looked like she was going to say something, but thought better of it and changed the subject.

"You hungry?" she asked and before Jeri could answer, her stomach did so for her, a slight grumble letting Rika know the answer to that question. "Guess that's a yes," Rika chuckled as Jeri could only flush in embarrassment.

 

**###**

 

Seiko drank her Miso soup calmly as she watched the news. Nothing of particular interest stood out to her. Another military operation being conducted by the United States and its allies; a word on the economy that continued to seem uncertain as to what it wanted to do for good or bad… Mainly more of the same.

Setting the bowl down, she frowned slightly, wondering how it was at her age she became a bit…apathetic to the woes of the world, if that was the right word. A part of her had learned over the years that some things – such as the economy – worked themselves out, but others, such as war, always seemed to be a never-ending cycle of winners, losers, and victims.

Was it her age? Just hearing the same things over and over and over that it became almost…background noise? A sad song on the radio? Just something she heard that came and went like the wind?

She sipped her soup again, tipping her head back to drain it before setting the bowl back down and taking up her chopsticks. She considered the images as they came and went – rockets being fired from what appeared to be a naval cruiser and a jet fighter rising from off a carrier-deck.

_ What kind of world are we leaving you with, Rika? _ she wondered, hearing noise behind her.

"Mornin' grandma," her granddaughter greeted her, walking into the kitchen with her friend following her.

It was very clear Rika at the very least just rolled out of bed since her hair was sticking up all over the place, covering her mouth to stifle a yawn as she wandered over to the stove, clearly looking for some breakfast.

“Good morning dear,” Seiko smiled as she continued to eat. “I see you’ve slept well. You’ll find the remaining soup in the microwave. There should be enough for you and your friend.”

"Thanks gran," Rika yawned as she turned her attention to the microwave, pulling two bowls out of the cupboard - one for her and one for Jeri. She made a mental note to go out later to the store to buy Renamon something to eat. The vulpine had come back late last night. She had awoken, however briefly, when her partner had carried the two girls back to her room after they fell asleep in the living room.

Pausing a bit as a thought occurred to her, Rika looked at Jeri.

"You like miso soup, right?" she asked.

Jeri paused in the rubbing of her eyes as one hand clung to the hem of her borrowed too-big-for-her shirt. Letting out a yawn, she shook her head in an attempt to clear it of the sleep that refused to leave her.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “That’d be great, thanks.”

She paused to give a little bow toward Seiko. “Thank you, Ms. Hata, for letting me stay tonight.”

“It’s quite all right dear,” Seiko smiled at her. “Our doors are always welcome to Rika’s friends.”

Jeri smiled back, though it was a bit reserved. Even on the best of days, she sometimes felt a bit uncertain about being under someone else’s roof when the social visit wasn’t necessarily all that social – specifically that is, not being there for the sake of hanging out, as was the custom. She felt too much like she was imposing.

Nonetheless, she accepted Seiko’s words and bowed again, letting Rika know she was going to use the bathroom quickly and would be out in time to eat.

Rika paused pressing the buttons to reheat the soup, freezing almost on instinct when Jeri used her grandmother's last name.

It was something Rika never told her friends. While, yes, the name was on the wooden plaque to her house, the writing was worn down and could barely be read due to the weather conditions. She felt nobody would ever bother to stop and read it.

_ How does she know? _ Rika wondered, pressing the button on the microwave as it beeped and began to spin around as Himiko walked into the kitchen, much more put together than the youngest Hata woman.

"Morning Aunt Seiko," she said calmly, before noticing Rika. "... Rika."

Rika grunted, as Himiko made her way to the coffee maker, the one appliance which helped keep her sane throughout the day.

“Good morning to you as well, Himiko,” Seiko greeted back. “Sleep well?”

"Well enough," Himiko allowed as she started the machine, watching it with a painfully practiced patient eye for the water to heat up. "And you?"

“Well enough,” Seiko returned, not looking up at the woman. “Watched pots never boil you know.”

Himiko turned and looked at the older woman, before turning to look at Rika who was staring at the microwave with the same intensity she was staring at the coffee maker only for the microwave to beep, Rika pulling out the two bowls inside quickly.

"Hm," she hummed, not trusting herself to stay polite to the matriarch of the household without her morning coffee. While anybody else might have gotten a sarcastic comment, Himiko knew her place here.

The sound of the toilet flushing signaled Jeri exiting the bathroom. Sliding the door shut, she glanced back in the direction of the kitchen, looking a bit uncomfortable at the presence of Himiko. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. She seemed so…closed off and at first glance, appeared to keep people at arm’s length at the closest.

_ She reminds me a little of the stories Kazu and Takato told me about Rika when they first knew her… Only worse. _

“Hello…” she greeted tentatively, stepping into the kitchen.

Himiko glanced over to see Jeri Katou. She had never met the girl in person before, prior to yesterday evening, although she had read her file (along with the other Tamer files) at Hypnos.

She wasn't quite sure what to expect coming from the girl - while she had read the psychology report, that was something from six years ago. It could very well be something no longer which could be relied on, especially since she didn't have her memory as well.

While she still had every intention to blow the fucker up, she couldn't help but agree ever so slightly that perhaps removing the memory of the D-Reaper from the child in front of her was a good call.

_ A broken clock is right two times a day, _ she thought as she nodded her head in greeting toward the girl, Rika putting the soup down on the table before turning to smile at her friend.

"Food's ready," she announced, as Himiko's black eyes did their typical scan around the room, hoping to find something she knew she couldn't see. However, the sudden drip of the coffee distracted her as she returned her attention back to her precious life source.

“Thanks Rika,” Jeri said, taking a seat next to Rika. Clasping her hands together, she bowed. “Thanks for the food.”

Seiko watched Himiko out of the corner of her eye as she made her visual pass around the room – a peculiar habit she noticed the woman had picked up recently – before turning to the two girls as the news continued to play in the background.

“Do you two have any plans for the day?” she asked. “Not that I intend to drag you into anything like Rumiko is sometimes prone to with Rika, but I am curious.”

"Well Takato and Henry are supposed to come over a bit later to practice some martial arts," Rika said, glancing at Himiko briefly, off-put by her behavior lately. It seemed she had taken a sudden new interest in her, and it felt like she was always watching her. It unnerved her, not to mention it started right around the time the appearance of echoes decreased and the activity of the government increased.

_ Maybe she knows, _ Renamon had suggested, rather calmly.  _ And she's looking for me. _

The thought at the time sent a shiver down Rika's spine. If Himiko was behind the destruction of the echoes, who wasn't to say that she wasn't looking for Renamon to kill her as well. Renamon didn't seem too bothered by the thought, practically brushed it aside really, but Rika made her agree to be more careful until they figured what was going on.

Pushing it to the corners of her mind, she turned to Jeri as a thought bubbled up and she beamed.

"Why don't you join us?" she offered. While she doubted, or perhaps better said,  _ hoped _ Kazu wouldn't be a threat to Jeri, he wasn't the only one who could possibly cause her harm.

Takato wasn't the only one she worried about. Jeri was also a soft sweetheart who practically screamed "victim" to those who wish to do those who were pure of heart harm. Any sort of self-defense, however small, which to give Jeri a fighting chance would ease Rika's worries, however slightly.

“I…I don’t think so,” Jeri replied between sips from her soup. “I’m not a big fan of fighting. I don’t… _ keep score _ like the boys do.”

Seiko raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing. However, an amused smile touched the corners of her lips.

"Glad to know Rika has at least one friend with a good head on her shoulders," Himiko couldn't help but remark once her coffee was done. Taking out a mug, she poured herself a cup and took a sip, sighing into the cup as she felt the caffeine start to warm the dead patches of her soul.

Rika threw Himiko an unamused look before turning back to Jeri, swallowing a spoonful of soup before addressing the brunette.

"It's more for self defense than to keep score," she said. "Since you know there are a lot of dangerous things out there. It's always good to know how to defend yourself against things that might want to do your harm."

Rika stared at Jeri, hoping that she understood what she was talking about. While, yeah, there were creeps out there who didn't know how to take no for an answer, a good mace to the face or the knee to the family jewels usually were good ways to dissuade them.

However, she was referring to the echoes. The sentient ones like Renamon, Leomon and ... the D-Reaper.

While they had decreased as of lately, Rika didn't feel comfortable relaxing just yet.

Jeri’s brow knotted together as she curled her fingers into her palm, carefully weighing her friend’s words. She knew she was right. There  _ were _ dangers out there, but at the same time…

“Maybe someday,” Jeri said, shaking her head sadly. “But…not right now. Sorry. I just…don’t like the idea of hurting people.”

 

“Well then,” Rika said a bit off-put, but not one to stay down, deciding that as long as Jeri didn’t want to fight, she had  _ zero _ issue fighting her battles for her. She would make sure that people thought twice before crossing the smaller girl. “Maybe you can just watch? Then why don’t we do something afterwards? What do you say?”

 

Jeri smiled wanly at the girl. “Sure,” she replied. She wasn’t particularly eager for it, but as long as it meant being with her friends…

 

She glanced at the television as a news report came up about a teenage boy found wandering alone in the wild outside the city. A photo was put up in the corner and Jeri nearly dropped her bowl with a gasp.

 

She wasn’t the only one. Himiko nearly choked on her coffee, coughing as the reporter began to explain that authorities have no idea who he was, although the closest lead they had was a boy who had died in a car accident in Hokkaido  _ six years ago _ . Problem was, if this really was the boy, he hadn’t aged a day since then as he was in his mid teens then and if he was still alive, should be in his early 20s today. 

 

_ Mnemosyne is behind this. I know it _ , she thought angrily as she hit her chest, her eyes watering as she glowered at the television, Rika looking between Jeri and Himiko surprised at their similar reactions.

 

“Jeri?” Rika asked, deciding to go with the person she actually liked, questioning in a quiet undertone as she scooted her chair subtly closer to the other girl.

 

“S-Sorry,” Jeri said, forcing a smile on her face. Seiko and Himiko were in the room, so it wouldn’t do to tell the truth here. “I...ah...burned myself. How stupid of me, huh?”

 

“Be careful dear,” Seiko said, raising an eyebrow slightly as she glanced back and forth between the girl and Himiko, her inquisitive mind having caught the timed reactions. She brushed it off as a coincidence however. “Are you all right?”

 

“I’m fine,” Jeri said to put her at ease, glancing at Rika with a meaningful look. They were definitely going to need to talk about this.

 

Rika caught the look, nodding slightly. However, she did have one issue she took with her excuse.

 

“Don’t call yourself stupid,” she admonished, hating it whenever her friends put themselves down. It bothered her to no end, and the memory of Ayaka calling herself stupid like a broken record in the hospital after almost being ran over by a car only made Rika hate it even more. “Just be more careful. You need some water or something?”

 

“You’re too much of a mother hen,” Jeri admonished back with a slight smirk, glad that she had caught on. “I was just joking you know. Takato’s the one with the self-confidence issues, not me.”

 

Rika’s incredibly mature response to that was sticking her tongue out in return. Repeating the gesture back to her, Jeri quickly ate up the rest of her meal, hoping to get it out of the way so she could talk to Rika in private about the boy on the news. It undoubtedly looked rude, and she was garnering an odd look from both Himiko and Seiko, but the safety of the world took precedence over manners.

 

Himiko quickly finished her coffee, filling up a travel mug with the rest of the pot before turning to her aunt and her cousin.

 

“I’m heading off to work,” she said to Aunt Seiko before turning to Rika who was quickly finishing breakfast as well. Judging by Jeri’s reaction, as it was the same as her own, she obviously knew something.  _ Remembered _ something. “Stay out of trouble,” she told Rika bluntly before glancing at Jeri as well. “Both of you.”

 

_ Don’t make things harder for me _ , she added mentally as an afterthought now that a new issue presented itself. 

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rika protested with a scowl as she took the two dishes, bringing them over to sink to wash them out.

 

“What it sounds like,” Himiko replied dryly as she headed toward the door. 

 

Jeri scowled at the back of the woman as she left the house, not saying anything. She doubted anything needed to be said, but voicing such thoughts herself would be rude to say the least. She was a guest under their roof, and she refused to speak ill of someone while there.

 

She could however, think ill of someone, but just the tiniest bit. She didn’t like thinking poorly of someone.

 

“So...um...about watching you train…” she began, turning to Rika.

 

“We should probably get changed first,” Rika said, quickly grabbing Jeri’s hand as she dragged her out of the room, waving cheerfully to her grandmother. “Thanks for breakfast grandma! It was delicious as always! If Takato or Henry show up soon, tell them we’ll be with them shortly!”

 

“Thanks again for the food!” Jeri called as Rika pulled her away. Seiko smiled and waved at the pair before taking a sip from her tea.  _ So nice that she has friends, _ she thought to herself as she returned her attention back to the TV screen. The report on the boy was gone, replaced by something involving parliament, but she couldn’t help but consider it anyway. Something about it seemed to have caught their attention...but why?

 

Seiko sighed and shook her head.

 

_ Getting old, _ she thought.  _ Seeing ghosts in every shadow… _

 

**###**

 

Takato made his way down the winding streets that led to Rika’s house, amazed at how quickly he had become accustomed to doing so.

_ I bet it’s because of how we were friends in the past,  _ he thought.  _ We probably hung out together a lot. _

It felt like an odd thing to think, considering how vastly different their backgrounds were, but he shrugged it off as unimportant for the time being. Her home was nearing and he didn’t want any outside thoughts disturbing the waters of the training she was going to impart upon him today.

Unfortunately, it seemed the universe was committed, as ever, to doing just that, as Himiko stepped out of the gate, her expression set in the same perpetual dark look she always had.

_ Uh oh… _ he thought, realizing that he had no opportunity to hide or pretend to pass by on other business. He was out in the open where he could be seen and she knew him. He was as sunk as a torpedoed submarine.

Himiko noticed Takato coming, frowning even more at the boy. 

 

_ Great, more trouble _ , she thought annoyed. His psychology profile put him down as impulsive, which Himiko could agree with regarding the bruises - which had all but disappeared only leaving a black eye visible although that too was almost lost to the sands of time. Still, as far as she was concerned, the last thing Rika needed was someone like him to enable her as the two were ranked rather similar in their snap judgement when people they cared about were threatened, with Rika, amazingly enough, labeled more likely to assess the situation before throwing herself into harm’s way.

 

She didn’t need to ask what he was doing at their gate - Rika had said earlier that he and Henry, the only calm and rational one of the group and  _ of course _ the one was conspicuously missing at the moment, were coming over to practice martial arts for self defense.

 

Himiko really hoped it was self defense from the mundane instead of the insane, but at this point, she really doubted it. 

 

_ Dumb brats _ , she couldn’t help but think annoyed. Part of her wanted to  _ not _ care what happened to them - it would be so much easier than dragging herself through this thankless hell. Still, she was taught to do what was right even if it was hard to do. She doubted this is what her father had in mind when he drilled that into her head, along with make the Hata family proud and get a damn husband to have a child, but this is what he got. 

 

“Rika’s inside,” she said tersely after a minute of staring, well perhaps more glaring on her part. “Don’t go getting into trouble.” 

 

“Uh… Thanks Ms. Hata,” Takato said, bowing politely to the woman before running inside. Taking off his shoes at the front step, he entered the house. “Rika?” he called, looking around. Seiko entered the room upon hearing his voice and smiled.

 

“Good morning, Takato. I see you’re here bright and early again.”

 

Takato gave an embarrassed laugh. “Well, Rika’s quite the drill instructor. If I didn’t show up, she’d drag me out of bed and march me all the way here just to…” Takato abruptly stopped, remembering that he was talking to her  _ grandmother. _ “Uh… I didn’t mean…”

 

“It’s quite all right,” Seiko chuckled. She was actually glad that the boy was loosening up around here. She couldn’t quite place it but his presence just seemed to... _ fit _ for some reason. As though he had always had a place here. “She’s in her room,” she told him. “She’s getting changed though, so make sure to knock.”

 

“Always,” Takato replied back, becoming even more embarrassed at the thought of barging in on Rika while she was changing. “Thanks.”

 

With that, he padded down the hall, approaching the familiar door to the girl’s room. From within, he heard her talking to someone. His first thought was Renamon, but no. The other voice sounded different. Familiar, but different.

 

“Rika?” he called out again, stopping in front of the door and giving it a polite knock. “It’s me, Takato. I’m here for my lessons. You want me to wait outside by the pond?”

 

“ _ Please!”  _ Rika’s voice yelled from the other side of the door. “ _ We’ll be with you in a few minutes _ .”

 

_ We? _ Takato tilted his head to one side curiously, but decided not to follow up on it. He undoubtedly would find out in due time. Stepping away, he headed outside to wait by the koi pond.

 

Within seconds, Renamon appeared beside him, looking slightly amused, if not a bit thoughtful.

 

“Good morning, Takato,” she greeted him with a smile. “You’re earlier than normal.”

 

“I am?” Takato’s eyebrows rose in surprise and he consulted his cell phone’s clock. “Oh! I guess I am. That’s… Well… I didn’t want to get here late so...yeah.” He glanced at Renamon in concern. “That’s not weird, is it?”

 

“Not at all,” Renamon assured him with a slight flick of her tail before her smile became more … impish. “I consider it a good sign after all when someone is excited to see my Tamer.”

 

“Glad I could help I guess,” Takato replied, scratching the side of his head, feeling that Renamon was getting at something, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what. “I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to see her after they became friends with her.”

 

“Quite,” Renamon agreed as the door slid open and Rika was pulling a rather flustered Jeri out by the hand, approaching Takato, waving cheerfully.

 

“Sorry about the wait,” she apologized. 

 

“It’s no big deal,” Takato shrugged. “I just got out here.” He turned to look at Jeri and tilted his head to one side, a bit surprised by her being here. Before he could even ask her how she was and why she was here, his eyebrows rose again at the outfit she wore. It was a bit big on her, appearing, he guessed, to be some of Rika’s clothes if the style was anything to go by. The jeans were a bit on the baggy side and she wore a black and white-striped shirt over an orange one that had something written in English on it.

 

_ Qu...e...ne? _ he tried sounding out in his brain. His lips said something else however that came out as just barely above a whisper.

 

“Cute…”

 

“I know right?” Rika grinned, wrapping an arm around the smaller girl upon hearing Takato’s whisper before turning to Jeri. “I  _ told _ you would look cute in anything, and see, Takato agrees with me!”

 

Jeri could only blush deeply at the pair as she struggled to untangle herself from the other girl. “W-Well… I…” Jeri scowled, her eyes flitting back and forth between them, feeling slightly annoyed. “Oh… I’m not going to argue about this one. I still say I’m too small for these clothes. I’m going to need a belt for these pants.”

 

“I’ll go get you one,” Renamon offered before adding in an undertone, loud enough for Rika and Takato to hear it, “Rika has lots.”

 

“I like belts, OK!” Rika protested as Renamon snickered moving gracefully to her room. “Renamon! Stop laughing!”

 

“What’s going on?” Jeri frowned in confusion. 

 

“Oh… Renamon’s just making fun of Rika. She has a lot of belts apparently.”

 

“She does,” Jeri agreed, giving Rika an amused look. “She wore a pair around one leg when she was a kid. Didn’t use it for anything. One time when she was thirteen she thought she’d wear a belt around an arm just to see if it would stick.”

 

“I regret nothing,” Rika sniffed as she sulked, turning away in a childish pout as Renamon appeared with a black belt to match the shirt Jeri was wearing, handing it to the brunette girl. 

 

“You shouldn’t,” Jeri giggled, taking the floating belt of the air and quickly buckling it on. “Takato thought it looked good on you.”

 

“I whaaaa…?” Takato gasped, flushing a little as his eyes darted over to Rika in panic. Rika glanced over at him, and upon catching his eyes, smirked devilishly.

 

“Well good to know he has excellent taste in fashion,” she replied.

 

“Um… Yeah…” Takato replied, perplexed at the response. He had been expecting accusations, teasings...perhaps even an annoyed look or three. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was a welcome change of pace. “W-What can I say? You...um...make anything look good.”

 

_ Aaand there goes both feet in the mouth… Way to start off the day, Matsuki…  _

 

“A-Anyway!” he said, interrupting any further attempt to drag on that awkward part of the conversation. Or at least hoping to. “About...About today’s training…”

 

_ Man, I bet I’m going to have to run three miles or something after that… _

 

“Actually, we might need to put that off for today. We should probably wait for Henry-” Rika looked to Jeri for confirmation to see if that was the right call, especially since she figured that the girl might not want to explain it more than once. When Jeri nodded, she continued on, “There was something on the TV today, about a missing teen or whatever. Jeri and Himiko both nearly choked. It’s probably something we should put our attention on, right Jeri?”

 

“Yeah,” Jeri nodded. “It might be related to our investigations in Mnemosyne. I’m not entirely sure, but…” Jeri shrugged. “It’s a bit too much of a coincidence to not look into.”

 

“Okay,” Takato said, understanding. “Henry’s on his way?”

 

“I’ll text him to see where he is,” Rika said, reaching into her pocket and flipping her phone open. Finding his contact, she quickly sent a single text out. 

 

_ Where are you?  _

 

**###**

 

Tally looked at the single slip of paper with an address she had scrawled down the day before. It was a bit hard to read her messy handwriting, but after wandering around the apartment complex for the past hour looking lost before a kindly old woman took pity on her to give her directions, she was 100 percent sure she was in the right place this time.

Taking in a deep breath, she took her lucky rabbit foot out of her pocket and rubbed her thumbs across it, praying that whatever kami felt like listening in would give her luck.

She didn't feel like telling Director Hata that despite finding the first Monster Maker, she couldn't get him to agree to work for them.

_ You're fine. You'll be fine _ , she assured herself, hitting her cheeks with her hands and nodding her head, carefully putting her rabbit's foot back into her pocket for easy access in case she needed more luck during her talk with Janyu Wong.

Pressing the doorbell, she folded her hands in front of her as she patiently waited, hearing the screams of "I GOT IT!" as feet pounded inside. She barely had to wait a minute when a girl, about the age of 13, flung open the door.

She was a cute little thing with her dark purple hair pulled back into a pair of pigtails which matched her dark purple eyes. Smiling, Tally waved awkwardly.

"Hi, is your father home?" she asked politely. The little girl looked her up and down, almost as if she were evaluating her before-

"My daddy is already married," she said bluntly.

“Suzie, not everyone who shows up is looking to marry Dad,” came Henry’s annoyed voice as he stepped into view, drinking from a cup of water. Upon seeing Tally, his eyes widened in surprise and he suddenly began choking violently, accidently inhaling some of his drink.

"Er..." Tally said, not sure what to make of the greeting as she looked between the small teenager, who she was 50 percent sure was now trying to intimidate her, and the boy was now choking on his water.

"Are you alright, Henry?" a woman who had to be in her early 50s and the children's mother asked as she appeared from the kitchen. Upon seeing Tally, she gave a confused bow.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked.

"Is your husband home?" Tally asked. "My name is Tally Onodera, and I have a job offer for Mr. Janyu Wong which I hope he will take."

_ Because my job is riding on it, _ she added mentally.

“I’ll…I’ll go get him,” Henry said, wiping his mouth and dashing off in the direction of his room. He was freaking out a little here.  _ Tally _ had shown up clear out of the blue. That could only mean that Hypnos was taking an active interest in something involving the digital world…possibly even the echoes! If they were rounding up all the Monster Makers to solve that issue…

Henry’s mind was running a mile a minute. Either that meant Hypnos would be able to deal with Mnemosyne…or they were working for the digital being and would be looking for a way to destroy their memories once and for all. The Oracle document Renamon had taken months ago weighed heavily on his mind, and now it moved to the forefront.

Knocking on the door to his father’s study, he pushed it open. “Hey Dad,” he greeted as the man turned around from his computer, raising an eyebrow. “You have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” Janyu asked, getting up from his chair. “Not another telemarketer is it?” he joked.

“No.” Henry shook his head. “She says she has a job offer for you.”

“A job offer?” Janyu raised an eyebrow at that again. He already had work teaching at the university.  _ Well, still… Might as well see what they want so their trip isn’t a complete waste. _

Stepping out into the hall, he made his way down to the living room and found Tally standing inside now, watching Suzie watch her, looking a bit unnerved by the attention she was receiving.

Upon seeing Janyu, Tally brightened up. His daughter was starting to unnerve her, and she wasn't the best at small talk.

"Mr. Wong, thank you for taking the time to talk to me," Tally said, bowing. "As I told your lovely wife, my name is Tally Onodera. I work with the government, and a recent project we started requires some special expertise. Your name was one of a few put forward to be part of a team to help work on it."

“I see…” Janyu said warily, looking at his family. “Um… Am I right in believing that we should be alone so you could give me more details?” he asked. “I need to know more in order to make a decision after all.”

Henry kept his face neutral, but excused himself without even needing to be asked. He had an idea based on experience that their presence wouldn’t be tolerated due to the sensitive nature of government projects.

Tally nodded as Mayumi gently steered Suzie out of the room, but not the smaller girl promised Tally in a low, threatening undertone, " _ I'll be watching you. _ "

Tally made a mental note to make sure nobody found out she got intimidated by a child as she turned to Janyu.

"To start with ... I'm assuming you have noticed the influx of government appearance within the city?" she stated slowly, not sure how much she needed to explain.

“I have,” Janyu replied. “I don’t see what that has to do with me though. I’m just a teacher in computer programming.”

"Er ... well ... there's the thing," Tally said as she reached into her pocket and rubbed the lucky rabbit's foot. "The, uh, official reason we've been giving is ... what is a polite way of saying bullshit?"

“Top secret,” Janyu chuckled, liking that she was at least upfront with him. “But the news has been calling it exercises or some such regarding potential terrorist attacks.”

It wasn’t a convincing cover story as far as he was concerned, and he knew that when he was in college he and his friends wouldn’t have believed it in the least. The wreckage left behind by these ‘exercises’ was sufficient on its own, but everything else about it stunk.

"Yes, thank you," Tally said flushing in embarrassment wondering why Director Hata sent her instead of say Yamaki or even Reilly, who she was sure would have been much more well prepared for this.

"Either way, the potential terrorist attacks isn't too far off the mark in a way,” she continued, pushing past her embarrassment. “We are dealing with, well, honestly I'm not sure what they are. Abnormalities that are digital in nature but have the ability to affect the real world in an adverse manner.

"We're currently working on finding a way to stop these attacks at its root, but none of us have any sort of extensive background in artificial life forms, which is where you come in. I'm sure my director can give you the finer specifics of what she is interested in having you do, but the general idea is that you'll be helping us with the abnormalities."

“Artificial life forms?” Janyu asked, raising an eyebrow. “That’s a little bit…science fiction, isn’t it?” He was starting to think he was being set up. True, he and his friends worked on an artificial intelligence project in college back in the 1980’s, but it was closed down and never went anywhere. Programmers have tried to create AI since then –  _ true  _ artificial intelligence – but they all failed short of their goals for one reason or another.

"It sounds rather unreal, doesn't it?" Tally said, her hand grasping her lucky rabbit's foot, rubbing it before an idea came to her.

Director Hata said to do whatever she felt was necessary to get the Monster Makers to join, so if all she needed to do was show him proof then...

"Here's an idea. Why don't you come down to work with me, and I'll show you what we do," Tally suggested, praying that her idea didn't get her fired and that he would accept it. "Some things are a bit harder to put into words, and you can ask my director any questions you may have."

Janyu thought about it for a moment. He had to admit his curiosity was good and caught. The woman appeared to be sincere as well, and he didn’t feel that she was trying to mislead him or anything.

Still, caution was prudent.

“Is there anything that you can show or tell me now?” he asked. “You’ve got my attention, but…I’d like to have something a little more to go on. Who do you represent?” He offered her a small smile. Now that he thought about it, she seemed nervous, as though this were her first outing in the field. If she had a badge representing her organization or something of that sort…

"Well, I work for an for the government in an organization called Mnemosyne, although we still like to refer to it by its previous name, Hypnos," Tally said, pulling a card out of her wallet and handed it to Janyu. While it didn't have the fact she worked at the organization - it technically didn't exist - it did state she worked for the government in the intelligence division.

"We are a top secret surveillance organization, and if you asked anybody in the government if we exist, they would tell you no before bugging your house."

She smiled wanly at that, even though it wasn't a joke.

"I'm one of the operators there, and we rather recently began picking up on abnormalities that have been able to effect the real world. Upon investigating them and being targeted by an abnormality, we have been working to keep them from emerging in the first place."

“I see,” Janyu replied. “All right… I’ll bite, just to see where this goes. Should we go now, or…?”

He let the question trail off, knowing there was no need to add more.

"If you are free, that would be great," Tally said smiling, silently celebrating in her head as she stood up. "I can wait for you outside since I'm sure you will want to let your family know that you are stepping out."

_ Although now I feel like I should watch my back more with his daughter, _ she thought, but didn't voice that thought.

Janyu nodded, pocketing her card. “I’ll see you in a minute then.”

 

**###**

 

Henry pulled his ear away from his door, having listened to the conversation between his father and Tally as best as he could. 

 

_ So… Hypnos is trying to recruit my father again, _ he thought, tapping his fingers on the doorframe before dropping his hand. This changed things, though in what ways he couldn’t be certain. The last time Hypnos pulled in the Monster Makers it had been with the intention of dealing with digimon and, later, the D-Reaper. With the formidable minds of the Monster Makers put together, it was certain that Hypnos would be a challenge for whatever they intended.

 

_ And by extension that means Mnemosyne as well, _ he thought, thinking back on the folder Renamon had brought their group.  _ What is it planning to do with my Dad and his friends? Does it have anything to do with that Oracle project? _

 

He had an idea he was going to need to visit the file again.

 

The buzzing of his cell phone broke him out of his thoughts. Turning toward his desk, he picked it up and unlocked the screen. Rika’s message blinked at him angrily and he tapped on it.

 

_ Where are you? _

 

Hitting the reply button, he typed out a quick message.

 

_ Be right there. We’ve got a new wrinkle that needs talking about... _

__


	23. Uncertain Future

“This whole thing just keeps getting more twisted,” Henry sighed, running a hand through his hair. Jeri had just informed him about Ryo Akiyama being found out in the wild, strangely enough looking as though he hadn’t aged a day since the last time either of them could remember seeing him.

 

 _Ryo…_ The Legendary Tamer. Or at least legendary to the card game, although history no longer recorded him as the world champion. His absence had been a particular curiosity, though Henry couldn’t spare any time trying to find out why that was when he had so much else on his plate.

 

_Looks like we’ll be having to investigate that sooner than I expected…_

 

“I don’t get it,” said Takato, furrowing his brow. “What’s so important about this Ryo guy that he’s…what exactly?” He turned to Jeri questioningly. “You said he hadn’t aged at all since you last saw him?”

 

“Right,” Jeri nodded. “I don’t understand it either. There’s no way that could happen.”

 

“Not unless he’s a time traveler,” Takato suggested. “Maybe he came from the past or something! Trying to see what Mnemosyne did to us in the future.”

 

Jeri cocked an eyebrow at the boy, somewhat baffled by his hypothesis. Takato rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish.

 

“Yeah… You’re right,” he said. “That does sound like a stupid idea…”

 

"No more stupid than anything else you've come up with in the past," Ayaka snarked, the copper-haired girl receiving a call from Jeri informing her that _"something had happened"_ and she needed to come down to Rika's house pronto. She wasn't quite sure what she was expecting - perhaps for something to make sense for once - but that would be too much to ask it seemed.

 

"Not necessarily," Renamon interjected, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "It depends on who this Ryo's partner was. There are Digimon who have the ability to manipulate time and dimension. If he had a partner such as that, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility."

 

"Digimon that can manipulate time and dimensions?" Rika asked, looking at Renamon surprised. "That seems a bit ... overpowered. Plus what would that mean if Ryo’s partner was such a creature?"

 

"You have no idea," Renamon said dryly. Only the foolish or suicidal dared to challenge those who could control the flow of time. "I heard rumor that there is a regulatory force to ... deter any such actions, but who knows how much of that is fact or fiction. As for being partnered with a human … who knows. Especially since we draw strength from our bonds with our partners."

 

“Ryo never talked much about his partner,” Henry said. “But when we first met him, Cyberdramon was barely in control of himself. He had to use some kind of energy whip from his digivice to keep him in line most of the time. Either way, I don’t think he controlled time or dimensions. He was more the fighter type. Very…hands on.”

 

“Cyberdramon…” Takato said, leaning back a little. “Yeah, I remember that card. Ultimate level. Vaccine type. Kind of weird that you say he was barely in control of himself. Vaccines are usually pretty good about that.”

 

“He hinted that his partner was suffering from some kind of problem,” said Henry. “Perhaps some kind of viral infection. Who knows? Either way, Ryo is here now, unchanged. That means _something.”_ Bringing his hand to his chin, he rubbed it thoughtfully. “The question is… _What?”_

 

Rika played with her hair thoughtfully for a moment before speaking up again.

 

"I ... don't think Takato's idea is that crazy," she said finally, her words slow and measured. "Unrefined, yes, especially since on the news the boy - Ryo - was said to have amnesia, but who isn't to say that a Digimon who controls time isn't behind this? Who isn't to say Mnemosyne isn't that Digimon who merely lost control of its powers from a failed attempt at changing the past?

 

"I mean think about it. The echoes are fragments of the past. We aren't sure how some of them gain sentience, but it makes sense when you factor in a Digimon who can no longer control its powers. Why else would it be so against us knowing about the Digital World and the D-Reaper? What if these past six years it has been trying - and failing - to do something beyond its scope of power?"

 

“Maybe…” Henry frowned. “We have to avoid making a lot of assumptions here. The only thing that _does_ seem certain though is that…well…Mnemosyne isn’t your typical digimon. I’m not even sure it is a digimon. It doesn’t have the ‘mon’ at the end of its name. It seems more like…like…”

 

“Gennai?” Takato suggested. “Only with some crazy time travel power or something?”

 

“Or maybe it’s like the D-Reaper,” suggested Jeri, pulling her legs up to her chest. “Maybe Mnemosyne is another person working with a program that...digivolved or something.”

 

Henry sighed. “I don’t know. I think we’re better off sticking to what we do know.

 

"It's not a Digimon," Renamon said firmly. She would be able to tell if it was. "It's not a human either. I can tell you all that much."

 

"Right you said that it wasn't Digimon or human before," Rika said deflating, glancing over at Jeri, catching Ayaka's similar worried glance.

 

 _Yesterday was hard enough on her, and now we’re talking about another heavy topic_ , she thought, her frown becoming more pronounced, not quite sure what to do in this situation. She didn’t want her friend’s heart to become heavier, but she didn’t feel like coddling her would be the best course of action either. _Talk about terrible luck._

 

"Well let's just forget thinking about what it is at the moment," Ayaka said, quickly changing the subject not wanting Jeri to linger on unpleasant memories. "What are you dorks even thinking about doing about Ryo? It's suspicious he turned up unaged after all this time, sure, but what can we do? He's not even in Shinjuku, and unless you are thinking about skipping school tomorrow to follow a lead which might not even amount to anything, we should focus on that other matter Henry was talking about."

 

“We should at least keep our ears out on it though,” Takato said, frowning at the copper-haired girl. “I mean, he _was_ a Tamer, and Mnemosyne seems to have a thing against us specifically.”

 

"Keep an ear on it, obviously, but we shouldn't focus all our efforts on it is what I'm saying, Gogglehead," Ayaka said, waving her hand irritably. "Plus he has complete amnesia at the moment. I'm pretty sure he'll be safe from Mnemosyne's nefarious plans or whatever due to that. When he starts getting his memory back, we'll start looking more into his case, but in the meantime, it's just going to be a dead end with more questions than answers as far as I'm concerned."

 

Takato nodded reluctantly, though he wasn’t entirely sure if he agreed with her. True, Ayaka had a point, but even with amnesia, they had all been targeted by Mnemosyne. He was certain of that. Having amnesia didn’t strike him as an immunity against Mnemosyne’s machinations.

 

A part of him felt Ryo, amnesia or not, would only be a source of trouble for the digital life form.

 

“At any rate,” Henry coughed, interrupting the teen’s thought process. “We do have another situation on our hands. Hypnos is gathering the Monster Makers. They’ve already started with my dad.”

 

"Monster Makers?" Rika asked, arching an eyebrow, the terminology new to her.

 

“Right, sorry,” Henry apologized. “That was the nickname given to my dad and his friends. They worked on an artificial intelligence project back in the 1980’s. The end result was digimon, but the project closed up shop before it was completed. Digimon managed to get onto the net afterward when Namco and Bandai found it and decided to market them as a kid’s product, and they evolved from there. So…yeah. There’s the origin story.”

 

"So your father is one of those who I have to thank for my existence," Renamon noted with a slight smile. "It seems the universe truly does move in unusual ways."

 

"Renamon made a philosophical comment about your dad being the reason for her being around," Rika said, ignoring Renamon's muttered comment that she completely butchered what she said, although she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to the vulpine. "My question though is what does Hypnos want with them?"

 

“I think it has something to do with the echoes,” Henry said, leaning forward a little. “The woman who recruited my dad – Tally – said that they had no experience dealing with artificial intelligence or the digital abnormalities they were fighting against. We’ve all noticed that the activities of echoes have dropped a lot since we got back from vacation.”

 

"... And Himiko has been acting peculiar lately," Rika added thoughtfully, crossing her arms as she leaned against the tree. Now that she thought about it, her odd behavior started right after she got back from vacation as well.

 

 _Did something happen?_ she wondered, her brow furrowing. It seemed like the only logical conclusion, although what that “something” was remained a mystery.

"I mentioned this to Rika, but I think she knows about me," Renamon typed. "She seems more ... vigilant?"

 

She wasn’t quite sure how else to explain the elder woman’s behavior. Her black eyes tracked Rika’s movements, and she seemed more aware when things weren’t just so. The easy conversations they enjoyed for the past few months were slowly disappearing, watching the shadows for Himiko’s figure.

 

She could feel the paranoia creeping into the very fiber of her being. She may be rusty as a warrior, but there was one feeling she had honed these past three years - knowing when she was being hunted.  

 

“Like she’s trying to keep an eye out for you?” Takato asked. “Good thing you’re invisible then…” He barked a laugh, though it died in his throat almost as soon as it arrived. “Although… It’s not like that’s a guarantee things will stay that way…”

 

"Well I've told Renamon to be careful just in case. She can disappear into the shadows, so Himiko is going to really have to step up her game," Rika scoffed, although she couldn't hide the fact she was worried too. If Himiko was behind the disappearance in the echoes and was looking for Renamon...

 

 _Who knows what she might do_ , she thought, her nails digging into her arm.

 

“Well this could be a good thing, couldn’t it?” Ayaka asked. “After all, we were gathering proof for Henry to show Yamaki. Not that we’ve gotten very far in the past couple of weeks considering they’ve apparently been _deleting_ it all, but you know. Saves a lot of time.”

 

“Well, I want to know what happened for them to start even addressing the problem. Like I said earlier, Himiko isn’t exactly the type to believe things easily,” Rika said, her brow furrowing a bit. “First the echoes are being taken care of. Then Hypnos is recruiting the Monster Makers. Smells suspicious to me.”

 

“Like how?” Takato asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, Hypnos is some kind of spy agency or something after all. They probably would pick up on stuff like this, wouldn’t they?”

 

“I don’t know,” Henry said, rubbing his chin. “They were made to forget that digimon were real after all, just like us. The change is very drastic. It just doesn’t sound like something Mnemosyne would do.”

 

“Maybe it needs help dealing with the echoes?” Jeri suggested. She shivered, remembering the beach. “It _is_ starting to get out of hand after all. As powerful as Mnemosyne is, I don’t think it can handle all of this forever on its own.”

 

“I think Jeri has a point,” Renamon agreed, quickly typing more of her thoughts on to the small cell phone, wishing the device had a larger keyboard which were easier for her claws to navigate. However, what it lacked in ease of access it made up in portability. “When I first appeared to Rika, I told her that Mnemosyne was losing control of everything. It clearly operates on logic. So, it would only be logical to access outside help lessen the load.”

 

“Which would mean Hypnos is working with Mnemosyne,” Rika grimaced, running her fingers through her hair.

 

 _This is bad_ , she thought with a frown, her heart dropping to the bottom of her chest. It was bad enough that they had Mnemosyne’s attention, but to have their best bet for outside help allied with the enemy … not to mention what did this mean for her and Renamon? Mnemosyne promised it wouldn’t harm Renamon … however, if Himiko was working for it, wouldn’t that be a loophole in its verbal agreement.

 

A sudden chill ran down her spine.

 

 _Renamon isn’t safe here anymore_ , she realized, biting her lip. That much was clear, but where could she go? Rika didn’t want to kick her out of the house, but she didn’t want her partner to be in unnecessary danger either.

 

"Well I may be biased considering Himiko saved my life, but I would like to think maybe she, and Hypnos, still can be an ally," Ayaka commented dryly before turning to the more volatile hafu. "She's your cousin, isn't she? Maybe try talking to her. Let her know what is going on. We don’t even know if Mnemosyne even is behind it, although I will admit that is the most likely explanation."

 

“She is Rika’s cousin, it’s…kind of complicated,” Jeri said, not raising her eyes to meet that of  the other girl’s. “Suffice to say that simply joining forces with Himiko is no guarantee of anything, safety least of all.”

 

“Plus what am I supposed to even say to her?” Rika snapped irritably. “Just because she has a sense of morality and values human life like a decent human being doesn’t mean she’s trustworthy. Not that she trusts me in the first place.”

 

“Like I should know!” Ayaka shot back, getting just as irritated. The situation was getting steadily out of control, yet all they’ve been doing is talking about what they should do instead of taking any real action. “I think we should do _something_ though. We talked about this before, but last time our biggest concern was if she would believe us or not and admittedly Rika’s less than stellar relationship with her. However with Hypnos hiring Henry’s dad, and echoes getting blown up, things are _different!_ We might actually have an _in_ if we can just convince them! For all we know, Hypnos _knows_ something is up already but doesn’t know _what.”_

 

Pausing, she turned a fierce glare at each one of them, her temper rising. It was a miracle as far as she was concerned how they managed to figure anything out let alone make progress with all their half-hearted, easy-going attempts. It wasn’t like they had any real choice on being picky - especially now.

 

“This is so annoying!” she said finally. “It’s clear that we need to make some sort of alliance with Hypnos, yet when it comes right down to it, we’re idling around with our hands in our pockets! We’re practically adults! It’s time we stop acting like children and do something!”

 

Silence rang in Rika’s yard for a moment before, finally, Takato spoke up.

 

“She has a point,” he said, scratching the side of his head. “I mean, we’re really limited in what kind of things we can do right now. I mean, I don’t mean to sound like a downer but…did we have a plan about what we were going to do once we got evidence that there was something going on?” He turned to Henry expectantly.

 

Henry frowned and shifted uncertainly. “I…have an idea, but…I’ve never been sure if I could implement it. I’m not sure my hardware is up to it.”

 

"So, what you never even tried?" Ayaka asked, her frustration only growing. It felt like she was the only one willing to do _something_ and she wasn't even someone who was heavily involved into recently. "I'm slowly wondering how you guys were able to save the world six years ago if you are so unwilling to try anything."

 

Henry frowned, starting to feel a bit frustrated himself with the unexpected attack on their group. “I have had _very_ good reason to be careful, especially recently. Among all of us here, you are the only one who didn’t have your memories wiped on multiple occasions. You are the only one here who is not on any government data list because you were never a Tamer. All of us here…” He ran a finger through each of their friends. “…we’re _people of interest._ And Mnemosyne has kept a close eye on us.”

 

Shifting, he centered himself mentally, trying to find the peace and calmness that his teacher tried to instill in him.

 

“I’m sorry that I haven’t tried. I have been worried that Mnemosyne was tracking my computer movements. And, as I’m sure you know, anything involving digital equipment and our operations becomes erased. That is the very same equipment that I need in order to accomplish anything. And I have had _no_ safety net. And with the plan that I would need to do – that I have spent the past few years working out _on paper –_ I would end up attracting a _lot_ of attention.”

 

"What is it?" Renamon typed, keeping an eye on Rika in case things got even more heated.

 

While she didn't think, well, _hoped_ , her Tamer would get into a physical altercation with Ayaka over the other girl's frustration with the group, it was better to be safe than sorry.

 

Especially since Rika was glaring daggers at Ayaka, her body tense and coiled, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

 

“A technique that I learned from my dad,” Henry said before fixing Ayaka with a hard look. “He and his friends were the real ones who saved the world by the way. We just helped give them the opening they needed.” He sighed. “At any rate, maybe we _should_ consider talking to Himiko. Hypnos has the equipment we need after all. Things would be simpler if I could just reestablish contact with Terriermon…”

 

Ayaka glared right back. She really didn't care if they were angry at her - they needed to stop giving excuses and just do what needed to be done. Being cautious was one thing. Being too afraid to act was another.

 

"Once again, what am I supposed to say?" Rika demanded before changing her voice to a sarcastically sweet pitch. "Oh Himiko, I just want you to know we need to come into your _top secret_ government lab to play around with the machines. Oh also there is this being called Mnemosyne who can alter our memories, and we are in no way crazy what-so-ever!"

 

“You know we can provide proof, Rika,” Takato spoke up, frowning a little. “All we need is a cell phone and Renamon to be with us. Heck, Renamon doesn’t _need_ us as long as she has a cell phone.”

 

"I’m fine with that," Renamon typed, showing the others, while giving Rika a meaningful look.

 

"It's our best bet for beating Mnemosyne," she said calmly. "Ayaka is right; we need to start acting."

 

"But what if she wants to kill you?!" Rika cried out, the fear from earlier rebubbling to the surface. "There has to be another way!"

 

If Hypnos was indeed deleting echoes, what reason would Himiko have to spare Renamon? There was no love lost between the two, and Rika didn’t believe for one second that Himiko would see Renamon for what she truly was: a living being with her own agency and feelings. Not to mention if she truly was a lackey of Mnemosyne using a technical loophole to get rid of Renamon while still keeping its “word.”

 

After all …

 

After all …

 

If she was in Himiko’s shoes, would she spare Renamon after deleting so many other echoes without blinking an eye?

 

 _No_ , a traitorous whisper said in the back of her mind. _No you wouldn’t. After all you weren’t all that upset when Leomon was killed._

 

"Rika, don't be selfish," Renamon said firmly, her tail flicking sharply. "I have no intention on rushing to my death. That being said, I am willing to make the sacrifice if it comes down to that. After all, even if I'm deleted in the process, it's not like you'll be alone." Renamon's eyes softened. While it made her happy that Rika was protective of her as if she was the real thing, she knew that if they wanted to win, she was merely a pawn - easy to dispose of. "At the end of the day, I'm a memory, Rika. Sooner or later, we're going to have to say good-bye."

 

 _Selfish?!_ Rika thought incredulously, looking like she had been slapped. How could she say she was being _selfish_ when she was looking out for her life? That she cared about her?

 

Takato looked at the vulpine digimon, alarmed by how casually she devalued herself. “Renamon…” he began in a soft voice. “Why…would you say something like that?”

 

Jeri raised an eyebrow at the boy. “What? What is she saying?”

 

“She’s saying she’s…just a memory. Like that makes her meaningless or something.” He shook his head, not understanding the kitsune. “I don’t get it. So what if you’re a memory? Digimon are made of data, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not alive.”

 

Something clicked in his mind just then – a memory of him standing in the middle of the Shinjuku Elementary soccer field, saying something to a much younger Rika and Renamon, and feeling _angry_ with them.

 

_“I did it for the data…”_

 

 _“Data? Digimon are living creatures and you…_ kill them!”

 

“I thought you _knew_ that…” he said, his expression softening.

 

"My existence is tied to Mnemosyne," she said simply, closing her eyes. She didn't like seeing the heartbreak on Rika's face nor the pain on Takato's. However, if it lessened the blow by however much when it was sure to happen later, she would do what needed to be done.

 

"Its defeat means in no uncertain terms my death," she explained. "You all cannot be afraid to act because you are worried what might become of me."

 

She opened up her eyes again and looked at Rika, her voice becoming gentler. She needed to make the girl understand. She needed to prepare her for the inevitability.

 

 _Once upon a time Rika would have said she understood that one day I must go,_ she thought sadly. _But you were lying back then to yourself, weren't you Rika?_

 

"If you liken this to a game of chess, I am merely a pawn piece. I understand and appreciate you don't see me that way, but it was something I made peace with already." She smiled slightly at Rika. "Plus ... it's not like you'll be losing me forever. I am merely an echo of a partner who I know loves you just as much as I do, Rika."

 

"I don't want to lose you too, Renamon," Rika choked out, understanding the logic behind what Renamon was saying. However, she couldn't just turn her back on her like this. Renamon, as far as she was concerned, was real. "I can't just accept that's your fate."

 

"I know," Renamon murmured, walking over to her partner and pulling her into a hug, stroking her hair. "That's what I like best about you. You never give up and you value those who you love. Being by your side has made me incredibly happy, but you can't be tied down to the past forever. If you are to move forward, you're going to have to stop looking back."

 

Takato scowled at Renamon’s words, not liking the sound of them one bit. “You’re _not_ a pawn,” he said, unable to believe she saw herself like that. “And it shouldn’t matter if you’re a memory or not. So what if you’re an echo? You have your own thoughts and feelings. You’re _alive!_ Besides, we don’t know that defeating Mnemosyne would kill you too. We don’t know _anything_ about it!”

 

His words were coming faster now. He thought back to Leomon; there one minute and then…gone, as if he had never been. Was he supposed to just _pretend_ that his existence didn’t matter just by virtue of being a sentient memory? After everything that had happened… All the memories they had lost… The _friends_ that they lost…

 

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing from you,” Takato said, his voice low, his red eyes meeting Renamon’s blue ones. “You’re just…giving up.”

 

"Giving up would mean doing nothing and wallowing in self-pity," Renamon said calmly, letting go of Rika so she could look at Takato, her shining blue eyes boring into him. He was a good child - they all were. Yet it was something she wasn't sure if he could make him understand. "Like I said, it is merely something I have come to accept and made peace with. I understand you are upset. I have had many nights to think about this while this is being dropped on you suddenly, and for that I am sorry. It wasn't something I wanted to bring up - to burden you with.

 

"However, after Leomon's death ... how much that tore at you children ... I don't want you to fall into despair thinking you failed me somehow when the time comes. Maybe defeating Mnemosyne won't kill me, yet logically speaking, the correlation of the increase in echoes over the years and Mnemosyne losing control is directly proportional. It would be foolish to ignore that."

 

She sighed, feeling though that no matter what she said, nothing would get through to the two Tamers. Maybe Henry would understand what she was saying, or even Ayaka. Perhaps even Jeri. Yet they couldn't hear her, and the ones who could were the ones with the biggest, yet most vulnerable, hearts.

 

"If it's easier for you, think about it this way," she said finally. "I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want any of you to have any regrets. There is a human proverb which might apply here; live your last day to the fullest, for it may be your last."

 

Takato met Renamon’s gaze, eyes blazing. It was a good quote but…no. Try as he might, it still sounded like giving up. Renamon had called herself a ‘pawn’. She only saw herself as an echo and not someone who was alive with thoughts and dreams of her own.

 

However, he saw that she wasn’t willing to debate him on the topic. She already made her choice.

 

“This doesn’t have to be your last though,” Takato said, standing up, a dark, roiling cloud in his eyes. “I know that we may lose people. We lost Leomon. It’s just…” Takato tightened his hands into fists. “That doesn’t mean that your life doesn’t matter!”

 

Another memory came to him. One of him talking to Henry in a hallway about something urgent.

 

_“I just know that nothing lasts forever Takato. Nothing.”_

 

 _Defiance surged within him, refusing to accept those words. “Well this can and it_ will!”

 

“I don’t know how,” Takato continued. “I’m not smart like Henry. But I promise that I won’t let you die. Doesn’t matter if it’s Mnemosyne or Hypnos or whatever! I’ll do whatever it takes!”

 

Jeri looked at Takato, amber-eyes wide as she saw the fire in his eyes – a fire she remembered in their original lives before Mnemosyne wiped it out of their memories. _This_ was the boy she had fallen for once upon a time. Her hands curled together as she looked away. A part of he wanted to agree with him, and yet…

 

“We should be ready though,” she whispered. “Just in case. We have no idea what will happen between here and now…”

 

“Jeri…” Takato gaped. “Not…you too…”

 

“I know what it’s like to live with loss, Takato,” she said, one hand touching her wrist tentatively. “Nothing is certain. We have to be ready for that.”

 

“I _know_ nothing is certain!” Takato exclaimed. “I just…” He looked back and forth between Renamon and Jeri. “…just…why is everyone like this all of a sudden? All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t just give up on you Renamon. _You_ shouldn’t just write yourself off just because you’re an echo.”

 

He clutched the sides of his head and shook it. “This was supposed to be about trying to get help from Hypnos. Why are we talking about sacrificing people and saying Renamon’s a pawn on a chessboard?”

 

“Enough!” Rika snapped finally. She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. She didn’t want to argue with Renamon anymore. She would just have to prove her wrong, and work to save her. If there was a third path, she simply needed to find it. There was no use in trying to change Renamon’s mind - she was just as stubborn as she was. “This conversation is over. Now, Renamon agreed that she would take part in convincing Himiko to ally with us. She’s made her decision, and even though I don’t like it, I’m going to respect it. So what we should be focusing on now is our plan of attack to make sure we aren’t acting like chickens running around with our heads cut off.”

 

Takato sat back down wordlessly, his expression dark. Jeri watched him softly for a moment before looking back at Rika.

 

“Um… Okay,” she said. “So...we’re definitely going to do this then...right?”

 

“If that’s what everyone agrees on, than yeah,” Henry nodded. “And as long as Renamon is okay with it. I don’t know what else we’re supposed to do, but... we _should_ consider this carefully. Let’s not make sure we’re deciding on this out of desperation for results. This could end in disaster because of that after all.”

 

“I think the desperate bridge has been crossed long ago,” Ayaka snarked, folding her arms. “But as long as _something_ gets done, most any plan is fine by me.”

 

“I’ll do whatever is needed,” Renamon typed on Rika’s phone, showing Henry the screen.

 

“Whatever has the least amount of risk is what I want to do,” Rika said, looking away. “I’ll trust whatever you come up with though, Henry.”

 

Henry frowned, the feeling of hesitation starting once more. This was it. This decision held so much risk. _If we make a mistake with Himiko…_

 

Leaning forward, he closed his eyes, contemplating for a moment.

 

“We need to make certain that Himiko is on our side first,” he said, opening his eyes, grey irises thoughtful. “We can’t afford to mess this up. This is the closest we’ve come in six years. I don’t want all this effort to be for nothing.” He looked at Ayaka meaningfully. “I know you want action, but...this… I feel that this is the last chance for us. We’ve got to make this one _count.”_

 

“I’ll talk to Himiko tonight,” Rika said after a moment, realizing their plan was currently riding on her shoulders.

 

 _No pressure though_ , she thought sarcastically. Out of everybody gathered, she was sure that she was the worst person they could have possibly picked. Although it was very likely Renamon would be with her, helping. _… Who am I kidding? When it comes down to it, Renamon is probably going to be the one to convince Himiko. She’s much better with people than I am._

 

“All right,” Henry nodded reluctantly. “Let’s cross our fingers then.”

 

**###**

 

“So if you join us, as I mentioned earlier, any information you and your team find regarding the source of the abnormalities will be discussed with me and only me,” Himiko said, chewing on a cigarette, pieces of tobacco floating down and landing on her desk as she pointed to the contract she laid out in front of Janyu Wong. “The Monster Maker team will be working to find a way to deal with the abnormalities. You’ll also be working with the Hypnos team - you’ve already met Tally Onodera of course. The other two on the team are Mitsuo Yamaki and Riley Ohtori. Any further questions?”

 

“Abnormalities…” Janyu said, leafing through the file Himiko had given him. “This is incredible. Real artificial intelligence! Surely there is some way we can save them… Store them somewhere for study? Maybe even communicate with them?”

 

Of all the things he had expected, it certainly hadn’t been this. Tally had caught his curiosity with her mention of AI, no question, but he hadn’t expected organisms that had at the bare minimum human-level intelligence and could even manifest in the real world! This was extraordinary to say the least, and to find that Himiko’s organization wanted to destroy them and their source was...perplexing to say the least.

 

“I’m just not sure I understand. What harm have these...abnormalities caused?”

 

He frowned at the file. It seemed there was something else going on with them that he missed. They didn’t appear dangerous, but...something was...off?

 

“Well one has attacked Hypnos headquarters already,” Himiko said, taking the cigarette out of her mouth only to take a sip of coffee, the taste of tobacco mixing wonderfully with the coco. Placing her cup back down, she turned her attention back to Janyu. “I’m quite sure we can communicate with them in theory as they have shown a level of sentience, although like terrorists, I’m not quite sure how well that would work out. If you can find a way though to contain the abnormalities to communicate with them that poses no risk to the general population, have at it though.”

 

“Thank you,” Janyu nodded. “Yes, I think I will sign up. This is… The contributions this could make to the advancements of artificial intelligence…” He shook his head at the possibilities. “We could be looking at the beginning of a new age.”

 

“Excellent,” Himiko smiled, handing her pen to him. “Just sign at the bottom, and welcome to the team Mr. Wong.”

 

Taking her pen, Janyu Wong did just that.

 

**###**

 

The sun was beginning to set, and even though the heavy conversation took place earlier, there was still a sort of tension which hung in the evening air.

 

Rika didn’t know what to say to Jeri as they walked down the street, the others leaving some time earlier. Rika and Henry ended up training Takato, although who knows how effective they were today with thoughts elsewhere. The group stayed together for a short period of time before slowly going their different ways, the discussion from earlier clearly weighing on everyone’s minds. It wasn’t long before it was just the two girls again.

 

“Sorry,” she said finally, breaking the silence. “That today was … well … ya know.”

 

“It’s okay,” Jeri nodded. “We’ve all had a lot on our minds. I’m more sorry that Ayaka was...prickly today. I don’t know what came over her.”

 

“It’s fine. I could understand her frustration,” Rika admitted before looking over at the smaller girl, her brow furrowing her worry. “How are you feeling though?”

 

Jeri thought about it for a moment, massaging her hands together before one slid down her wrist, cupping it carefully.

 

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I mean, I guess I’m doing okay. I’m still not happy after what happened with Kazu but...I guess I’ve just...got something more important to focus on so I can just...not think about him for a while.”

 

She glanced at Rika, blushing lightly. “Thanks for letting me stay for the night. That means a lot to me.”

 

“You’re welcome over whenever you want,” Rika said, a smile sliding on to her face as she reached over and gently messed Jeri’s hair playfully. “We’re friends, right? I’m not going to turn my back on you. I may not be the best when it comes to social stuff, but … I can be there whenever you need me.”

 

Jeri’s blush darkened slightly, and she began to fidget with her hands again. “T-Thanks,” she stammered out, suddenly understanding Takato’s nervousness around the girl a little better. She smiled at Rika warmly though. “I know you will. You always were back before we lost our memories.”

 

“Oh that’s right, I’ve been thinking,” Rika said suddenly, snapping her fingers. “When you told me how close we used to be back then, I felt, I dunno, bummed out that it wasn’t quite that way now? And I was thinking, uhm, maybe we should hang out more? Just us?” She played with the tips of her hair awkwardly, coughing trying to hide the fact she was slightly nervous.

 

The fact she felt like she just asked Jeri out on a date didn’t help.

 

 _Could I fail even more at this?_ she wondered. How she managed to make a friendly invitation sound gay was beyond her, but she promptly chalked it up to the fact she went to a girl’s school up until high school. Accidental homosexual subtext was probably just par the course, which normally wouldn’t cause much of a concern for her if it wasn’t for the fact she wasn’t trying to hit on Jeri, and even if she was, she would _not_ do it the day after she broke up with her boyfriend.

 

“You know, doing whatever we did before,” she tried to save herself.

 

Jeri smiled, blushing ever so lightly at the girl’s attempt to be a little more friendly and, perhaps, even rekindle the bond as it had been prior to Mnemosyne’s interference.

 

“Sure,” she smiled, nodding her head. “I’d like that.”

 

 _Nice save!_ Rika congratulated herself, giving herself a well-deserved pat on the back for not dropping the ball on that. Takato already had the whole sticking feet into your mouth thing covered, and she didn’t want to take that from him.

 

“Great!” she said excitedly, beaming at her. “I’m not sure what we used to do, so you’re going to have to let me know, OK?”

 

“Okay!” Jeri chirped happily, suddenly grabbing hold of Rika’s arm and pressing herself against her. She giggled. “By the way,” she began, “one of those things we used to do involved going out to eat ice cream and ruin our dinners.”

 

“My, my, we lived on the dangerous side,” Rika laughed, slowing down her pace slightly so she wasn’t dragging Jeri along now that she seemed to have attached herself - quite literally - to her. “Never pegged you for a hardcore rebel.”

 

“Looks can be deceiving,” Jeri giggled, sticking her tongue out at Rika. “Just like yours are. You big grumpy kitten.”

 

“I resent that,” Rika sniffed. “I am at least an adult cat.”

 

“A grumpy cat then,” Jeri sniffed. “It’s still the same in the end.”

 

“There is a fundamental difference between a kitten and a cat,” Rika said seriously, although the grin crawling across her face and the twinkle in her eye made it clear she was joking. “Kittens are cute and innocent balls of fur who can do no wrong. Cats are bipolar jerks.”

 

“Well, then you’re halfway a cat and still a kitten. You have the cute part down _very_ well after all,” her eyes sparkling in amusement right back at Rika.

 

“I’m not cute. I’m _cool_ ,” Rika corrected her. “Of course handsome, pretty and beautiful all work just as well I suppose.”

 

“Cute,” Jeri grinned. “Cute, cute, cute, cute, _cute.”_ Stopping, she stepped in front of Rika and leaned forward, flicking her nose devilishly. “Definitely cute. And I’ll bet even Takato would think you’re cute.”

 

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Rika said clicking her tongue as she waggled her finger in Jeri’s face, smirking slightly. “I’m not cute. _You’re_ cute. In fact you are down right adorable. After all, cute things are _small_.” She winked at Jeri when she said that.

 

“So you’re saying big animals can’t be cute?” Jeri scowled, puffing her cheeks out like a chipmunk.  
  
“Jeri, have you ever seen a cute moose?” Rika asked with a completely straight face.

 

“I’ve seen cute dogs that are big,” Jeri admonished.

 

“Dogs are special exceptions. All dogs are cute as long as they’re trying not to bite you,” Rika grinned slightly.

 

“That sure sounds like you,” Jeri winked teasingly. Not bothering to wait for her friend’s answer, she spun around and started back in the direction of home, humming softly to herself.

 

“Am I a dog or am I a cat?” Rika asked, rolling her eyes as she quickly caught up to Jeri and kept stride easily with her.

 

“Either one, but either way, you’re still cute.”

 

Jeri had a feeling that this would be a long conversation between them.

 

However, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

**###**

The family tavern entered Jeri’s view as they turned the corner, and a smile broke across her face. She felt…wonderful seeing it again. Home was where the heart was and her father’s business held many happy memories for her. It took some of the sting of her breakup with Kazu out of her, but only a little.

 _Dad’s not going to be happy seeing him again if he comes around,_ she thought, tightening her grip on Rika’s hand. The girl’s touch was warm and soothing; Rika’s presence also soothed the sting. While it didn’t make her forget, it helped shoulder the burden. Turning, she smiled at Rika and with a gentle tug, hurried them across the street.

“I’m home!” she called as they entered the tavern. Looking around, she immediately found her father at the counter, a grim look on his face.

 _Not that that’s anything out of the ordinary,_ she thought, turning on her best sunshine smile.

Upon seeing his daughter, Tadashi's face softened, relieved to see her safe and sound. He had been worried when Jeri had disappeared after her talk with Kazu, and even more so when Shizue had come to him explaining that the two of them broke up, and she was spending the night over "Rika's."

Tadashi had no idea who this "Rika" was, although he did remember his daughter mentioning the girl before when she mentioned she was hanging out with friends lately.

 _This must be her,_ he thought, turning his attention to the other girl briefly. _...She looks a bit like a boy._

His brow furrowed slightly when he noticed her bright orange hair. He really hoped she wasn't a troublemaker - Jeri didn't need another one in her life, especially after Kazu. Especially after breaking _up_ with Kazu. However her violet eyes through him for a loop slightly.

 _Isn't the Hata family known for their purple eyes?_ he wondered before pushing it to the side, deciding not to dwell on it. It wasn't important.

"Welcome home, Jeri," he grunted awkwardly before nodding his head at Rika. "This your friend?"

"Uh, yes, I'm Rika Nonaka. I'm a friend from school. Nice to meet you Mr. Katou," Rika said, bowing her head slightly. While he noticed the girl tripping over her words slightly, she didn't stammer or look away.

 _She seems like she's nice enough, and if she's from school, she has to be smart,_ he thought as he continued to stare at her _. And Jeri trusts her ... though she trusted Kazu too._

Still he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. She hadn't done anything wrong yet, and this was only the first time he met her. He would need to watch her a bit more to get a better grasp of her character.

Jeri looked back and forth between the two before giving her father an amused look. “Dad… You’re making her uncomfortable. All she did was let me stay the night at her place. She’s not the boss of a crime syndicate.”

"Ah," he said, unaware he had been staring quite that hard. He had tried to be discrete. "Right, sorry." He nodded his head slightly. "Thank you for looking after Jeri."

"Huh? Oh, no need for thanks," Rika said, using her free hand to wave him off. His politeness made her feel more uneasy than his staring did. Staring she could deal with. Conversation with her friend's parent ... not so much. "Jeri's my friend. It's the least I could do. Don't worry about it."

“Thank you Dad,” Jeri smiled, turning to Rika. “Would you like anything to eat or drink since you’re here? No alcohol obviously…” Jeri giggled at the idea of Rika drinking sake. She imagined the girl would be quite amusing to say the least.

"Ah, no thanks," she said with a slight smile, the awkward feeling and the heightened awareness of possible social interaction with someone not her age starting to get to her.

"I should probably start heading back, now that you're home," she continued, twisting a lock of her hair around her finger.

“Okay,” Jeri nodded, finding herself a bit reluctant to say goodbye for the night, but there was no helping it. “Take care of yourself, all right? And thanks again.”

Reaching up, she pulled Rika into a hug. As she did so, she heard the sound of voices coming down the stairs… Her stepbrother and someone else.

“No, Masahiko,” came a familiar voice. Jeri recognized it as one of his friends, Akira. “I’m telling you, just because Alchemists can manipulate matter doesn’t mean that they can do everything through concentration. They show over and over in the manga that it takes a lot of study…”

 

“But they can still do anything,” Masahiko protested as he emerged in the doorway, a boy with jet black hair and blue eyes who looked to be around the same age as him trailing slightly behind.

 

 _I didn’t know Jeri had brothers_ , Rika thought as Masahiko’s eyes widened upon seeing his sister, and with a yell of glee, barrelled over the counter, ignoring his father’s yells to slow down, and tackled his sister into a hug.

 

“Jeri! You’re home!” he squealed excitedly. He had been worried when his sister had disappeared last night, nor returned the following morning despite mom assuring him she was staying over at a friend’s house. After all the last time she got sad, he almost lost her.

 

“Hey Masahiko,” Jeri hugged her stepbrother as behind him, Akira drew to a halt, nodding politely to the two girls before his gaze settled on Rika, brow furrowing slightly.

 

“Hello,” he greeted the teen simply.

 

“Don’t mind him,” Jeri laughed. “He’s always been of few words with strangers.” She winced suddenly. “Masahiko! You’re squishing me!”

 

“Sorry,” Masahiko apologized as he loosened his grip before noticing what his sister was wearing. He didn’t recognize it as any of the clothes she had in her closet. His head tilting in confusion, his attention turned to the other girl in the room who was looking completely lost.

 

“Ah is she your friend?” he asked, tugging at Jeri’s shirt slightly as he pointed, as Tadashi reminded him, once again, that it was rude to point.

 

“Yes she is,” Jeri nodded, patting her little brother on the head. “Now be nice, like Dad told you, okay?”

 

“Like he would ever remember,” Akira muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Jeri,” Rika assured her, smiling slightly. “I didn’t know you had brothers though.” Looking at both of them, she rubbed the back of her head, feeling like she should at least introduce herself. “But, ah, yeah, I’m Rika Nonaka. I go to school with your sister.”

 

 _“Brother,”_ Jeri corrected. “Singular. This little guy here, Masahiko, is my stepbrother. The other little guy pretending to be quiet is Akira Makino. They’ve been best friends for a few years now.”

 

“Ma-makino?” Rika asked, cursing herself mentally for stuttering, the blood in her veins going suddenly very cold as she looked over at the boy again as if noticing him for the first time.

 

 _Are you kidding me?! A Makino?! Out of all the rotten luck…_ she thought gritting her teeth slightly but forced a smile on her face. He hadn’t said anything, nor showed and signs of recognition, so it was very possible he didn’t know who she was. Which was just as well. She didn’t want to start a fight under her friend’s roof.

 

Still, the first name itself was like a sword had been thrusted into her gut, and the combination of the two merely twisted it in further. She couldn’t help but wonder what she could have done which was horrible that the universe was set on torturing her this way.

 

“I see. Anyway, nice to meet you again,” she said simply, the need to run away and get out of the house only now shooting through the roof.

 

Jeri and Akira both simultaneously raised eyebrows at the girl, having caught her stutter. However, unable to determine if something was wrong, Jeri simply nodded.

 

“Okay…” she said, frowning slightly. “Thanks again for taking care of me.” Releasing her little brother, she bowed politely to Rika, as a lesson to her stepbrother. Behind her, Akira did likewise, being of like mind with regards to the boy’s behavior. Noticing the two’s actions, Masahiko copied happily.

 

“Uh …” Rika said, feeling increasingly awkward at the sudden politeness, always feeling weird when people bowed to her. It just didn’t seem right, even though if one went by her family history it would only make sense. “Like I said, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”  
  
Waving her hand, she quickly made her way out of the tavern, being sure to say goodbye to those gathered before she left. Upon having the cool night hair blow across her face, she sighed darkly and put her hands in her pockets as she made her way home.

  
_I hate dealing with family._


	24. Entangling Alliances

Nighttime darkened the city streets as the bakery finished closing down, and Takato yawned as he climbed the stairs, bidden by his father to go straight to bed before he fell over.

 

_ I don’t think I’m going to do that, _ he had wanted to tell his father, the lessons of the day still fresh in his mind, but his body showed him for the liar he was by swaying on his feet as his eyes attempted to slide shut against his will.

 

Pride or no pride, going upstairs and answering the alluring call of sleep never sounded better.

 

Takato closed his bedroom door with a soft click before reaching up to massage his sore muscles.

 

_ Man, _ he winced as his shoulder groaned beneath his probing fingers,  _ Rika is one harsh teacher… _

 

If he had to choose a way to describe Rika’s teaching style, it definitely involved knocking him to the ground. Or wrestling, tripping, or whatever other means she had at her disposal to take him down…and she had a lot. He knew the lesson involved correcting his sense of balance and the proper stances to have for a fight, but she tended to explain things less and act more.

 

_ “If you stand like that, the only thing you’ll be kissing is dirt, Takato,” _ he remembered Rika saying a split second before she kicked his feet out from under him. Dropping his hand, he sighed.

 

_ Well, at least I’m getting better…and that Henry told her to show me proper stances a little more. I’m starting to think she just likes pounding on me though.  _ He chuckled with amusement. _ Maybe Ayaka’s right and all I did was trade in one bully for another… _

 

Peeling off his shirt, Takato quickly disrobed and picked up his pajamas. Slipping his legs inside his pajama bottom, he pulled up, ignoring the bruises.

 

_ Did she have to use steel-toes though? _ a part of him wondered as he pulled on his top. Brushing himself off he turned his attention toward his bunk bed, grateful to see it. The day had been nothing short of hard. The training was rough, and the work at the bakery remained no less harsh.

 

_ Hopefully tomorrow will be better, _ he thought, turning off the light. Climbing into bed, his head hit his pillow, nuzzling its comforting softness before he pulled his blanket over him. Cozy warmth embraced him and he curled up, becoming a willing prisoner to sorceress of sleep. He felt himself sink into his bed as the darkness engulfed his mind…

 

…and then light.

 

Light and the chill of the night air. Unconsciously, he clutched hold of himself, shivering in the darkness and looked about him, utterly confused as to how he found himself in the middle of the street… A street not too far off from Rika’s home by the looks of things.

 

_ What the…? _ he thought, realizing that he could feel the hard pavement beneath his feet.  _ Why am I…? _

 

A bicyclist blew through him all of a sudden as though he were a ghost, causing him to squawk and stumble backward onto his rear.

 

“What…just happened…?” he said aloud, watching the bicyclist pedal on as though they hadn’t just ridden through a 16 year old boy wearing pajamas. Raising a hand, he flexed it thoughtfully.

 

“I…I feel the streets, but…the bike didn’t do anything to me. This…is really weird. It’s feels so real, but it can’t be. This has to be a dream. A…oh!”

 

His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the last time he experienced something like this. The dream he had when he saw Kazu and Jeri emerge from a theater, having gone out on a ‘date.’ The memory came flooding back to him in one mad rush, causing him to clutch his head and groan painfully, the memory settling back into place like a puzzle piece.

 

“I’m…doing something to make this happen,” he rasped. “Or something’s about to happen. Or both.” He looked up at the sky helplessly. “I don’t know which!” he exclaimed. As the night didn’t reply to him, he shook his head and dusted himself off.

 

“Well…” he began softly. “If something is about to happen, maybe I should go see what it is. If not…”

 

He didn’t complete the thought and instead turned his head down in the direction of Rika’s home.

 

It occurred to him that with all the business that had been going on, if anything were to happen, it would likely be at her home.

 

Turning, he started down in the direction of the Nonaka residence.

**###**

 

Since the conversation from this morning, Renamon decided to give Rika some space to sort her feelings. The conversation after all was rather heavy, and even though she didn't outwardly express it after declaring the discussion over, Renamon didn't need to be told the girl was upset with her.

 

_ At least she isn't shutting me out this time, _ she thought with a wry smile as she balanced on a telephone wire, watching people go about their lives on the streets below.

 

In the past, she used to follow Rika around relentlessly, even though the girl couldn't see her until recently. Even though it was from the shadows, she watched the child she had met at 10 grow up into a teenager, stopping and restarting her development as a person thanks to Mnemosyne.

 

She wasn't sure how she felt toward the being in truth. While it no doubt was the reason she existed - a painful existence of something which shouldn't quite belong in this world, she couldn't help but be somewhat thankful for it to allow her to be with Rika again, for however long she had. At the same token, it was the reason Rika was suffering in the first place, and for that reason alone, she couldn't forgive it, no matter what its intentions are.

 

Closing her eyes, her ears twitched and focused on the sound of Rika's footsteps a few blocks away, returning home from Jeri's place. She would be home soon, and so would the start of their operation.

 

That's when a sudden chill ran through her spine and her eyes snapped open again, quickly flipping downwards.

 

A claw slashed the space Renamon had been, cutting empty air, and a dark laugh rang from the darkness. Materializing out of thin air, a white, demonic-looking creature, tall and humanoid with great, tattered wings and grossly long, misshapen hands smirked at her.

 

“Still as swift as ever, Renamon. How nice to see that your senses have remained sharp. That means I will have the opportunity to prove my strength to Rika.”

 

"IceDevimon," Renamon growled, anger rippling through her body, her claws clenching together in a tight fist as she glowered upwards at the white demon which stood where she once was. Memories flashed through her brain - the fight. Her incredible loneliness.

 

All of it, his fault. 

 

"I won't let you have Rika!" she snarled as she brought her arms close to her body, white shards beginning to materialize before she thrust them outwards. "Diamond Storm!"

 

“Avalanche Claw!”

 

The white shards of light surged toward the demonic echo of her past opponent, but a mere flap of his wings unleashed an answering blast of razor sharp icicles. The two attacks crashed together, detonating with explosive force, blanketing the field with a sparkling cloud of diamond and ice. IceDevimon laughed as he faded from view, hiding himself, waiting for the opportune time to strike while letting the situation sink in for his opponent.

 

Fear of the unknown remained as potent a weapon as any attack.

 

Renamon clicked her tongue in irritation as she too slipped into the shadows, trying to control her rage and fear.

 

Not fear of IceDevimon, for that is what her opponent wanted. Her fear stemmed out of the face if she failed here, Rika would be hurt. She wasn't afraid of her own death, nor the possibility, no, but Rika already suffered the last time IceDevimon came into her life.

 

_ I failed that time, _ she thought as she kept her senses sharp, looking, watching, waiting.  _ I was weaker than. Not now. This time I will win. _

 

After all, she couldn't count on a miracle like last time, nor would she want to rely on Mnemosyne - or even Guilmon, if he was still around - to finish off her battle.

 

_ “You’re quite brave to stick around, Renamon, knowing you can’t digivolve,” _ IceDevimon’s voice came from the darkness around her.  _ “You barely stood a chance against me then…” _

 

Renamon ignored the jibe, her blue eyes glowing as her paw became engulfed in the ghastly blue light of a raging inferno of flames as she struck out where she thought she heard the source of the voice come from.

 

_ “You won’t find me there,” _ IceDevimon teased.  _ “I could be anywhere. Behind you… Below you… Above…” _

 

Renamon gritted her teeth, taking a deep breath to calm down and collect herself.

 

_ Don’t let him rile you up _ , she commanded herself. Her rage only gave him more power over her and more of an edge that he honestly didn’t need. Expanding her senses, she looked around and waited. He would grow bored and show himself, and that’s when she would strike. She couldn’t afford to waste precious energy striking blindly. 

 

She didn’t need to wait long.

 

A clawed hand erupted from beneath her and clasped hold of her by the waist. Ice formed beneath her feet, smooth and mirror-like, and IceDevimon’s form rose from it, the ice crackling with every inch of him that passed through. He lifted the vulpine digimon off the ground and angled her so they were looking at each other face to face, her above and him below, grinning as his eyes glowed blood-red.

 

“Devil’s come from below, remember?” he teased. “Or have you forgotten after all this time?”

 

Renamon, however, simply smirked.

 

_ Got you. _

 

Without so much as a witty retort - she didn’t feel the need to engage in pointless banter - white crystals once again began to quickly form and fly at IceDevimon’s face.

 

“ _ Diamond Storm!”  _ she cried. 

 

The devil-digimon howled in pain as the crystal shards struck his face, slashing and cutting his flesh. They couldn’t harm him greatly - his level of power was too far above her own, even at this range, for a single attack to be a serious threat, but a death by a thousand cuts remained a possibility. Pulling back, he slammed the vixen into the ground, crushing her brutally with his claws. Needle-fine points dug into her flesh as he squeezed tightly. Had she ribs like a human did, they would have cut into her digital lungs.

 

“Yes…” he whispered hoarsely. “Struggle with all your might… The better to show my Queen just how weak you really are…”

 

Renamon wanted to scream in pain. It scratched desperately at the back of her throat, but if there was one thing she would not do it was give this  _ monster _ any sort of pleasure over her struggles. 

 

Gritting her teeth, she wasn’t done yet. 

 

Her appearance changed, and suddenly instead of Renamon, IceDevimon was crushing Rika, aged 10. Turning to face IceDevimon, the child’s violet eyes glowered hatefully at the demon before the girl smirked.

 

“I’ll never be your partner,” the girl gasped defiantly. “Beside … it doesn’t take that much strength for a champion to beat up a  _ rookie _ now does it? The fact you are struggling just means you’re weak.”

 

IceDevimon’s mouth dropped open in surprise before clenching it shut. His fangs ground together angrily. Raising an arm, he stabbed it into the ice by ‘Rika’s’ face, its crystalline surface splintering into a spiderweb of cracks.

 

“What mockery is this?!” he demanded. “Do you think by  _ transforming _ into her that you will  _ stop _ me?!” Wrenching his claws free, he pulled it back once more. “A digimon is only useful if it can fight and destroy. I will  _ not _ allow you to be stronger than me… Prepare to  _ die _ , Renamon…”

 

The air shook suddenly in front of them, no... _ around _ them, and a great cry went up, one of horror and  _ rage. _ A shadowy figure fell out of the air, holding a gleaming, twin-bladed sword with a ring surrounding the hilt. There was a flash of light, and in the moment, IceDevimon saw the blade shearing through the arm that had been prepared to deliver the deathblow to his opponent. 

 

He screamed. Pain erupted through the stump of his arm as the bisected limb shattered into a million shards of data. Releasing Renamon, he staggered back, clutching at the wound, trying to stem off the flow of data that bled out into open air. Looking up with rage filled eyes, he saw the figure all but collapse on the ground, barely holding itself up, using the sword as a crutch as it breathed heavily...as though the very act of attacking had drained it of its strength.

 

The figure turned its head, and IceDevimon saw red looking back at him. The red eyes of a boy who looked all too familiar…

 

_ “You!” _ he shouted as the boy forced himself to his feet, holding the gleaming sword and pointing it at him.

 

“Don’t you come near her,” Takato growled, a black miasma materializing around him, the tips of the aura flickering dangerously like a fire. “Don’t you  _ dare!” _

 

His whole body was trembling as though from great strain, yet IceDevimon saw a murderous determination in those eyes that foretold what his fate would be if he pressed this fight. He could feel his strength weakening, flowing through the stump of his arm. His injury was far worse than it appeared at first glance. And the pain… It was as though the boy had struck him with a  _ Mega _ level weapon!

 

He turned toward Renamon - still disguised as Rika - and his eyes narrowed venomously.

 

“Watch the shadows,” he spat at her before fading out of view.

 

As the demon disappeared, the twin-bladed sword clanged as it struck the ground, vanishing without a trace, but the shadow that was Takato didn’t disappear just yet, not even as he collapsed to his knees.

 

“Are you...all right?” he wheezed at ‘Rika’, his form flickering as the angry aura vanished from around his body.

 

“Yes,” ‘Rika’ gasped as she struggled to her feet, her hand rubbing the cheek which had been pressed harshly against the ice before she dropped it. “Thank you.” Her lips pulled into a frown as she stumbled slightly, approaching Takato. “And are you OK? What did you  _ do _ ?”

 

The shadow of Takato faded, his head slumping forward. A flicker of light later and he was gone, without so much as an answer, whether to exhausted to provide one, or satisfied that he was no longer needed. In the end, the spot he knelt at stood empty.

 

“What was that about…” ‘Rika’ whispered as she turned her head, hearing footsteps getting louder. Frowning slightly her appearance changed once more and a vulpine stood back in the girl’s place, a paw wrapped around her middle only for it to drop when the true Rika appeared around the corner.

 

“Renamon?” Rika asked, blinking surprised.

 

“You looked like you needed some company,” Renamon lied smoothly, smiling at her, hiding the fact she was in pain. She would tell Rika about IceDevimon and Takato’s interference later - right now they had more pressing matters to deal with. “I hope I’m not assuming too much though.”

 

“No,” Rika sighed, her shoulders slumping as she approached the vixen. “I’m glad to see you. Come on, let’s go home and get this over with.”

 

“As you wish,” Renamon hummed, falling in step beside her, her eyes flickering back to the shadows behind them, frowning slightly.

 

_ How many enemies lurk in the shadows? _

 

**###**

 

Himiko opened up a box and lifted thin, metal band from the protective packaging. Turning it over, she ran a hand over the computer attachment that led to a small screen that arched out it. It resembled one of the strange detection devices from an anime she saw one of her cousins watch as a kid – one of those bizarre fighting anime’s that she never quite got into. However, in spite of the similarities in appearance, the functions were quite different.

 

“Goggle Glass,” Himiko whispered to herself, setting the band over her head and pressing the on-button sitting next to the screen. “Millions of American dollars of research and development and it never hit the market. Well, it’s not like I need it to do a whole lot…”

 

She heard a door slide open. Lifting the gadget off, she set it back down in its box and turned in the source of the direction of approaching footsteps.

 

“Himiko?” Rika called out, taking a step into the room and sliding the door shut behind her, a small frown playing on her face. “It’s Rika. I want to talk to you.”

 

“What is it, Rika?” Himiko sighed, closing up the box and turning fully toward the door. The teen was leaning against it, and upon seeing she had the older woman’s attention, she pushed herself away and walked forward, her hands sliding into her pockets.

 

“I know you’ve been watching me closely ever since I came back from the beach with my friends,” she said bluntly. 

 

“Oh?” Himiko raised an eyebrow, feigning mock surprise. “I wasn’t aware that you saw yourself as the center of the universe...or paranoid. Really, Rika, a young girl like you is beneath the concern of the Japanese government.”

 

“Cut the crap, Himiko,” Rika snapped irritably, not feeling like dancing around and being coy. Today had been too much of an emotional roller coaster ride for that. “I know you know about the echoes. You are behind their sudden disappearance, right? I’ve seen the trucks all over. You couldn’t be less subtle if you tried.”

 

Himiko narrowed her eyes at Rika, annoyed at how bright she could be. She could see why Mnemosyne would do what it did in its attempts to keep the world safe. 

 

_ Erasing memories is quite the useful tool… _ she thought.

 

“My job is not your concern, Rika,” Himiko said softly, though her tone was terse, all but daring Rika to step over her bounds. “You should stick to playing your silly card game with those...classmates of yours. And that delinquent from the other school. You’ll be much safer that way.”

 

“It’s not just a game!” Rika snapped angrily. “And none of my friends are delinquents!” Shoving her hand in her pocket, she pulled something out - a blue device about the size of a phone which fit in the palm of her hand. She would use anything at her disposal to prove her case, and her D-arc was one of the best tools she had. “Digimon were real! Are real! You don’t remember since Mnemosyne erased everyone’s memories, including yours and mine! But I know! I remember!” A lie, not that Himiko needed to know  _ that. _ “I don’t know how you found out about the echoes, but you need to believe me when I say they aren’t what you should be focusing on! Something way more terrifying is out there!”

 

Himiko considered the situation for a moment before getting up and approaching the girl.

 

“I remember,” she said in a cool voice. “I remember what those digimon did… I remember the D-Reaper and the devastation it caused. Yes, they’re real. And so are the echoes. Yes, we have you under surveillance, and yes, one of your friends  _ is _ a delinquent.” Himiko smirked at Rika, somewhat amused at the girl’s angry reaction before schooling her face back to stillness.

 

“This is too large for you and your friends,” she continued. “You don’t have the resources or the ability to combat this threat. I do. You come in here, waving that digivice around like it means something, but your days of playing super sentai are over, young lady.” 

 

Steeling her gaze, she looked Rika dead in the eye.

 

“Without your partners, you Tamers are nothing more than children playing a game. Now, I’m asking you politely to stand down and let the adults handle things now. We’re dealing with the echoes, and that is all you need to be concerned about.”

 

The rage in Rika was reaching a boiling point the more Himiko spoke, her words like knives digging into her skin and worming her way into her soul. With each syllable, her anger rose until finally she couldn’t contain it anymore.

 

With an angry snarl, unbeknownst her, her eyes flashed blue and she pulled her arm backwards and threw a punch right at Himiko’s face …

 

Only for it to stop suddenly, a small gust pushing back both of the woman’s hair harmlessly before disappearing like it was never there in the first place. Huffing, Rika’s eyes - returning to their natural violet hue - flickered to her right where only she could see the vulpine firmly grasping her wrist to stop the assault.

 

“Don’t,” Renamon commanded her harshly. “It’s not worth it. Let it go, Rika.”

 

Himiko raised an eyebrow at the way Rika’s arm struggled with thin air, and how she glared at it as well. “It seems we have a visitor,” she said quietly. She felt herself tremble a little with fear, but she held herself firmly together. Turning, she went back to her package and slid the wearable back onto her head. Clicking it on, she turned around.

 

“Now let’s see…” she murmured, fiddling with the controls until she found an app that worked. At once, a golden-furred kitsune wearing purple arm-guards appeared, holding Rika’s arm steady.

 

“So…  _ You’re _ the echo of her partner. I’ve been looking for you.”

 

Renamon turned and saw a pair of quite frankly ugly glasses on Himiko’s face. Tilting her head slightly, wondering if she could hear her too, she decided to simply nod her head.

 

“Stay away from Renamon!” Rika growled angrily. “I don’t know what you plan on doing to her, but I’m not going to let you!”

 

Himiko regarded the girl for a moment before sighing. “Like a spoiled brat…” she muttered. “Just what...do you think you can do if I decide your…” She glanced over at Renamon warily. “... _ partner _ there is too dangerous to deal with?”

 

“You’ll find I’m even more dangerous, and that you can’t get rid of me so easily,” Rika promised causing Renamon to look sharply at the girl.

 

“Rika!” she snapped, wondering  _ why _ Rika insisted on picking a fight with the woman they’re trying to ally themselves with. “Don’t make threats!” Sighing slightly, she turned toward Himiko and wondered how she could communicate before turning toward Rika again. “Rika let me borrow your phone.”   
  
“What? Why?” Rika protested, only to frown when Renamon held out her paw with a scowl. Reaching back into her pocket, she shoved the phone into Renamon’s paw. It was probably for the best after all. 

 

“Thank you,” Renamon sighed, before typing out a single sentence on the phone before showing it to Himiko. “ _ I have no intention to hurt anyone - including you. _ ”

 

Himiko had watched the half-conversation, finding herself unsurprised and unimpressed by Rika’s outburst.

 

_ She always was impulsive, _ she thought.  _ Like a child having a tantrum if she didn’t get her way. She came here to talk, but she made threats. _

 

She watched as Renamon held out her paw, heard Rika’s questioning  _ “What? Why?” _ before giving the vulpine digimon her cell phone. Watched as she typed out a message and presented it to her.

 

“Anyone can say those things,” she said, looking Renamon in the eye. She felt her heart freeze at those icy blue eyes - like staring into death - yet she forced herself to stand tall. “All I know is what you say and nothing else. You can give me  _ no  _ assurances about the validity of your claim.”

 

Renamon smiled slightly at that before typing out another message.

 

“ _ I could have let Rika hit you. Although that would require a start from square one regarding her anger management issues, so I suppose that could be selfish on my part.” _

 

“If that is all you have as proof of your innocence, you’re not going anywhere with me,” Himiko replied icily. “I work in national security. We’re used to people who lie in deed and smile behind nice faces and acts.”

 

Renamon regarded her thoughtfully. She doubted that she could prove her ‘innocence’ to Himiko. Still, while she wouldn’t care if Himiko needed to delete her to feel safe, as long as she promised to protect Rika, IceDevimon was out there. Somewhere. He evaded Mnemosyne as well, and she doubted Himiko could do much better than her at protecting her Tamer.

 

“ _ You have a point _ ,” Renamon agreed. “ _ I merely want to protect Rika - from herself and those who wish to harm her. If you remember the past, wouldn’t you know that much?”  _  She paused again and then frowned, glancing at Rika before quickly typing out another message. “ _ I wouldn’t care normally if you wanted to delete me to feel safe … but … there is an old enemy of ours who is after Rika. Last time we ran into him back when I was not merely a memory … it was not pleasant for Rika. I refuse to let that demon lay a single finger on her again.” _

 

Himiko narrowed her eyes. “An old enemy?” she asked, her tone even, but taking on a serrated edge to it. “Who?”

 

Renamon glanced at Rika who was frowning at her, brow furrowed. 

 

"Renamon?" she said slowly. She hadn’t mentioned anything like this earlier. 

 

"Forgive me, Rika. I was planning on telling you after our talk with Himiko. I didn't want you to get more upset than you already were," she said, glancing down. "While I was waiting for you I ran into IceDevimon."

 

Rika's eyes widened and her face became white. Even though she didn’t remember anything, just the name sent chills down her spine. Renamon had told her enough of what happened - about how he wanted her for his partner. How he had kidnapped her. His collection of Digimon he kept in icicles. 

 

Rika always hated the cold, but she never knew why. After hearing the story, however, it didn’t take much to put the pieces together. That despite all the mind wipes and loss of memory, her experiences with the  _ demon _ had left such a deep impact on her she hated anything to do with him.

 

"What...?" she whispered as Renamon typed out a response to Himiko as she talked.

 

_ "IceDevimon. It targeted Rika in the past wanted her to be its partner. It is a sociopath and will stop at nothing to get what it wants." _

 

Himiko’s hand curled into a shaking fist before turning to Rika. “And you say you can handle this?” she asked in a quiet voice. “You have one of these monsters after you and kami knows what else! I…” She paused, a thought occurring to her. “Is that why you’re here? Rika, we  _ can _ offer you protection. We have the means to destroy this echo.”

 

"Wha-" Rika's anger and sudden fear dissipated into confusion at the sudden offer for protection, or that she even thought that was here.

 

_ "Can you track and destroy sentient ones like myself?" _ Renamon asked quickly, before Rika had a chance to possibly make things worse.  _ "I don't know how long it has been around, but speaking from experience it is easily possible to escape unwanted attention. IceDevimon is even better than me at that." _

 

“I’m…not sure,” Himiko admitted. “At first glance at the data there were just echoes. I was  _ told _ that some were becoming sentient, but nothing on the sensors indicated any differences. We would just find an aberration and remove it.”

 

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps an adjustment to the equipment is necessary, but…” She glanced up at Renamon. “I need a specimen for study.”

 

_ "And you will protect Rika?" _ Renamon said as Rika looked startled at the word "specimen."

 

"What are you thinking about doing to her?" Rika asked nervously, stepping in front of Renamon nervously.

 

"Rika we went over this earlier," Renamon reminded her gently, placing a paw on her head. "This is not the time to be selfish."

 

“If you could  _ both _ just settle down,” Himiko interrupted, trying to stay calm. She didn’t know what Renamon was saying to her cousin, but judging from how Rika was reacting, she didn’t expect it to be relaxed. “If it makes you feel any better Rika, I will  _ personally _ make sure that your…pet…is not harmed. And yes,” she turned to Renamon, “I will make sure to protect Rika. I always make sure to safeguard family.”

 

“Renamon is  _ not _ a pet!” Rika bristled angrily, causing the vixen to sigh again. While it was sweet that Rika was so determined to defend her against any slights, Renamon felt there was time and places to pick battles. This was not the time nor the place.

 

“Rika,” she reminded her again as she typed out a single message to Himiko. It was a decision after all she had decided on before even entering into the conversation. “ _ I will do it.” _

 

“All right,” Himiko nodded. “We can go to Hypnos tomorrow if you’d like. I know someone who would be quite interested in seeing you.”

 

_ A specimen…  _ she thought.  _ This...will be very...educational. Janyu will certainly be excited. _

 

“ _ Of course. Can the tests run while Rika is in school?”  _ Renamon asked politely, nodding her head. She had a suspicion just from what Henry told them earlier who this “someone” might be.

 

“Yes,” Himiko replied. “We can run these tests anytime you want. Whatever’s convenient.”

 

“ _ During school hours would be preferable,”  _ Renamon admitted. While she didn’t want to take her eyes off Rika at any time now that IceDevimon was around, Rika was safest in group settings. Although she would also like to know how exactly Takato managed to do the damage he did to IceDevimon, but that could be a question which could be asked tomorrow. “ _ I would like to think with the other students and teachers there, as long as Rika doesn’t wander off by herself, IceDevimon should stay away. _ ”

 

“All right.” Himiko turned toward Rika. “Do you have anything to say? Is this...acceptable?”

 

“Yes,” Rika said quietly, looking down. “...Thanks, Himiko. For, um … helping.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Himiko replied, grateful that the girl wasn’t about to start another tantrum over the kitsune that she kept around. She wasn’t at all sure she liked the idea of the girl going around with a digimon, but...she couldn’t deny that the Renamon did help keep her safe. She remembered that much following the D-Reaper War and her own investigations on Rika’s file.

 

“Will that be all?” she asked, after an awkward moment passed between them.

 

Rika nodded, before pausing and bowing her head slight, Renamon doing the same as she headed back toward the door. Pausing at the doorframe, Rika glanced back, her brow furrowed, not quite understanding the woman in front of her. While she still got her riled up, the fact she was so quick to offer her protection after she learned about IceDevimon threw her for a bit of a loop.

 

“... Night,” she said awkwardly, opening the door, allowing Renamon to go in front of her who smiled at Himiko gratefully and nodded her head, disappearing into the shadows before she closed the door behind her.

 

Himiko sighed as her cousin left the room with her... _ thing _ of a partner. She raised a hand to her headset, only to hesitate before she remembered that she couldn’t see the Renamon without it. Dropping the hand to her side, she went over to the table where her package sat and set herself down.

 

“Kami…” she breathed, realizing the full weight of her situation. “This is insane…”

 

**###**

 

It was odd, watching Renamon leave with Himiko to go to Hypnos to get  _ experimented  _ on. While Himiko said she would guarantee Renamon’s safety, and Renamon agreed to it herself, Rika still didn’t feel comfortable to allow her cousin to do whatever she wanted to the kitsune. She wanted nothing more to demand Renamon didn’t go, but she knew the Digimon would only remind her of their situation.

 

_ Which is completely messed up _ , she thought with a depressed sigh, resting her cheek against the cool wood of her desk. Yesterday was an emotional roller coaster ride from start to finish, and the thought of that  _ creep _ being around made her feel sick. She could barely force down her breakfast and only really ate because Renamon made her. 

 

Part of her wanted to go lay down in the nurse’s office, but that would be opening herself up for another attack.

 

_ What did Takato do?  _ she wondered closing her eyes, recalling Renamon’s explanation of her encounter with IceDevimon before she went to bed, ending it with that the boy had somehow saved her - cut off the demon’s arm before it could kill her.  _ Is that something unique to him, or can I do that too? _ The thought of being so powerless - something Himiko had hit on rather hard last night - was frustrating to her. It was like she was a princess in one of those fairy tale stories, relying on others to swoop in and save her.

 

_ I hate this. _

 

A shadow fell over Rika’s resting form and there was the sound of a chair being pulled back. Henry set himself down and regarded the girl, his expression curious.

 

“I take it last night was eventful,” he said, a statement and not a question.

 

“You have  _ no _ idea,” Rika groaned, opening one eye up to look at Henry. She glanced around the room, not quite noticing Jeri yet - not that it was unusual. She typically came in a few minutes after the two hafus as she lived further away from the school than either of them did.

 

“Care to enlighten me?” Henry asked. “Will your cousin be able to help us?”

 

“Mn … Himiko agreed to help,” she sighed as she pushed herself upwards. “Although now we have another complication. Apparently Renamon ran into IceDevimon last night. Renamon made an agreement with Himiko - she’s going to act as a specimen for Hypnos to study so they can find him and take him out.” She gripped her fists, her nails digging into the palms of her skin. “... She left with Himiko this morning. She promised that she would be back after school but …”

 

“But…?” Henry prompted. He glanced over at the door to see if Jeri had arrived yet. No such luck. “I take it you’re worried about her.”

 

It was an easy guess. Not even a guess to be more accurate. For as long as he knew her during their days as active Tamers, her connection with Renamon had always been a powerful one. He could still remember Rika’s tortured cry of,  _ “Please don’t go, I love you!” _ as Renamon, in her In-Training form of Viximon, was ripped away from her arms. She managed to move on, fortunately, but that moment had an impact on her that stayed with her all the way to that fateful evening that their memories had been erased.

 

“Of course I am!” Rika exclaimed, a tortured look crossing her face. “Who wouldn’t be? She’s getting  _ experimented  _ on. Who knows what crazy things they are going to do to her!”

 

“Who is getting experimented on?” Jeri asked, choosing that very moment to walk into the room.

 

“Renamon has volunteered herself to be studied by Rika’s cousin,” Henry clarified. “I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing it has to do with a run-in Renamon had with an echo last night. An IceDevimon.”

 

He grimaced at that. IceDevimon was a ferociously powerful digimon, and to suddenly be attacked by it? Never mind that the IceDevimon was a particular sore spot for Rika and Renamon…

 

“She’s very lucky to have gotten away,” he continued. “The last time they fought, IceDevimon nearly killed her.”

 

“Is she OK?” Jeri asked worriedly, turning her attention to Rika. She didn’t know much about the fights the others went through prior to herself becoming a Tamer, Rika the least of all. She just knew Rika had fought and battled the most, pretty much taking care of Wild Ones which materialized by herself until Henry and Takato started to join the fighting as well.

 

Not that she was doing it for altruistic reasons, from what Henry and Takato told her, but she vaguely recalled a discussion that what really changed Rika’s attitude toward Digimon and allowed her to begin to open up more was due to her encounter with an IceDevimon. Nobody ever really told her what happened beyond that, and to be honest, Jeri didn’t really want to know at the time.

 

“Yeah … apparently Takato saved her,” Rika said slowly, frowning a bit. “Apparently he chopped the demon’s arm off right before he was about to kill her? I don’t quite understand what happened, so I’m hoping we can learn more today after school.”

 

Henry’s eyes widened in surprise at that. “Wait,” he began, sitting up straight. “He  _ attacked _ IceDevimon  _ and _ took off a chunk of him? Is  _ he _ okay?”

 

“I texted him last night and this morning,” Rika admitted, looking down. “He hasn’t responded back. I’m going to check in on him after school. I would  _ like _ to think he’s OK since Renamon said he didn’t get hurt, but …” she shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

 

“Hmmm…” Henry pulled out his phone and flipped through his address book. “I’ll let him know to text you so you don’t get it in your head to kill him for not replying right away.” As his fingers danced along the touch screen, he frowned. “That is really weird though. Renamon said he astral projected when she tried to help him remember, but to actually be able to hurt a digimon - an  _ IceDevimon _ no less - is completely out of the ordinary, even for him. He normally needs to have Guilmon by his side to be able to do something like that.”

 

“Hm…” Jeri tapped her finger on her cheek thoughtfully. “What if Guilmon … is around? And we just haven’t found him yet?”

 

“Like an echo?” Rika asked looking at the other girl and Jeri nodded her head. Rika hummed thoughtfully and frowned. While it was a  _ possibility _ , she didn’t think it was likely. Still, it wasn’t like they knew the answer without being able to talk to Takato. “Maybe,” she allowed all the same.

 

“He may be around, and he may not be,” Henry pointed out. “Either way, he’s not here and we have no idea where he is. I’m not sure we should go around assuming things like that without evidence.”

 

“True,” Jeri sighed as she leaned against Rika’s desk, tightening her grip on her bag. “I just hope Takato and Renamon are going to be OK.” Her eyes became downcast, before she forced a smile on her face, looking at the other two Tamers. “Well on the bright side, it seems like Himiko is helping us, right? So that’s one problem at least taken care of!”

 

“...Yeah,” Rika agreed quietly looking down. Jeri’s eyes softened sympathetically as she reached out to gently stroke Rika’s head. She could only imagine how much she was struggling with the situation. A lot of things had been happening recently, and for the appearance of IceDevimon, who had shaken her up badly in the past, and Renamon being experimented on, especially for her sake … Jeri could only imagine how the girl was feeling.

 

“Everything will work out, Rika,” she promised, unable to smile slightly at the slight reversal of positions. After all it was only two days ago it was Rika who was encouraging her, saying they would defeat Mnemosyne. 

 

Henry pressed his lips together uncertainly. Saying,  _ everything will work out _ felt too much like a lie, even if it were a comforting one. 

 

_ Jeri… You of all people should know not everything works out, _ he thought before shrugging mentally. Then again, it was also in Jeri’s character to want to comfort those she cared about. Hitting the send button he pocketed his phone.

 

“Well, hopefully things will start to progress more smoothly. We really need to get this solved. I should probably meet your cousin. I know she’s getting help from my dad, but I remember things he doesn’t, and right now I know more about the digivices...so...yeah.”

 

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, wondering if he really was necessary. With the Monster Makers and Renamon, surely Himiko had everything she needed to solve the problem with Mnemosyne.

 

“Oh yeah!” Rika snapped her fingers, suddenly remembering a tiny but important detail. “Himiko said she remembered everything as well! She even made mention of the D-Reaper and knew what my D-arc was upon seeing it.”

 

“What?” Jeri asked surprised, looking over to Rika shocked. “You’re kidding me.”

 

“I’m not,” Rika said with a shake of her head. “She knows about us, and apparently we’ve been under surveillance which is … disturbing, although all things considering, not unexpected.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “So … maybe you can talk to her if you want, Henry.”  

 

Henry shifted in his chair, remaining uncertain.

 

**###**

 

“Extraordinary,” Himiko heard Janyu say to himself quietly in awe. He wore the headset Himiko had purchased the previous night as he set the last of the wires on Renamon’s form. To Himiko it struck her as strange to see the wires hanging there in mid-air, even though she knew they were attached to something that, under normal circumstances, would be perfectly visible. For Janyu though, he was enraptured with the whole thing. After explaining the situation to him, they took the vulpine digimon into one of the many labs that they ran for study. This was, by far, the safest means to study a digimon. Files indicated much harsher scannings that ended up breaking a digimon’s form down into a cloud of data; more efficient, but ultimately deadlier to the digital organism.

 

She had promised, more or less, to not harm the echo of Renamon. She supposed she owed the kitsune that much, given what she remembered of her from various reports.

 

“Okay,” Janyu said, attaching the last of the wires. “If you could lie back…”

 

Renamon did what she was asked. While she was rather … nervous about the experiments, Rika’s safety came before her own. She would go through as many tests as she needed, and she had no doubt in her that Himiko - despite her faults - would protect her partner. After all, she threw herself in harm’s way for Ayaka - a complete stranger. Renamon had no doubt in her mind she would do the same for her cousin.

 

_ She seems to be a bit more like Rika than I first realized _ , Renamon thought, a small smile on her muzzle. 

 

“Thank you,” Janyu said, turning to his computer. He keyed in some commands and looked over his shoulder. “You may feel something strange, but it should be fine. We’re sending a low-level tracer packet into your matrix. It will help us analyze your data structure. We’ll remove it once we’re finished, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

 

“Just get on with it, Mr. Wong,” Himiko advised. The man turned toward her and nodded before returning to his work.

 

Renamon didn’t feel anything at first. That was until an itch which seemed to come from her very core taunted her. Her claws twitched a bit, desiring to scratch it, but she kept still hoping the test wouldn’t take  _ too  _ long.

 

Janyu’s eyes ran along the length of code that flowed by on his computer screen, and widened ever so slightly. Seeing it, Himiko stepped toward him.

 

“You saw something,” she said, causing the man to jump slightly in his seat.

 

“I… Well, yes, of ours I did. There’s a lot of data here that’s reminiscent of Shibumi’s code from when I worked with him in college. However it’s clearly been altered in some areas. Now that I’ve had a chance to get a closer look… I’d like to have something for comparison purposes just to be sure, but looking at this alongside what we’ve gathered from other anomalies I would say that they’re all coming from  _ one _ source. Like a memory file of some sort, only it’s been leaked out for some reason.”

 

_ This isn’t anything new, _ Himiko thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Still, as far as Janyu was concerned, this  _ was _ new. “Could you trace it back to its source? Is there a signal we can follow?”

 

“We’ll have to keep the tracer program inside the echo for that,” Janyu said, glancing over his shoulder at Renamon. Himiko raised her voice as she folded her arms over her chest.

 

“If you’re all right with that, Renamon, signal to Mr. Wong with a thumb’s up.”

 

Renamon resisted the urge to roll her eyes at that.

 

_ A simple nod could have also done well _ , she thought as she gave a ‘thumb’s up,’ unable to help feeling a bit embarrassed at the childish motion. 

 

“Do it,” Himiko said to Janyu. “Make whatever adjustments you have to so we can backtrack to the source of these echoes.”

 

Janyu nodded as he began to implement the changes.

 

**###**

 

The trio found their way to the bakery, Henry keeping a careful eye on Rika as she lapsed back and forth between fuming silence and annoyed, though worried, grumbling about one particular occupant within the bakery. Takato, unfortunately, never replied to any text messages sent to him, leaving them all in the dark about his doings and state of health.

 

“All right,” he said, as they approached the entrance. The doors slid open, allowing their entry. “Brace yourselves.”

 

“Takato should be the one bracing himself,” Rika muttered under her breath angrily, causing both Jeri and Renamon - who, true to her word, had come to pick her up after school - to nudge her with an elbow.

 

“We’re here to make sure, he’s OK,” Jeri reminded her quietly as they approached the front counter. “So behave.”

 

Mie Matsuki smiled at the three teens as they approached. “Hi, what can I do for you three today?” she asked. “Are you looking for Takato?”

 

“Yes,” Henry nodded, taking her happy disposition as a good sign. “Is he in?”

 

“He’s upstairs. Probably sleeping.” Sighing, the Matsuki matriarch placed her hands on her hips, looking a touch annoyed at her wayward son’s apparent lazy behavior. “What he did to tire himself out last night I have no idea. Waking him up this morning was like waking the dead. You can go check in on him if you want, but he might already be out.”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Matsuki,” Jeri said with a bright smile, bowing her head slightly before turning to the other teens. “Come on,” she said, nodding her head to the side which lead upwards towards Takato’s room.

 

Following Jeri up the stairs, they approached the teen’s door and drew to a halt in front of it. Reaching out, Henry knocked on it and waited for the boy to answer. On the other side, he heard a muffled noise. Taking that as a good sign, he pushed the door open to find Takato sprawled on his bunk bed, one arm draped over the side. His eyes were closed and looked bruised with exhaustion. He grunted something that sounded like a hello, but otherwise didn’t so much as crack an eye open to see who it was.

 

“Hey Takato,” Henry said as they entered. “You didn’t answer our text messages today.”

 

_ That _ finally got a response, but it was slow in the making. Opening one eye, he saw his three friends plus Renamon standing in his room, all eyes on him, waiting for an answer.

 

“Messages?” he mumbled, his brain not quite catching up with the present situation, nor the odd smile that crossed Rika’s lips.

 

“Messages,” Rika confirmed, cracking her knuckles slightly, and anybody who was at any alert level would recognize she was now  _ pissed _ that Takato had made them worry for most of the day. Her voice had taken a fake, sweet tone, which, combined with her smile which promised death, made it apparent that Takato was lucky that there were three others in the room besides the two of them. “Several of them.”

 

Takato slowly, almost painfully, reached up and pawed at his pants pocket to produce his cell phone. Upon realizing that there were indeed multiple text messages waiting for him to read he groaned. His arm slumped back over the side of his bed and his eyes slid shut once more in agony at what he expected was to come.

 

“Aw nuts… Rika’s going to kill me...twice,” he mumbled, burying his face in his pillow.

 

“Don’t worry, we won’t let the big, bad  _ Demon Queen _ get to you,” Jeri teased lightly, although making sure to shoot Rika a look that she better not do anything to the boy. Approaching Takato, she placed a hand on the side of his bed. “Are you OK though? We were worried …”

 

“I had weird dreams last night. Or another out of body experience… I don’t know.” An eye opened and focused on Rika. “Can you tell her it wasn’t about her so she won’t kill me as bad? No… Wait.” Takato groaned and buried his face back into his pillow. “She was there. Yeah… I’m deader than dead.”

 

“He sounds almost delusional,” Henry remarked, approaching the teen. “What kind of dream  _ did _ you have?”

 

“Can’t tell you…” Takato muffled. “She said she’d send me to dream land for good if I told anyone.”

 

“What is he talking about?” Jeri asked, turning to Rika arching an eyebrow receiving a confused shrug from the girl who approached the bed as well.

 

“Takato had a dream about Rika when we were battling a Lynxmon,” Renamon supplied helpfully. “Although I think that was another one of his out of body projections because I remember sensing another presence that day there.”

 

“Is that all?” Rika asked rolling her eyes before grabbing the pillow and yanking it out of Takato’s hands. “Takato, I promise I’m not going to to hit you. So stop talking like I’m not  _ right _ here and just tell us what happened. Renamon said you saved her from IceDevimon.”

 

Takato sat up, blinking blearily at Rika. His hair was a disheveled mess and he tilted his head to one side in utter confusion at seeing her right there in front of him.

 

“Oh… Wait. When did you get here, Rika?” he asked, clenching his eyes in an attempt to work out the remaining sleep that seemed hell-bent on keeping a hold over him.

 

“You’re not making her not want to hurt you any less, Takato,” Henry remarked with a dry chuckle. Sitting up, Takato ran a hand through his hair, attempting to tame it and failing.

 

“I thought I was dreaming. I’ve been doing nothing but having weird dreams lately.” Shaking his head, he shifted so he was in a more comfortable position. “Um… Yeah, sorry. I guess I missed the texts. Sorry if I made you worried…”

 

“It’s OK,” Jeri assured him with a small smile, resting a hand on top of his. “We’re just glad you’re alright.” 

 

“Anyway…” Takato continued, unconsciously shifting his hand away from Jeri’s by an inch. Jeri removed her hand when he did so, quickly masking a flash of pain. “I just...dreamt that an IceDevimon was attacking Rika when she was a kid and...I...got mad. I don’t know. Well, except for the weird part that I charged him with a weird sword or spear-thing that suddenly appeared in my hands and...oh.” Takato’s eyes widened. “I...actually...hurt him pretty bad.”

 

“Attacking me?” Rika asked looking at Renamon, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Oh, that’s right,” Renamon murmured, just now remembering that Takato only saw her in Rika’s child-like appearance. “I had transformed into you to play to his weaknesses.” Renamon’s appearance shifted and in her place was standing Rika, age 10, smiling back at her. “Sorry for the confusion.” She turned to Takato and smirked slightly. “And you cut off his arm. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t get deleted.”

 

“Last night was a very long list of...things to be surprised about,” Takato mumbled, his head starting to dip before he yanked it back up again, blinking blearily. “Sorry.”

 

“By the looks of things, whatever it was you did, it drained you badly,” Henry frowned, turning to the others. “Maybe it’s a good idea to let him sleep it off.”

 

“Yeah,” Jeri agreed, looking at Takato worriedly. “Let us know when you feel better, OK?”

 

“Don’t make us come back here,” Rika added, causing Jeri to elbow her again, and shot her another look.

 

“What Rika means to say is, make a full recovery,” Renamon - still in Rika’s child form - chuckled. “Also … thank you again for saving me.”

 

Takato’s head dipped again and this time there was no stopping it.

 

“…any…time…” he mumbled, his chin touching his chest as he fell back into dream land.


	25. Hanami

Takato stood beneath the sakura, humming quietly to himself as he hung paper lanterns on its branches. He was early. _Very_ early in fact. He had arrived at the crack of dawn to make sure that the desired spot didn’t end up getting taken by some opportunistic group. Competition for locations during the Hanami celebrations could be fierce.

 

 _“People have gone after each other with knives over them, Chumley,”_ he remembered Kazu saying to him once. _Hanami is serious business._

 

That caused his hum to slip and he dropped back a bit, half-pretending to admire his handiwork while he found himself distracted by his emotions.

 

Sakura’s were a sign of how short and fleeting life could be, he remembered. He never thought that his friendship with Kazu would mirror the symbolism.

 

 _Then again, we’ve had a lot of things that were short,_ he thought, remembering other things that had been lost, due in no small part to Mnemosyne’s interference. He wondered how different things would be  had Mnemosyne never appeared.

 

 _Kazu probably wouldn’t be a jerk, and I probably would have confessed to Jeri,_ he thought before shaking his head, berating himself for even thinking that last bit. That would require Jeri to actually be interested in him.

 

_I’ll never know now…_

 

Reaching into the plastic bag by his book bag, he pulled out another paper lantern and proceeded to lift it up to the next branch. This one had a drawing of Renamon scrawled across its surface. He smiled upon seeing it. He wondered if the vulpine digimon would like that.

 

_Guess we’ll find out…_

 

**###**

 

“You did a good job decorating, Takato,” Rika complemented, arriving with Renamon later that afternoon, carrying a box full of dango she had spent the previous day with her grandmother baking. While she didn’t think it would be as good as anything professional bakers could bake, she hoped it would be good enough.

 

“I’m particularly fond of this one,” the vulpine smiled, gesturing to one with her likeness on it causing her partner to turn to look what she was pointing at. Tilting her head, she nodded approvingly.

 

“Mn. Me too,” she agreed putting the box down on the ground. She was a bit earlier than what was the agreed meeting time, although she had no doubt Jeri would be arriving shortly - the girl couldn’t be late to save her life. Henry had texted her that he was on his way too. “Do you think I can have it afterwards?”

 

“Sure,” Takato smiled, glad to see that his work was found to be enjoyable. Leaning back against the tree, he stretched before flipping his sketchbook closed. “I’m glad you guys are here. It sure does get lonely here. I can’t believe how crazy people get about having spots. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was having to beat people off with sticks.”

 

“Well at least we know you could beat them off,” Rika joked as she pulled out a blanket out of her bag and spread it out. “Your training was all for this day obviously. To guard the perfect hanami spot.”

 

“Thanks, Rika,” he smiled. “No, really, I mean it. Thanks. All the bumps and bruises. It’s really been worth it.”

 

Raising a hand in front of him, he closed his fingers into a fist, thinking on them thoughtfully. He hadn’t done anything related to martial arts since he visited his cousin Kai as a kid, back before his grandfather had died. He wondered why he never bothered to pick it up, considering the occupation he apparently had at the time.

 

_Or maybe I did and I just don’t remember?_

 

“Of course,” she grinned as she stretched out like a lazy cat on the blanket underneath the sakura tree. “Plus it’s not like I’m not having fun either.”

 

“A bit too much at times,” Renamon noted dryly.

 

“Well, as long as she’s having fun, I don’t mind,” Takato laughed lightly. “Well… The steel toed kicks are a bit on the harsh side…”

 

“Takato! Rika!” Rika turned her head to see the Wong siblings approaching them, Suzie in a full-on sprint in front of her brother, approaching them rapidly with an excited gleam in her eye. Unlike Rika, the young teenager was clothed in a rather cute kimono which took the orange haired girl by surprise. Suzie preferred to wear more traditional Chinese clothing, so to see her in a Japanese kimono was akin to seeing herself in a dress.

 

“Hey Suzie, Henry,” Rika greeted as Suzie slowed down as she reached them, smiling broadly as she cradled a large bento box in her arms. “Nice kimono, kid.”

 

“Thanks,” Suzie smirked before turning to Takato, her dark purple eyes practically sparkling. “What do you think, Takato?” she asked as she did a little spin for good measure. “Does it look good on me?”

 

“Ah…” Takato shot a quick glance at Henry, who simply shrugged in amusement, before looking back at her. “Yeah. You look good.”

 

He felt a bit confused as to why Suzie was asking him what he thought of her, and the little spin was a bit odd as well - like she was putting on a performance for him - but he shrugged mentally, chalking it up as one of Suzie’s odd antics. She was always doing something strange. He remembered Henry once remarking that the oddities that were common in his family skipped him and ended up in his kid-sister.

 

Suzie for her part blushed and giggled, placing her hands on her cheeks looking quite pleased with herself.

 

 _He said I was cute,_ she squealed internally in delight, completely ignoring she had essentially fished for the compliment out of him. She was a bit worried that it might not be enough to attract the boy’s attention with the daughter of a famous model for a rival, but she need not to have worried - as per usual, Rika was dressed like a guy.

 

By the end of today, she was positive to attract Takato’s attention, and finally get her brother and Rika hooked up. After all she had the perfect plan that was bound not to fail.

 

“Don’t mind her,” Henry said, approaching the blanket and setting his things down. “She just likes to have attention.” He glanced at Rika and grinned. “Better watch yourself Rika. You might have yourself a rival.”

 

“In what?” Rika asked arching an eyebrow. “If you haven’t noticed, I don’t need to work to have attention.”

 

“That is indeed true, but your narcissism is astounding,” Renamon noted amused. She wondered if Rika was purposefully pretending not to understand Henry’s subtle remark, or if she really took the remark literally. With Rika, one could never be too sure.

 

Suzie, for her part, ignored the remark. In this battle, she had to appear to be the more mature one. Rising to Rika’s snarky comments would not look good on her in front of her white knight.

 

Henry chuckled and shook his head. _I’ve seen this scenario play out far too often._

 

Turning to Takato, he smiled. “What about Rika?” he asked. “Are you going to leave her there without complimenting her too? I mean, since you were so nice to my sister…”

 

Takato blinked, suddenly becoming a bit alarmed. “Ahhh…”

 

“Yeah, Takato, what about me?” Rika smirked, causing Suzie to shoot her brother a dark look, practically glowering at him. Why he tried to set the girl up with his rival, she would never know. It was like he was purposefully trying to make her master plan for the both of them needlessly difficult.

 

 _Good thing none of his weirdness was passed on to me_ , she thought.

 

“Ummm…” A tinge of red stained his cheeks as Takato scratched the side of his face worriedly. “I...I’m allowed?”

 

“If I asked, you’re clearly allowed,” Rika rolled her eyes, wondering why he would ever think he _wasn’t_. “Plus my ego needs constant stroking.”

 

Takato opened his mouth to reply when he heard a voice call out to them. Turning, he found, with relief, Jeri rushing toward them with a picnic basket in hand and her usual, sweet, sunshine smile blazing on her face, a crowd of four young children following behind her. Takato recognized one of them as her stepbrother, but the other three...

 

“Sorry I’m late,” she gasped, coming to a halt. “I was running a bit behind on making the dumplings. Dad is fussing over the business today and I almost didn’t get out of there alive.” Brushing aside her bangs, she turned to the children behind her. “A-Anyway, I’ve brought some company. It was my dad’s request since I wasn’t going to be helping out at the tavern today. Hope you don’t mind.”

 

“It’s fine,” Rika assured her, her eyes gliding over the children and recognizing Akira, and she bit the inside of her cheek.

 

_Great…_

 

“Hi! Remember me? I’m Masahiko,” one of the boys with wild brown hair said excitedly, pointing to himself. Turning his finger toward the others, he beamed even brighter. “You’re Henry … Takato … Rika …” his brow furrowed slightly as he wavered at one of the girls he _didn’t_ recognize. “Uhm…”

 

“Suzie,” the youngest Wong child said with a smile. “I’m Henry’s younger sister. Nice to meet you all.”

 

“Nice to meet you too!” Masahiko beamed. Turning to the other three children who weren’t as familiar with his sister’s friends, he pointed to them. “These are _my_ friends! The guy with the dark hair is Akira, and the twins are Ai and Mako.”

 

“Hey,” Akira nodded, glancing over each of the older teens in turn before nodding respectfully to Suzie.

 

Henry eyed Rika for a moment, sensing her sudden tension, but not quite understanding why.

 

 _I’ll have to ask her about it later,_ he shrugged. “Well, the more the merrier,” he said, grateful that his sister now had someone closer to her age around.

 

“Let me help you with that, Jeri,” Takato said, scrambling to his feet to assist her with her picnic basket. Still smiling, though a bit strained now at his approach, she shook her head and tightened her grip.

 

“I’ve got it,” she said, shooing him away with a gesture. Stepping around him, she set the basket down on the blanket and plopped herself down next to Rika.

 

“You sure made a lot,” Rika noted, lifting up the lid to peek at what she brought. “Way to make me feel like I’m skimping out. Thanks a lot.”

 

“Sorry,” Jeri giggled. “I’m just more used to making things for special occasions like this.” She smiled at Rika softly. “I like to show people how I feel sometimes, and part of that involves making something for them.”

 

“Cooking with love, right?” Rika smiled as she replaced the lid. She still thought it was a cheesy notion, but it sounded a bit sweeter when explained by that, and so totally Jeri.

 

“What other way is there?” Takato laughed, setting himself down across from the two girls. Looking at Jeri for permission, he reached into the basket and produced one of her dumplings, holding it out for Rika to take. “Here, try it.”

 

“Both of you are trying to ruin my appetite before we eat anything healthy, aren’t you?” Rika grinned but took one of the dumplings. Taking a bite, she hummed in approval. “It’s good.”

 

Takato smiled and glanced at Jeri. “That’s how much she loves you,” he said, turning his gaze back toward Rika.

 

“You gotta have one too, Takato!” Masahiko insisted, popping up next to the brown-haired boy. He knew his sister liked him, and he felt it was his duty as her brother to finally make his elder sister happy by setting the two of them up. He was _positive_ if Takato ate her food, he would confess to her. After all, the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.

 

Takato laughed and did just that, popping the dumpling into his mouth. His eyes rolled up into his head as he savored the taste.

 

“Don’t die on us,” Henry laughed, joining them. “The celebration is only just getting started after all.”

 

 _No way! That was my plan!_ Suzie thought clutching the bento box of manju she had brought closer to her chest. She had planned to bring it out later, casually have Takato eat it, and with her charm, make him fall in love with her. It was totally foolproof, but all of a sudden it seemed another rival had appeared on the scene.

 

“Hey-” she started only to be interrupted by one of the twins from earlier who had been looking at the decorations Takato had put up.

 

“Hey, is this a Renamon?!” exclaimed the boy - Mako - as he marveled at the decoration in excitement. Gesturing to his sister - who had been having a rather one-sided conversation with Akira - he pointed to the paper lantern. “Ai! Look! A Renamon!”

 

Takato found himself smiling, glad to see that his work was being admired. Nudging him, Henry grinned.

 

“Looks like you’ve got some more fans.”

 

Takato chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s not much,” he said, blushing a little in embarrassment, uncertain as to how to take the praise.

 

"So you two like Digimon?" Rika asked, her eyes flickering to Renamon briefly with a slight grin as Suzie saw the opportunity to squeeze in next to Takato.

 

"Yeah!" Mako declared, glad to latch on to some sort of conversation with the older teens to make the uncomfortable feeling go away.

 

"We tried to play the card game when we were younger," Ai started with a shrug.

 

"But since we only had each other to play against, it ended up in us fighting a lot," Mako finished with a sheepish scratch of his head.

 

"We play the video games now," Ai agreed.

 

"We're still working through Digimon World 4," Mako explained before becoming a bit deflated. "...It's rather hard."

 

“I can probably help you with that,” Henry said as Takato looked at Suzie, perplexed by her sudden closeness. “What level are you on?”

 

"Really?" Mako asked, his eyes widening in excitement.

 

"We're on the dry lands," Ai said. "We keep running into problems when we blow up the antennas."

 

"I made some manju," Suzie said beaming at Takato as Rika scooted over next to Jeri to give the girl a bit more room - mostly because the magenta-hair girl was invading her personal space a bit too much. "Want to try some?"

 

“Are you using your melee attack or a ranged one?” Henry asked.

 

“Um… Sure,” Takato said carefully, not sure how he felt about how Suzie being so intent to press herself against him despite having so much room available.

 

"Melee," Mako said instantly as Suzie beamed, unwrapping the bento box and pulling the plastic lid off.

 

"Tell me if you like it," she insisted.

 

"Hey, where's Ayaka?" Rika asked Jeri, growing disinterested with the two side conversations which had popped up. While she normally loved any conversation which revolved around Digimon, when it came to the video games she didn't know much.

 

“Ah, that’s probably why,” Henry said. “The antennae explosions drop off half your health-bar. You need to go at it ranged so you can survive the scorpions.”

 

“Ayaka will be along,” Jeri said, watching Takato take the bento from Suzie and pick out a manju, popping it in his mouth and chewing. “She said she had to help out her mother with some things before she could come down here.”

 

"See I _told_ you," Ai said, smirking victoriously at her brother. "You didn't listen."

 

"Well?" Suzie asked, leaning in as Masahiko frowned slightly, not sure why Henry's sister was coming on to Takato this strongly, but if it came down to it, he wasn't going to lose without a fight.

 

Renamon, for her part, wasn't as perturbed by Suzie's attempts to woo Takato. In fact she was more amused than anything, and was willing to sit back for the moment to see where things lead.

 

 _This might even be good for Rika,_ the vulpine thought glancing at her partner who had grunted a, "huh." at Jeri's explanation. _Since she always responded well to a little competition._

 

Akira watched Takato with a touch of mild amusement, mostly with regards to Masahiko, who was obviously fascinated by the whole exchange. As he looked on, Takato swallowed and smiled at Suzie.

 

“It’s good,” Takato replied, setting the bento down. It really was good. Granted, there was room for improvement, but as far as someone of Suzie’s age was concerned, it was well made. “You said you made these yourself?”

 

"I did!" Suzie said beaming excitedly, pleased at the positive feedback.

 

"Yeah, well, my sister's is better," Masahiko said, immediately going for bat for Jeri.

 

 _Hoooh boy,_ Rika thought, knowing that things were about to get ... eventful in a short order. _Glad I'm not involved this time._

 

“True,” Takato nodded. “But she’s also older and has more experience. You really can’t compare Jeri with Suzie the same way. That’d be like saying the gizzards I made would be better if Suzie brought some.

 

“She’s learning. Don’t tear her down.”

 

Suzie blushed at Takato standing up for her as Masahiko sulked slightly. While she was a bit put out that he admitted the older girl’s cooking was better, she _was_ happy that he took their difference in skill level and experience into consideration as well.

 

“Gizzards?” Rika asked, her interest suddenly going from zero to a hundred in a blink of an eye.

 

“Yeah,” Takato nodded. Getting up, he went over to where his bags lay and brought out a pan. “I wasn’t sure if anyone would like them, but I whipped up a bunch of gizzards last night as a ‘just-in-case’ since it had been bugging me all day.” He chuckled. “Never actually thought about making any for Hanami until now as a matter of fact. My parents don’t like them.” His expression fell at that. Henry had sampled some before and said he had a gift for the meal, but barring himself he simply didn’t have anyone around who was willing to eat any of them. “But I figured that maybe someone would.”

 

Renamon apparently wasn’t the only one who could teleport since in less than a second, Rika was by Takato’s side and looking to see if her hopes indeed came true. Upon seeing the browned meat, she let out an uncharacteristic excited squeal and promptly hugged Takato, laughing in delight.

 

“Whoa!” Takato flushed madly at Rika’s crushing hug and he tightened his grip on the pan to keep from dropping them. “R-Rika! Take it easy! If they spill… Ouch! Rika…”

 

“Hey Rika,” Henry laughed from by the twins. “You know when someone has a crush on another person, it usually doesn’t involve _actual_ crushing.”

 

Jeri’s eyes widened in a mixture of shock and amazement at Henry as Takato’s blush only deepened in shade, rivaling Rika’s hair now with its flame.

 

“C-C-C…” was all the poor boy could stammer out, his grip on the pot starting to tremble.

 

“Oi! You know how I feel about people shipping me,” Rika protested, although Renamon couldn’t help but notice she never quite _denied_ she had an attraction to the boy. All the same she let him go, if only to help steady his hands so the food wouldn’t drop on the ground.

 

“Well Takato, if the saying that the fastest way to one’s heart is through the stomach, you found the express lane,” the vulpine teased. “You managed to bring Rika’s favorite food.”

 

“F-Favorite food…?” Takato’s mouth dropped open in shock. Of all the foods to prepare...of all the foods to be good at! The food that bothered him all yesterday until he sat down and _made it!_

 

It was _Rika’s_ favorite?!

 

 _I’d better sit down before I drop this on my own…_  he thought, trying to make sense of how he could have ended up making the one thing Rika loved. Somehow he had a feeling it had to do with Mnemosyne’s meddling with his memories.

 

“I believe Henry didn’t say anything about ‘shipping you’,” Akira spoke up, his voice quiet but firm. “He just said that you had a crush on someone.”

 

 _Little smart ass_ , Rika couldn’t help but think at Akira’s remark, as Masahiko looked between Akira, Rika, Takato and Jeri, wondering just how many rivals his sister had. He wasn’t aware that Takato was that popular from his interactions with him - he didn’t strike him as the popular type.

 

 _This is going to be harder than I thought_ , he realized, wondering if he should get Akira to help him get his sister set up with the boy. He felt he was going to need all the help he could get.

 

“It was implied,” Rika said stubbornly as Renamon rolled her eyes at the response, although immediately taking a liking to the boy for calling out her Tamer on it.

 

Akira didn’t look the least bit convinced as Takato untangled himself from the girl and set himself down.

 

“How so?” he asked. “I believe the meaning was fairly plain.”

 

“Just is,” Rika said with a childish huff. “Besides I’m not crushing on anyone at the moment.”

 

“But you and my brother make such a good pair,” Suzie said suddenly, immediately taking the chance to remind the two they would make the perfect couple. She wasn’t sure what to make of the fact Takato managed to bring one of her rival’s favorite foods, but she didn’t believe for one moment Rika wasn’t crushing on anyone.

 

From the girl constantly visiting their home, if she learned one thing, it was Rika was _not_ very honest with herself.

 

Or her feelings for Henry.

 

“I was just joking,” Henry sighed, reseating himself by Takato as the boy let out a sigh of relief at Rika’s admission. “Let’s not make a mountain out of a molehill, okay? Although, Suzie, I told you before, Rika and I aren’t interested in each other.”

 

“That much is definitely obvious,” Akira muttered, leaning his head into his hand and looking off to the side as a group of passersby did just that and passed them by.

 

“That’s what you keep saying, but I know the truth,” Suzie said, waggling her finger at the two, Rika taking the same unamused expression Henry did mirroring him perfectly. “Except that’s how all good relationships start.”

 

“For the last time, TV soaps aren’t indicative of real life,” Rika pointed out as Masahiko stole over to Akira and discreetly sat himself down next to his friend.

 

“You got to help me out, Akira,” he whispered, leaning in next to the boy like he was letting him in a big conspiracy. “My sister has more rivals than I know what to do with.”

 

Akira grumbled. “Your sister’s a big girl,” he whispered back. “I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself when it comes to boys or girls.”

 

“But as her brother, I ought to help her out,” Masahiko explained patiently. He knew that Akira was an only child - he didn’t understand these things without explanation. It was an unsaid rule that only those with siblings knew about. “I want her to be happy, and I know she likes Takato …”

 

“Like I said,” Akira sighed, rolling his eyes. “She’s a big girl. It’s her life, not yours. Shoo the flies away from your own head, Masahiko. Kami…”

 

“I can’t do that,” Masahiko said with a frown. His sister was so sweet, but she got hurt easily. If he minded his own business … left her alone … he was worried what would happen to her. After all, wasn’t it because he minded his own business the last time he almost lost her?

 

Akira shook his head. He couldn’t understand why Masahiko was so dead-set on involving himself in his older sister’s love life. She seemed to be handling herself well. True, he caught sight of what appeared to be a jealous twinkle in her eye when Rika latched onto Takato, but if she chose to remain silent on the matter, that was her issue.

 

Nothing good came from meddling in someone’s life without their permission.

 

“Oh,” Jeri said, clasping her hands together and standing up. “It looks like Ayaka’s here.” Waving her arm wildly and jumping up and down, she flagged the copper-haired girl down. _“Over here Ayaka!!!”_

 

It didn’t take long for her to hurry on over and set herself down on the blanket. “Hey guys,” she greeted the Tamers with a nod. “What’s with the munchkin show?”

 

She raised an eyebrow at the younger kids, hoping someone would volunteer an answer. Jeri giggled.

 

“Well, I can’t speak for Henry, but it was my dad’s request since I’m not at the tavern helping out.” Smiling, she turned to the half-Chinese boy, as if suggesting that he provide an answer.

 

“She kept pestering me because of Takato,” he shrugged with a slight hint of amusement creeping into his voice.

 

“Like it’s _my_ fault you have cute friends,” Suzie said indignantly. “Plus staying at home all day is _boring_.”

 

Takato bit back a cough as his face grew inflamed again at Suzie’s description of him being ‘cute’ - suddenly making her attentions toward him _very_ obvious - but he chose to ignore it for the time being, not wanting to upset anything about the get-together.

 

A sentiment that was shared by Jeri, masking a flash of annoyance toward Henry’s sister while wishing she didn’t feel that way. She _had_ given up on Takato after all…

 

“You would have been better off staying at home,” Ayaka said, leaning back on the cloth. “Cuteness isn’t a guarantee of the contents inside.”

 

Suzie was about to reply, but Rika cut her off, wanting nothing more to eat now that Ayaka was here.

 

“Great, so we got our dating advice for the day,” she said, sitting down, looking like a dog who was told to ‘wait’ when a treat was dangling right in front of their nose. “We should eat now.”

 

 _“Finally…”_ Takato breathed, quickly passing her the gizzard pan, causing Rika’s face to positively light up in delight. “That sounds like the best idea all day so far.”

 

“Someone’s in a hurry,” Ayaka said, though she shrugged, not caring so long as she got down to eating herself.

 

“Takato made Rika’s favorite food,” Jeri supplied. “That’s why she’s in a hurry.”

 

“Oh?” Ayaka asked, raising an eyebrow. Jeri nodded.

 

“By accident!” Takato protested, already guessing what was going on in the girls’ minds. “I didn’t know!”

 

“Not that I’m complaining,” Rika grinned, helping herself to a rather hearty portion before passing around the food, although she did help herself to the other food brought by the others having a rather hearty appetite after skipping breakfast this morning.

 

Taking a bite, she hummed happily, and it seemed like the discussion started not that long ago with Jeri if she was a cat or a dog wouldn’t be solved today; she looked like a pleased puppy, and if she had a tail, it no doubt would be wagging a mile a minute.

 

Taking the pan from Rika, Henry smiled at Takato and winked. “Takato… I do believe you have done the impossible.”

 

“By accident,” Ayaka said taking some of Suzie’s manju. “As usual. I bet he’ll trip into a relationship one of these days.” She glanced at Jeri, frowning at her for a moment before shrugging. “Well… Whatever happens, happens I guess.”

 

“Well Jeri’s single,” Masahiko supplied helpfully, smiling innocently. “So, you know…” he coughed as he put more food in his mouth, just leaving the thought there and unfinished.

 

Jeri’s eyes flashed in panic as her face spun around on her younger brother while Takato looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Masahi…” Jeri began, only for Takato’s unassuming voice to interrupt.

 

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Of course she’s not single.”

 

A pall of silence fell over the group, broken only by Ayaka nearly choking on her food at the metaphorical ball being unexpectedly dropped.

 

“W-W-Wha…?” Jeri stammered out. Blinking in confusion, Takato tilted his head to one side. “You… How did…? I…”

 

“You’re dating Kazu, right?”

 

“N-Not...Not anymore…” Jeri whispered, looking away uneasily, finding it difficult to meet everyone’s gaze. “I...I broke up with him not too long ago…”

 

 _Oh wow talk about awkward_ , Rika thought, her mouth half full of food wondering if she should say or do something, or just watch the situation as it unfolded. Suzie for her part recognized the change in atmosphere and decided to busy herself with food as well, not sure what else to do.

 

Masahiko looked between Jeri and Takato - unaware she was dating someone, but it would explain the reason she didn’t return home that night. In fact it made his decision to hook her up with the crimson-eyed boy all that more justified as far as he was concerned.

 

“So … like I said … single,” he offered awkwardly as the twins looked at each other, wondering if they should shut him up before he made things more awkward.

 

“I’m not interested!” Jeri said perhaps a little too quickly. Licking her lips nervously, she fumbled for better words. “I-I mean… I’m… I’m not interested _now._ I’m… It’s just too soon for me. It...It hurt breaking up with Kazu.”

 

She gave her little brother a pained smile. “Thanks for thinking of me though, but...please don’t push people who don’t want to be together...together, okay?”

 

“S-sorry,” Masahiko whispered, looking down ashamed, wondering if he should have just listened to Akira after all. He just wanted to be the one to make Jeri smile, but instead he hurt her instead.

 

 _What kind of brother am I?_ he thought miserably, the twins exchanging pitying looks with each other, understanding where each of the Katou children were coming from.

 

Renamon’s tail flicked in compassion - while the girl was Rika’s rival when it came to love, she didn’t enjoy seeing that pained expression either. She was a sweet child, and someone who her partner cared for greatly. This was further evidenced by Rika awkwardly reaching up and rubbing Jeri’s shoulder, clearly trying to comfort her.

 

Jeri jumped slightly at Rika’s unexpected tough and reached up to return the touch, threading her fingers between Rika’s and giving them a soft squeeze. Her eyes met Takato’s briefly, the boy watching her uncertainly before glancing away, his expression unreadable.

 

“W-Well,” Jeri blushed, feeling a bit bad now. “Um…Let’s not let this darken things, okay? Eat up everyone!”

 

“Ittekimasu,” Akira said, clapping his hands together before digging into his meal. Soon, the air was full of the sounds of eating, Jeri stealthily setting some food aside for Renamon to have for herself.

 

Renamon smiled softly, upon noticing Jeri's actions as her bright blue eyes flickered around the area looking at the shadows, seeing if she could sense IceDevimon.

 

Nothing.

 

That didn't mean though the champion wasn't around somewhere. He always managed to watch from the shadows without her noticing, which bothered her a great deal.

 

 _I hope the tracer to find other sentient echoes is developed, and soon,_ she thought, her eyes returning to Rika who had quickly finished off her first plate and was already going in for seconds.

 

Despite Rika being the one targeted, Renamon couldn't help but feel it was only her and Himiko who were taking the situation seriously. Part of the kitsune wondered if it was because her lack of memories not really driving home the severity of the situation, or if it was just Rika's overall defiant attitude.

 

Renamon wasn’t alone in her concerns, as they weighed heavily on Henry’s mind as well, leaving him occasionally to check the trees for any sign of the ice-demon digimon. Not that he expected to find anything, but he kept his senses on attention all the same.

 

Takato’s gaze flicked over to his sketchbook, thoughts of IceDevimon as well close to his mind and in his pages. He thought back to the ‘dream’ he had where he saved Renamon, but in spite of the reality of his doing so, he felt a nearly overwhelming sense of helplessness. What would happen if he attacked them here? What would happen if…?

 

Around and around his thoughts went as he struggled to distract himself.

 

 _This was supposed to be a time where we just relax…_ he thought to himself a bit miserably.

 

“These gizzards are really good, Takato,” Henry said, helping himself to more while keeping the pan out of Rika’s reach.

 

Takato blinked, his thoughts broken, nearly causing him to drop his food in the process. Forcing on a smile, he nodded.

 

“Thanks.”

 

Rika tried to grab at the gizzards, not deterred at all by Henry playing "keep away."

 

"So ... uh ..." Mako stammered, not liking the heavy feeling which settled over the group. He was so excited to not only go to Hanabi with people other than their family for once, but it seemed the festive mood had become heavy. "You guys like Digimon too, right? What's your favorite Digimon?"

 

“Guilmon,” Takato said reflexively, only to realize what he just said. “Sorry,” he laughed nervously. “Um… That’s the name of a digimon I made up as a kid. I kind of based him off of Agumon, only, you know, cooler.”

 

“That’s because he _is_ cooler,” Henry said between mouthfuls. “Not as cool as Terriermon though. He was always my favorite.”

 

“Terriermon is cute,” Suzie acknowledged. “But Lopmon is cuter.”

 

“Leomon,” Jeri said quietly, her hand drifting to the blanket and clutching it tightly for a moment before letting go.

 

"Renamon," Rika answered promptly, her eyes flickering to her partner who smirked slightly.

 

"Ours is Impmon," Mako said, relieved slightly that they took to the conversation well before turning to Akira and Masahiko. "What about you guys?"

 

"Uhm ... I guess I would go with Leomon too," Masahiko said thoughtfully. He really wasn't that into Digimon - he watched the show with his sister of course - but he only really casually enjoyed the fandom. "Although Agunimon is pretty cool as well. I always liked Frontier - I thought it was pretty cool how humans could turn into Digimon."

 

"My biggest beef was that was how they treated Zoe," Rika said with a frown. "She got the short end of the stick. Not only was she the only female cast member, but she was the weakest. I mean come on."

 

“Her first battle was…kind of weird too,” Takato noted, thinking back on Kazemon’s defeat at the hands of a Woodmon. “I mean, Digidestined usually win their first fight.”

 

Akira, for his part, shrugged nonchalantly. “I never got into the show,” he said. “It just sounded like a weird premise. Living programs born on the Internet? I don’t get it.”

 

“Well, it’s not like you have to ‘get it,”’ Takato said, running a hand across his chin. “At least when it comes to the plot. I mean, a lot of shows have had weirder ideas to start with.”

 

Akira shrugged again, not wanting to debate the point.

 

“I’m more with the little boy here,” Ayaka said taking another helping of Suzie’s manju. “I never got into shounen anime as a kid, and I grew out of shoujou too after Sailor Moon. Just seemed too kiddish.”

 

“You don’t have to dump on it,” Takato said defensively, causing Ayaka to roll her eyes.

 

“Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder Gogglehead. I was just sharing my opinion. Not everyone’s as obsessed with it like you and the Demon Queen over there.”

 

"And I'm sorry for those people," Rika said solemnly, bowing her head almost as if in prayer.

 

“What does _that_ mean?” Ayaka asked, arching an eyebrow at the other girl.

 

Sensing trouble brewing, Jeri turned to the twins. “So why do you like Impmon?” she asked quickly.

 

"Because Digimon is the greatest thing ever," Rika answered like it was the most obvious thing ever.

 

"Because he's cool! He's not this strong Digimon as a rookie, but he stands up those stronger to him," Mako explained excitedly. While strong Digimon were cool, Mako thought defiant Digimon like Impmon who refused to bend a knee when outmatched were so much cooler.

 

"And his mega form, Beelzemon is awesome," Ai agreed. "He's the Demon Lord of Gluttony, so you would think he would want to rule over everything. Instead he lives a solitary life."

 

"And he's the type to fight for his friends," Mako added, a flash of a pair of black wings flying into the crimson sky appearing in his mind, but disappearing as soon as it came.

 

Ayaka snorted, not really caring about what either side had to say. Since finding out that digimon were real, she found herself liking the franchise even less.

 

“Um… How does a Demon Lord of Gluttony not want to rule over everything?” Takato asked, scratching his head. “Or fight for friends for that matter?”

 

“Maybe it’s like something out of Fullmetal Alchemist,” Henry suggested. “He fights for things that he considers ‘his’.” He chuckled at Rika, again making sure that the gizzards stayed well outside of her reach. “Or it could be like Rika and her appetite. She really seems to like what you made here.”

 

"Exactly like Fullmetal Alchemist," Ai said, nodding her head, glad that the half-Chinese boy got it.

 

"Which is why I don't understand why you won't let me eat them," she growled, getting annoyed at her friend acting as a barrier between her and her prize.

 

Suzie opened her mouth to suggest that perhaps he wanted her to eat what he made, but the incident from earlier caused her to hold her tongue.

 

For now.

 

**###**

 

“King’s Game?” Takato asked uncertainly, not sure if he liked Ai’s suggestion of what to do now that they were finished eating. He was leery of truth or dare scenarios as they tended to put a person in an awkward situation. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

 

“We’ll have ground rules, obviously,” Ai assured him. “Like you can’t do anything illegal, or bother other groups.”

 

“And kisses can’t involve tongue since I ain’t swapping spit with Ai. That’s just gross,” Mako added, nodding his head as if it was already decided. Although when it came to his sister, she always got what she wanted. It was easier to go along with the flow.

 

“I think it sounds like fun,” Suzie mused scratching her chin, a devilish smile crawling across her face at the thought of what embarrassing things she could possibly make people do as king.

 

“If others are up to it, I guess it might be fun to try,” Rika agreed somewhat tentatively. She had never played King’s Game in her memory, but if they had some rules in place on what they could or couldn’t do, how bad could it be?

 

“I think I’m going to sit this one out,” Takato sighed, shaking his head. Unlike Rika, he had played King’s Game before and knew full well that even with ground rules it was still entirely possible to be made to do something embarrassing or uncomfortable.

 

 _Too many bad memories,_ he thought, thinking back on his friendship with Kazu and all the things he got away with, just obeying the rules.

 

“I’m in,” Jeri said, looking at Takato sympathetically. She remembered some of those incidents as well, like the self-induced wedgie. Kazu didn’t let him live that one down for weeks. “I’m sure it’ll be okay, Takato,” she pleaded.

 

_After all, Kazu’s not here this time. What could possibly happen?_

 

“I…” Takato bit his tongue as Jeri hit him with the sad, pleading, puppy-dog eyes. His resolve shook and then crumbled. He never really could say no to her. “Fine… I’m in.”

 

“I’m in too,” Henry nodded, as he didn’t have anything better to do. Besides, he held an interest in seeing what he could do to embarrass Rika.

 

“Hm … what do you think, Akira?” Masahiko hummed thoughtfully, looking at his friend. While it sounded interesting, he wasn’t sure if he completely trusted the upperclassman. Ai could be rather conniving and scary when it came down to it. Still, if everyone else was doing it, he wanted in.

 

Akira shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not like we’re doing anything else. Sure. Why not?”

 

“Guess I’m in too,” Masahiko said as Ai grinned, her eyes traveling over the group before landing on Ayaka who hadn’t said anything yet.

 

“What about you, Ayaka?” she questioned, waggling her eyebrows. “You in or out?”

 

“Out,” Ayaka snickered. _“Definitely_ out. I’m not as crazy as the rest of you are.”

 

“So let’s see, we have one party pooper and nine people who are willing to play,” Ai hummed as she took some of the disposable chopsticks, and taking out a pen, wrote “King” on one and wrote the numbers one through eight on the others. “OK, so quick recap for those who never played before, each of us draw a chopstick. Whoever draws the King gets to give a command by using the numbers one through seven. So for example, two and five kiss.”

 

“Except no tongue,” Mako reminded her.

 

“Except no tongue,” Ai agreed. “Since with the exception of Takato, Akira and Rika, the rest of us have a brother or a sister. As a result, if it is something which would be weird to do with a sibling, you can’t force someone to do it. So, no tongue.”

 

“Also nothing illegal,” Mako added. “Or bothering the other groups. Everything has to stay here. Oh! And since Ayaka isn’t playing, you can’t include her in your dares. So you can’t say number two has to kiss Ayaka or something like that.”

 

“Right,” Ai said as she held out her hand for the others to pick the chopsticks, grinning slightly. “So now that you know the rules, let’s play.”

 

They all came forward and picked chopsticks from Ai’s hand. Henry took one and nodded to himself before stepping aside for the others. One by one, they checked for the ‘King’, until finally…

 

“It looks like I’m starting off as ‘King’,” Takato said, raising his chopstick for all to see. “Okay… Um…” He tapped the chopstick against his chin thoughtfully, wishing he were better at this game. Kazu, being who he was, always had some inventive dare to really make things interesting no matter how embarrassing it was. In spite of his creativity, he didn’t have that going for him.

 

_Who to pick though? Well, more like what number to pick? Ah, to heck with it…_

 

“Okay… Number one has to...stand on one leg and cluck like a chicken,” he said finally, waiting to see who it was who had the number in question.

 

There was brief glances at the chopsticks, and after a moment, red faced, Ai stood up. While it wasn’t that bad as dares go - practically tame - it was still rather embarrassing. Standing on one leg, glaring at Mako who was snickering, she coughed and then began to cluck like a chicken, even waving her arms like they were wings for good measure. She did this for about 30 seconds before sitting down, snapping at her twin to “shut up!” as he tried unsuccessfully to hold back laughter.

 

“Interesting ‘dare’, Takato,” Henry laughed as they returned their chopsticks to Ai, who reshuffled them and held them back out for everyone to take.

 

“Hey, I don’t work well under pressure,” Takato protested, as they drew new lots. Takato wordlessly checked his and found the number 8 on his.

 

“You work fine under pressure,” Henry replied. “I remember that you’re just too nice to put people through much in this game.”

 

“I’m the new king!” Mako crooned, showing his chopstick proudly. Pleading his fingers, he cackled slightly and Masahiko couldn’t help but be thankful that it was him and not Ai as king. While the boy was rather evil when it came to the King’s Game, Ai was _much_ worse.

 

“OK … number four has to do an interpretive dance of the birth of Kaguya-hime,” he said after a minute.

 

 _He’s very creative_ , Renamon couldn’t help think, eating some of the food Jeri squirreled away for her earlier subtly with the younger children’s attention not on her. She also managed to swipe Rika’s cellphone, having a feeling it would come in handy later.

 

Suzie stood up, and after a minute of stretching, acted as if she were an old man, hobbling across the grass in front of the group. Squinting her eyes, almost as if she was seeing something interesting, she suddenly shuffled over to an imaginary spot where the bamboo no doubt had to be, and with great gusto, began to chop at the imaginary bamboo until she “freed” the child. Holding her thumb up, she got down on one knee, almost in reverence, before bringing it close to her as if cradling a baby and waddled back to her spot and sat down.

 

Then stood up again and took a bow.

 

“That was pretty good,” Takato clapped while Akira nodded in agreement. “You could go into dancing, Suzie.”

 

“Thank you,” Suzie said, blushing in embarrassment for the first time since she started her dare, drawing a new number as the chopsticks were reshuffled. Internally she was fangirling at being complemented and noticed by Takato.  

 

“Looks like it’s my turn to be king now,” Henry grinned, waving his chopstick indicatively. “Now. What am I going to…”

 

He paused as the cellphone in his pocket buzzed. Pulling it out, he raised an eyebrow upon seeing Rika’s number flashing at him, indicating that she had sent him a message. He glanced at the girl, who was standing with her hands folded across her chest, watching him with something approximating patience, but no cell phone in hand.

 

_What’s going on here? Did she pocket dial me or…? Oh._

 

Checking the contents, he saw Renamon’s name, followed by Takato and Rika’s names as well, the latter two flanked by the numbers seven and three respectively.

 

A sneaking suspicion dawned in Henry’s mind and his grin returned, spreading across his face.

 

_Renamon… You are bad. Very bad._

 

“Okay…” he began, looking up at the crowd. “Number seven has to kiss number three.”

 

“I...wait, what?” Takato stammered, eyes going wide as he looked around, wondering who number three was.

 

Rika held up her chopstick, the scrawl of the number “three” shown on the piece of wood.

 

Takato’s face flushed. _Of all the people…!_ Truly the fates were out to get him if sheer happenstance allowed Henry to pick the two of them for this dare. Swallowing nervously, he bit the bullet and walked over to Rika.

 

_It’s just a game..._

 

“Um… Okay,” he began, placing a hand on Rika’s shoulder. “Are you okay with this?”

 

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

 

 _It’s just a dare. It doesn’t mean anything_ , she thought. If it was outside of the game, she might feel differently, but this was just part of the idea to embarrass other people. She wasn’t going to let it bother her.

 

“Okay,” Takato swallowed. Closing his eyes, he gathered his courage and leaned forward. As he did so, a thought occurred to him. Did he have to kiss her, as in kiss-her-kiss-her? As in, on the lips? Or could it be on the cheek?

 

It was far too late for his heat-baked brain as he was already committed, and before he knew it, his lips brushed up against Rika’s. They were soft and gentle. Warm to the touch and he felt a tingle spread along his body. All at once he became _too_ aware that he was kissing the fire-haired girl and he quickly pulled away, fearing that he had lingered too long.

 

Rika for her part didn't even seem to react to the fact Takato just took the first kiss in her memory, besides subconsciously rubbing her lips with the back of her hand. While it didn't bother her, she felt like she was missing something. What it was though escaped her.

 

“Ah… Yeah,” he flushed, stepping away and doing everything in his power to avoid eye contact with the girl. “Um… Next round?”

 

 _I’m not that bad of a kisser am I?_ she thought, noticing Takato's skittish behavior, furrowing her brow, looking over to see Renamon watching them, a rather pleased expression on her face. Suddenly she wondered if the kitsune had anything to do with the text message Henry got just before he declared the numbers. Patting her pocket, only to find her cellphone missing, she groaned internally.

 

 _Damned kitsune_ …

 

Jeri’s hands clung to her chopstick tightly as she watched the two kiss, and pressed her lips together tightly as the boy pulled away, fumbling for words. She knew, deep down, that she shouldn’t be jealous. There was nothing affectionate about it and was as awkward as a boat trying to sail on land, but at the same time it was another reminder to her of what she didn’t have with the boy.

 

_Takato… Why couldn’t you have been this brave before?_

 

Henry frowned, somewhat puzzled by Rika’s reaction - or lack thereof - but shrugged as he rejoined the others and handed his chopstick over to Ai, allowing her to reshuffle.

 

“Sorry about that Takato,” he said, laughing lightly, causing the boy to blush even more as he considered his chopstick. He looked at him worriedly, wondering if perhaps he overdid it. “Are you okay?”

 

Heaving a sigh, the boy shook his head. “I need to sit down for a minute,” he said shakily, turning in his chopstick and walking over to where he kept his sketchbook. “Sorry.”

 

“Hey, I can’t be _that_ bad of a kisser, can I?” she asked, her brow furrowing as a frown pulled on her lips.

 

Eyebrows arching in surprise, Takato turned toward Rika, his face reddening even more, causing him to look away nervously.

 

“N-No,” he replied, his fingers biting into his palms. “You were…” He fought to say it. That kissing her was unlike anything he had experienced before, but saying so felt...inappropriate to him.

 

“You were good,” he finished, turning away and seating himself back down on the picnic blanket.

 

 _And that’s part of the problem,_ he added mentally.

 

Henry watched him go worriedly before looking at Rika and shrugging. “Okay, well, how about we move on to the next round? Or are we done with the game?”

 

“What the heck,” Rika grumbled irritably, not quite sure what Takato’s problem was. If he could kiss her, then why was he acting to skittish now? It was almost like he liked her or something.

 

“Let’s continue playing,” Ai said, glancing at Takato as her brother and Masahiko drew chopsticks, Suzie looking at Rika in jealousy. Despite not even _trying_ the girl managed to land a kiss with Takato, and in no thanks to her traitor brother.

 

“Yeah,” Rika agreed, drawing her own lot, deciding to think of the matter another time. She sometimes wondered if Takato had feelings for her, but other times it just seemed like he was scared of her? Dwelling on it right now would only make the mood heavier.

 

Jeri watched Takato with a sad expression as she drew her new chopstick. So caught up in her thoughts, she barely noticed that she was the new King until Masahiko pointed it out to her.

 

“Oh,” she said, brushing off her worries over the boy for the time being as he started drawing. “Hmmm… What to do…?”

 

She thought about it for a moment before smiling.

 

“Number four has to sing a song.”

 

Akira groaned in exasperation. Jeri giggled, remembering her brother’s friend didn’t like singing.

 

 _It’s too bad,_ she thought. _He has a good voice for it._

 

“Something wrong, Akira?” she asked, only for the boy to blush and glower at her.

 

“I’m on it, I’m on it,” he said, clearing his throat. “Okay… Here goes.”

 

Clearing his throat again, he began to sing.

 

_We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun_

_I want to see you soon, Please convey that feeling_  
  
---  
  
_You unexpectedly dove into my lonely heart_

_You kindly wrapped up the things that hurt a little_

_It was the first time I felt so relieved so_

_I squeezed that warmth into my outside pocket,Do you want to go walking?_  
  
_We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun_

_In lonely times, we can look at that lengthening orange_

_That setting sun will whisper, "It will be okay"_

_I want to see you soon, Please convey that feeling_  
  
_So that I can meet you with your very favorite_

_My best smile, I'll hang in through every day_  
  
_We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun_

_It might seem discouraging but we'll embrace the beautiful orange_

_"It will be okay" is what that setting sun taught us_

_If I really believe, that feeling will definitely reach you_  
  
_We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun_

_Even if we are far away, We'll still feel that same orange_

_"It will be okay" Because that setting sun connects us_

_Don't cry anymore, In the light of the love in our hearts_

_In the light of the love in our hearts._  
  
 

Despite a rather impasse face, although there was slight tension in her body, Rika was screaming internally as loud as she could.

 

 _Out of all the songs he could have sung …_ she bemoaned, wanting to join after Takato and just leave the game as well. However, if she did so, she would have no real good excuse - or at least one she didn’t feel like giving.

 

Clenching her jeans tighter as Masahiko clapped and laughed, encouraging an encour - Ai right along side with him, even more enthusiastic than Jeri’s stepbrother was - she took a steadying breath.

 

Akira sighed as he finished the song, shaking his head at Masahiko and Ai at their desire for an encour.

 

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I’m not a big fan of singing. Next round?” he asked, turning to Ai, his expression flat and wanting to get this game over with. He was seeing the point of this game less and less as time wore on. What good came out of humiliating people or making them tell truths they wouldn’t otherwise want to?

 

“Yeah,” Suzie said as she picked a chopstick, grinning in delight as she showed the others. “And I’m Queen.”

 

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, she wondered if she would be able to salvage some of her plan, pairing her brother and Rika up together. While Rika had the lead currently with Takato, if she could just get Henry and Rika to finally realize they were meant for each other…

 

 _It’s worth the gamble_ , she thought, nodding her head to herself.

 

“Ok two has to kiss five,” she announced finally.

 

Rika looked down at her chopstick, the number two staring up at her. It was like the universe wasn’t going to be content until she kissed every single person here. At least she would be able to redeem herself from last time, Takato’s reaction still digging into her pride and ego.

 

 _It better not be Henry_ , she thought, glancing at the half-Chinese boy, who hadn’t shown that he had drawn the other number yet before her attention turned back to his younger sister who was looking rather excited. _We would never be able to get it out of Suzie’s head that we aren’t interested in each other._

 

“Whose five?” she asked.

 

“Me,” Jeri said quietly, feeling a ball of dread drop into the pit of her stomach as she fingered her chopstick. “I’m number five.”

 

 _Of all the people,_ she thought, blushing lightly. _Well, it’s just a game, right? It doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s not like we’re kissing because...because we like each other or anything._

 

She clutched at the sides of her skirt anxiously.

 

 _It’s not like I like her or anything…_ she thought, remembering her passionate embrace with Kazu and her still-lingering feelings for Takato. All the same, she couldn’t help but think of how she spent the night with Rika...how _safe_ and _happy_ she felt.

 

Rika’s attention turned to Jeri. While she was immensely glad it wasn’t Henry - the only worse person it could have been was Akira - she felt slightly bad that Jeri was the one who drew the number five. She had just left a relationship, and was still hurting over that. She wasn’t sure what exactly would make her feel bad.

 

Plus if her kissing _was_ that terrible…

 

 _No. Don’t think that way. You are a good kisser_ , she thought as she turned to face Jeri, noting her anxious behavior. Reaching out and placing a placating hand on Jeri’s, she grinned slightly hoping to alleviate her friend’s anxiety.

 

“You OK?” she asked.

 

“Y-Yeah,” Jeri laughed nervously, rubbing her forearm. “I’ve just...never had to kiss a girl before. That’s all.”

 

“...If it helps, just think of me as a boy,” Rika stuck her tongue out, impishly. “Although if you think I’m a bad kisser too after a _certain someone’s_ reaction-” she glanced at Takato, her pride still clearly stung when she said that, “you can say so.”

 

“You’d make a very pretty boy,” Jeri giggled, blushing even more deeply. “I’m sure Takato thought you were fine. It’s just…”

 

Her voice lowering, she took a step closer to Rika, smiling softly. “It’s just this sort of thing means a lot to him. He worries about stepping on people’s toes.”

 

“ _Kami_ ! Kiss and get it over with!” Suzie snapped, slightly irritated that Rika got paired with Jeri instead of Henry. While she managed to get one of the pair, she somehow managed to miss the mark, _again_. There was no picking up the pieces of her master plan now.

 

“Impatient, aren’t you?” Rika asked, sticking her tongue out as Masahiko wondered if this was OK after all. All the same, she turned her attention back to Jeri and leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, the thought she could kiss elsewhere not even entering her mind - especially with the need to show she wasn’t terrible at it at the forefront of her thoughts.

 

Jeri blinked at the suddenness - and briefness - of the kiss, her hand drifting to her lips. Blushing, a thousand emotions flew through her mind, causing her heart to flutter before settling back down.

 

“That...was nice,” she said finally. “Takato was a very lucky boy.”

 

“And with that, my pride and ego is back where it should be,” Rika declared with a smirk, putting her hands in her pocket, glad she wasn’t actually terrible at the act after all.

 

“Because heaven forbid it be lower than average,” Renamon noted rolling her eyes, as Ai gathered the chopsticks again.

 

“Should we play another round?” Ai asked, Mako nodding his head hoping that maybe _this_ time he’ll get kissed since it looked like it was enjoyable both times.

 

“One more round,” Henry agreed. Akira sighed, wishing that the game was over and done with already but not wanting to rock the boat. Handing over their chopsticks, they watched as Ai shuffled them once more and handed them back out.

 

“Doesn’t look like I’m King,” Henry said, checking his chopstick. “So who has the magic chopstick?”

 

“Me,” Masahiko said, holding out his chopstick. He had noticed everyone’s patience was wearing thin. While Jeri wasn’t mad at him from earlier, he still wanted to do something to make it up to her. But what though …

 

_Oh!_

 

“Ok, uhm number six act like a fortune teller and read number one’s future,” he said, beaming. Jeri always liked this sort of thing, so at the very least it would put a smile on her face.

 

 _I get to play fortune teller, huh?_ Henry thought, looking at the others. “Okay. So who’s number one?”

 

“Me,” Mako said, showing his chopstick. While he was a bit disappointed he wasn’t going to get a kiss too, he supposed getting his fortune told was just as fun.

 

Henry looked the other boy over for a moment, wondering just how he was supposed to go about this. Fortune telling wasn’t really the sort of thing he did or even believed. He was more of a logical sort of person. His whole world was built around reason and what could be proven. Predicting the future required math and numerous calculations, things he didn’t have in abundance at the moment.

 

However, he knew from experience that there _were_ things that could be told about a person from a look. He hated fighting, but he had fought in the past, and knew that some people telegraphed things about themselves without even meaning to via body language.

 

Looking into Mako’s eyes, he saw something… Something _dark._

 

 _Feels like a little bit of Beelzemon is in him,_ a part of him thought.

 

“You will experience a fall,” he said quietly. “That is what I see in your future. Just a touch of night before the dawn.”

 

“A fall?” Mako asked, his shoulders falling in disappointment sadly before perking up again. “But dawn, right? And just a touch? So that means things will be OK!”

 

“Your positivity is incredible sometimes,” Ai noted dryly. As they grew older, it seemed her twin brother had grown from a cry baby who complained about everything to someone who always looked on the bright side of things, no matter what it was.

 

“If you kids are done,” Ayaka called. “How about you help picking things up so me and Takato don’t have to do all the work.”

 

Takato, who had parted from his sketchbook, raised an eyebrow at the copper-haired girl, pausing as he collected some of their trash.

 

“Ah, come on, Ayaka. Let them have their fun a bit longer. There’s still plenty of day left.”

 

“Gogglehead,” Ayaka began, looking at him with a deadpan expression. “If you stick with that attitude, you’re going to have people walk over you your whole life. _You_ need to get your head out of your sketchbook more often and stand up for yourself like you did with Kazu.”

 

Takato sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s _Hanami,_ Ayaka…”

 

“How about we _not_ argue about this,” Henry smiled, picking up a paper plate off the blanket as he joined them. “It’s not a big deal after all. Besides, it’s how we say thanks for having good friends in our lives, right? We help each other out.”

 

“Jeez…” Ayaka grunted. “You sound like some kind of philosopher.”

 

“Imagine living with him,” Suzie complained, starting to help out as well. “It’s like this _all_ the time. It’s _awful_.”

 

Rika, biting the inside of her lip, grabbed some trash before making a beeline right for Takato, grabbing his arm and hauling him off a little ways from the rest of the group. While she had said her pride and ego was back at their normal levels, his reaction to them kissing still did sting a bit, and she wanted to confront him about it. If she didn’t do it now, she might not have a chance in the future.

 

“Takato,” she said in a low undertone, glancing back at the group, knowing she had to make it quick. “About earlier.” She paused and remembered what Jeri had whispered to her earlier. “If you were all skittish about upsetting me or something stupid like that, you shouldn’t be. If I was upset about something stupid like a dare in a King’s Game, trust me, you’d know. So, uh, don’t let it bother you.”

 

“Uh… Right,” Takato nodded, blushing again as the memory of the kiss, still strong in his mind, came back in full force. “Um… Sorry if I made you think you weren’t a good kisser or anything. You _are.”_ He scratched the side of his face, blushing. “Maybe a little too good…” His blush deepened as he realized what he just said and quickly hurried to keep talking before she could comment. “It’s just… I...um… To me a kiss is _very_ important and…” He coughed, trying to continue.

 

“I guess I should apologize then,” Rika interrupted him, smiling apologetically. “I should have taken your feelings more into account. Sorry about that.”

 

“No!” he exclaimed a little loudly, catching everyone’s attention for a moment. Takato waved them down before returning his attention back to Rika. “No… It’s… It’s no big deal.”

 

He smiled softly at the fire-haired girl. “It’s like you said. It was just a stupid dare in a King’s Game. So...just forget about it. It’s not a big deal.”

 

“It was to you,” she pointed out. She could understand the feeling somewhat of a stupid game getting you more riled up than you should. Even now Akira’s voice still haunted her, stabbing a thousand swords into her soul, tormenting her. “Don’t discount your feelings like that.”

 

“I’m not discounting them,” Takato replied, shaking his head. “I’m just saying don’t make them your problem. I’ll deal with them. It’s nothing to worry about.”

 

“Hm…” Rika hummed, tilting her head before finally shrugging her shoulders. If Takato wanted to keep to himself for the time being, she understood. “Well if you change your mind and want to talk,” she said, turning to rejoin the others. “You know where to find me.”

 

“I always do,” Takato nodded. “Thanks, Rika.”

 

With that said, he turned to rejoin the others. As he resumed helping out, Ayaka snorted.

 

“Told you about how you’ll let others walk over you your whole life if you keep up with that attitude of yours, Gogglehead,” she said derisively, causing the boy to frown at her.

 

“Knock it off, Ayaka.”

 

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise at this unexpected response, but a small smirk tugged at the corners of her lips.

 

“Finally. _Some_ backbone. Better water it everyday so it can grow into a tree.”

 

Sighing, Takato grabbed a paper plate and chucked it into one of the trash bags Jeri brought down with her.

 

 _Today is such a weird day…_ he thought.

 


	26. What Dreams May Come True

The light of the moon cascaded through Takato’s bedroom as he slept once again in his bunk bed, one arm draped over it while his head was turned toward the wall. The bed creaked, and he shifted in his spot before sighing. He remained a bit tense from the day’s events, but sleep, the bully that it was, dragged him off to dreamland like a mugger in a dark alley. It had been an intense struggle, but sleep eventually won out.

 

For the moment anyway.

 

The bed creaked again and strands of hair fell over him, their tips brushing just lightly against his skin. Takato wrinkled his nose and cracked his eyes open, holding them that way for a moment before closing them once more.

 

For a moment only.

 

Within short order, his eyes flew open wide and he began to sit up in alarm, only for a finger to press itself against his lips. Their owner shook her head, a devilish, small smile on her face, violet-eyes glinting in amusement.

 

“Rika…?” he whispered against her finger. Making an annoyed sound, the girl in question reached forward and crushed her lips against his, shutting up the first of what would otherwise prove to be an endless series of questions.

 

**###**

 

Takato’s eyes snapped open and he jerked in his chair. Looking around his bedroom, he shook his head, tearing away the cobwebs of sleep that had caused him to fall asleep at his desk.

 

“Great, Matsuki…” he mumbled, leaning his head into his hands and groaning. “Now you’re  _ dreaming _ about her! Knock it off… It was just a game. It’s not anything to get worked up about…”

 

This self-imposed command was easier said than done however. To emphasize the point, he peeked through his fingers at the scrawl of drawings in his sketchbook of Rika’s face, followed by a separate drawing of her lips and another, yet unfinished piece of her kissing an as-yet unidentified individual.

 

He stared at this page for a moment before making a disgusted sound and tore it out. Crumpling it up, he tossed it in the trash, not wanting a repeat of the last time he had drawn the girl.

 

_ I can’t believe I did that…  _ he thought, getting up from his chair and heading over to his bed.  _ I promised I wouldn’t! _

 

He stopped at the ladder and brought his hand to rest on it before banging his head against it lightly in frustration.

 

He drew to get feelings out of him. To frame them and understand them. Yet this issue – although, if he were honest with himself, he was only making it a bigger issue than it needed to be – hung in his mind as stubbornly as a spider's web, refusing to upset or shaken loose. Try as he might, he just couldn’t get the kiss out of his mind. There had been something about it… Something that struck a chord with him.

 

_ Like you’ve ever been kissed before, _ he berated himself, starting to climb the ladder.

 

His foot slipped on a rung, this time causing his head to smack against the ladder  _ hard. _ Seeing stars explode across his vision he fell backward, cursing under his breath in pain.

 

From the swarm of stars, Rika’s face emerged, smiling at him in amusement as she pulled away. As he watched, he heard his voice echoing softly in the corners of his mind, leaving him with the strangest sense of déjà vu.

 

_ "You had me worried there for a second. You were so close I thought you were going to kiss me or something." _

 

The ‘Rika’ in his vision raised an eyebrow playfully.  _ "Would that have been a problem if I did?" _ she asked coyly. The vision faded abruptly as Takato staggered back into his chair. Breathing heavily, he felt his face with shaking hands. That vision had been as strong as any of his out-of-body experiences, only…different. He wasn’t sure how to explain it. It had been as though he had been forcefully pulled through time and…

 

_ Pulled through time… _ his mind whispered.  _ Did I just…remember something from before the last mind wipe? _

 

_ "Well then, I'll just have to wait until then I suppose," _ he heard the past Rika tease as her voice faded before returning, another vision erupting alongside it. They were together in the park, and Takato found himself rubbing his forehead, as if at a forehead flick the girl had administered to him for doing something stupid.

 

_ "I just find it funny that you're calling me charming,” _ he found himself saying. _ “Not to mention cute. Shouldn't it be 'cool' or something instead?" _

 

_ "Takato, you have quite a way to go before you are cool," Rika said bluntly before looking at him appraisingly. "Adorkable might be a better term though..." _

 

_ Oh kami… _ Takato clenched his eyes shut as the memory came on stronger than before. He was losing touch with the world of the present and  _ drowning _ in that of the past.

 

_ The wind… I can feel the breeze! It was summer… _

 

"Adorkable?" he repeated back to her aloud _._ "Man, Rika. You've gotten weird ever since we started middle school. I never thought you'd use a word like that, especially to describe me. I’m pretty that's a sure sign that the end of the world is coming you know."

 

_ "Desperate times calls for desperate measures,"  _ The past Rika replied with a straight face.  _ "After all, you seem pretty oblivious otherwise to the fact I find you attractive and I like you. I'm not sure if I should be annoyed or impressed. So I decided to be both." _

 

With an effort, Takato tore himself free from the memory and lurched out of his chair, grasping hold of the ladder in desperation.  _ Drowning… _ he thought, feeling tears creeping down his face.  _ I’m drowning… _

 

He banged his head against the ladder once more, hoping to give himself something else to focus on. It failed though, and within short order he was pulled once more into the realm of memory.

 

In that realm, his heart would tear itself apart over and over with each iteration of their confession, leaving him to mourn for what was lost each time.

 

_ “S-Stupid Gogglehead! It’s not like I like you or anything…” _

 

He tightened his grip on the ladder, finding himself in the next place… The next  _ when. _

 

**###**

 

_ No! Wait! Please don't go! _

 

Jeri reached out helplessly, her hand grasping at the disappearing back of a brunette boy, sporting a blue sweatshirt. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Stumbling forward, her fingers grazed against the soft fabric causing him to pause and turn, but when his red eyes looked into her amber ones, all she saw was defeat.

 

And with that, he disappeared, shattering into a million shards of light.

 

“Don't worry about him. He didn't deserve you anyway.”

 

Turning slightly, Jeri's eyes widened upon seeing Kazu standing behind her, a smirk playing on his lips. Without so much of another word, Kazu pulled her up, and kissed her rather passionately.

 

_ What… _

 

She didn't understand what was going on, but a warm fire began to bubble in her stomach, and her eyes fluttered closed. His lips were warm and kind, yet in a way, forceful. Still it felt good, so she didn't question it until suddenly he pulled away from her.

 

“You're still in love with him, aren't you?!” he demanded, causing Jeri to splutter at the accusation.

 

“Wha… no!” she said quickly, reaching out for Kazu, only for the boy to take a step back, angry tears beginning to well up in his grey eyes.

 

“Liar!”

 

And there was a strike of lightning, and instead of her shadow being cast, the visage of Gallantmon seemed to come from her feet. Looking up helplessly, she noticed Kazu was gone as soon as he came. It only took a few seconds for the rain to follow his disappearance, hiding the tears which were beginning to roll down her face.

 

Wrapping her arms around herself, she began to shake.

 

_ I don't understand… _

 

“Hey.” Amber eyes blinked upon hearing the rain begin to hit fabric, and she didn't feel the cold water run down her skin. A hand reached out and rested on her shoulder as a figure bent down next to her. Turning her head slightly, she came face to face with a boy with beautiful amethyst eyes and hair the color of the setting sun. He was wearing her school uniform, and while she thought it always looked before, on him, it looked perfectly tailored - like a suit. “I'm here, so don’t cry.”

 

“Eh-”

 

It was all she could muster before her lips were stolen once more.

 

**###**

 

Amber eyes snapped open with a startled start, her fingers drifting to her lips where a phantom kiss lingered. Groaning in despair, her arm flopped to her side helplessly.

 

_ Damn it, Rika. What the hell is wrong with me? Didn’t I learn my lesson the last time? _

 

Reaching over, she grabbed her pillow and pressed the cool fabric against her face. Despite what she said earlier at Hanami after Masahiko tried to set her up with Takato about not being interested, her heart was determined to rebound again against all common sense. To make matters worse, it seemed to get interested in  _ Rika _ this time - or at least start considering the girl in another light.

 

After a single little peck too, which was over before it started.

 

_ First Kazu, now Rika … I’m in real trouble if all it takes for me to get interested in someone if they kiss me in a stupid party game. _

 

Unlike Kazu though, Rika didn’t seem interested or abashed at the kiss - either hers or Takato’s, with the exception she took a bit of an insult when she thought Takato believed her to be a bad kisser. However, that was perfectly normal for her - to take issue to the oddest of perceived slights while completely ignoring others. 

 

All the same, it was interesting too that her feelings for Kazu, and now seemingly her budding affection for Rika, resulted in a failed attempt to set her up with Takato.

 

_ Takato… _

 

She sighed, the thought of the boy making her heart ache. While she told herself - and others - she wasn’t interested in the boy anymore, there was still a pain in her heart each time she thought of him - and what could have possibly been but never quite was. After all his self-esteem was too low, and she didn’t have Rika’s bravery, or maybe better said, disregard for social expectations, to simply grab him by the lapels of his shirt and scream at him until he understood.

 

_ If I did … would things have been different? _

 

If she expected an epiphany or an answer, none came. Only uncertainty stayed in its wake.   

 

**###**

 

_ We'll be together forever, forever, Because we promised that setting sun… _

 

Rika groaned and rolled over to her side, reaching out and upon pressing a single button on her phone, 2:04 a.m. flashed on the display. Staring at it for a moment until the light dimmed and went out again, she let out a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. 

 

Akira’s voice echoed in her mind, his voice singing that haunting melody of yesteryear. Resting her forearm across her eyes, she let out a shuttering breath. Tears prickled at her violet eyes and a sob caught in her throat. 

 

_ Papa, you’re too cruel… _

 

It wasn’t like she had a tiny suspicion. Makino. Those bright blue eyes - the mark of someone who wasn’t completely Japanese. The first fucking name. Still, she thought that perhaps the universe wouldn’t be so cruel, but Akira singing  _ that _ song essentially confirmed all her suspicions and traitorous whispers in the back of her mind.

 

She had been replaced a long time ago. Replaced by the son her father wanted in the first place, who looked more Japanese than she ever did. That nothing she would ever do - ever did - would have brought her father back with her competing with  _ that _ . 

 

To make it worse, he was best friends with Masahiko, Jeri’s younger brother. She had a feeling that she would be seeing him more than she ever wanted to. She wondered if he knew who she was. His relation to her. 

 

She doubted it.

 

Papa couldn’t even be bothered to call her to wish her a happy birthday. She doubted he would have told his  _ perfect _ son he had an older sister. 

 

A shadow fell over Rika’s sleeping form and Renamon knelt down, placing a paw on the girl’s shoulder.

 

“Rika,” she said in a soft voice. “It’s late and you haven’t slept. Is something amiss?”

 

A part of her wondered if this lack of rest had anything to do with the kiss she and Takato shared. She had been upset by it, if only a little bit outwardly. Internally it was hard to say. Rika tended to guard her feelings closely.

 

“Ah…” Rika raised her arm to stare into the kitsune’s glowing blue eyes, slightly comforted by her gentle touch. She wasn’t sure exactly how to broach the subject with the kitsune, especially since she couldn’t grab onto any one feeling in the storm of emotions raging inside of her.

 

Pressing her lips into a thin line, she glanced away. It wasn’t like she didn’t trust Renamon, or she didn’t want to confide in her, but she wanted time to think of the situation and what she wanted before talking about it. 

 

“I’m just thinking is all,” she said quietly, closing her eyes after a moment. “You don’t have to worry.”

 

“I don’t  _ have _ to, but I will,” Renamon replied. “The real me likely would worry about you. What’s on your mind? Perhaps if you talked about it, it will help you.”

 

“You’re real too,” Rika reminded her, rolling over so she could wrap her arms around the vulpine as if she were a glorified, living teddy bear. “You’re real to me at least.” 

 

“Thank you,” Renamon smiled, bringing an arm around Rika and giving her a soft squeeze. “But don’t change the subject.”

 

Rika grunted at that, not exactly surprised her attempt to sideline the conversation didn’t work, but still annoyed all the same. She didn’t speak for a moment, just wanting to know someone was nearby who cared about her. Even if Renamon was an echo, the fact remained she always looked out for her and her best interests.

 

She was tired of feeling as the unwanted child, the disappointment of not only one notable family but two. Born a half with bright hair, much to the distress of the Hatas, and born a girl with no male heir in sight, much to the irk of the Makinos. While she had members on both sides - mama and grandma, and even Himiko to a degree, plus grandma and grandpa - who accepted and loved her, for the most part, she was unneeded - unnecessary.

 

Renamon though … Renamon never made her feel that way. She always put her first. Her happiness first. Her well-being first. They were  _ partners _ , and while she didn’t quite understand the full meaning of the word, she could feel its weight.

 

“Why did you text our numbers to Henry today?” she asked after a moment of silence. It wasn’t what was on her mind, but the memory fluttered in lazily providing a much needed distraction. She hadn’t been blind to the fact Renamon - and Henry - had been pushing her and Takato toward each other for a while now. She supposed Jeri did as well, but Jeri was just that sort of person.

 

The kiss once again tickled in the back of her mind, but instead of making her heart flutter - which she was sure Jeri would have told her was the proper response to such things - she felt nothing but that same sense of something gone missing.

 

Renamon tilted an ear, weighing her response before answering.

 

“I wanted to see how you would react,” she said finally. “Though you don’t remember, in the past, the two of you have been drawn to each other. I had hoped to speed the process along so as to spare the two of you heartache. I apologize if my actions were presumptuous.”

 

“Drawn together?” Rika asked, pulling back slightly to look at Renamon to watch her reaction. While the Digimon was typically very stoic, the girl had picked up certain mannerisms over the past few months which alerted her to what was going on in her head and how she was feeling. “In a romantic sense you mean?”

 

“That is how it often appeared,” Renamon chuckled. “Though I don’t understand why humans feel the need to...press their mouths together as a sign of affection, it is something the two of you did quite often.” A pause and she tilted her head at Rika, a frown appearing on her face. “I take it that was not the case this time?”

 

“Wait, we kissed in the past?” Rika asked surprised, a light blush for once gracing her facial features before she furrowed her brow, trying to recall something. Anything.

 

Nothing.

 

She pressed her lips together in a line, once again the sense of something missing returning. However, this time her heart settled in the pit of her stomach upon realizing the implications. Looking down, she let out a tired sigh, letting go completely of Renamon to run her hands across her face.

 

“... Renamon, in the past, did I ever … say I liked Takato? More than a friend I mean,” she asked quietly. 

 

“As I recall, you often initiated the confession to him,” Renamon replied, thinking back on all those times she observed their courtship - slow and frustrating as it was for the girl in question. “Takato is, as you have stated before on numerous occasions, dense, though it appears he would often ignore or pretend his feelings didn’t matter. He felt…” She craned her head toward the ceiling as she remembered. “...He felt as though he weren’t good enough for you, and that you deserved better.”

 

She returned her gaze to Rika.

 

“You had to convince him otherwise on many occasions.”

 

_ No wonder Jeri pretty much said no when Masahiko was trying to set the two of them up _ , Rika thought dryly as she closed her eyes, a wane smile on her face, remembering the sexual tension between the two brunettes when she first “met” them.  _ I already want to smack him, and she was dealing with that for only the gods know how long. Not to mention factoring in the mind wipes making it longer than necessary… _

 

She let out a sigh.

 

“Irritating,” she mumbled under her breath before opening her eyes. “... You’re right though. It wasn’t the case this time. I didn’t feel anything when I kissed him besides a sense of loss.” She smiled bitterly. “Guess I know what it is now.” A pause. “Is there something wrong with me?”

 

Renamon placed a comforting paw on Rika’s shoulder. “Perhaps this is related to the frozen lake I saw when I hypnotized you,” she reminded her. “It could be that, on some level, you know that you’ve lost Takato repeatedly and now…” She looked away toward the the door, the moon glowing faintly behind it. “I’ve had the opportunity to learn a great deal about you over the years. From my observations, losing someone important to you hurts a great deal. And this has happened over...and over again.”

 

A sorrowful expression crossed Renamon’s features and she tightened her grasp on the girl’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Rika. I should have thought more carefully about the implications. I just...wanted to see you happy. For some reason, in the past, Takato made you happy.”

 

“I’m not mad or upset at you, Renamon,” Rika said quietly, putting a hand on the vulpine’s paw, tilting her head so her hair was brushing against the purple fabric. “I  _ know _ you have the best intentions for me. You always look out for me, and that alone makes me happier than you will ever know.” She smiled slightly. “Besides, it’s not like he doesn’t make me happy. He’s a great friend. I’m just … not attracted to him I guess at the moment that way. Maybe that will change though when I get my memories back. Who knows?”

 

She paused before continuing.

 

“I’m just worried though that this is just a sign of something more … dire. That I’ve lost a part of myself. I hope that it’s linked to that lake of frozen ice … since that gives me hope that nothing is lost. Otherwise …” she pressed her lips together and took a shuttering breath. “Otherwise, I’ll wonder how much of the person looking back at me in the mirror is who I am … and how much is a creation of Mnemosyne’s meddling.”

 

“Would you like me to try hypnotizing you again?” Renamon offered. “Perhaps with this we’ll have a better chance.”

 

“You sure?” Rika asked hopefully, pushing herself up. Licking her lips, she recalled what happened last time, and the sensation of drowning. Subconsciously, she rubbed her throat. Still, she wasn’t afraid - if anything, she was getting rather giddy. “I mean, of course, I want to try, but I don’t want to make you feel like you have to do something you aren’t comfortable with.”

 

“I admit to being...uncertain, but I am willing to try. Last time at least we  _ saw _ something, which is better than nothing.”

 

“Then let’s try,” Rika said a bit too excitedly, grabbing on to Renamon’s paws tightly, her violet eyes practically sparkling as she looked the kitsune in the eyes. 

 

Renamon nodded, her eyes flashing blue. 

 

**###**

 

She was back on the lake. The pads of her feet felt the harsh cold of the ice beneath them, but she paid it no mind. All the years of cold she had endured in the building that served as her ‘home away from Rika’ had more than annulled her to the discomfort.

 

_ Not that it could ever compare to being separated from her, _ she thought, her eyes tracing along the icy coating. As before, bubbles wafted up from the ice, small in number, but each of them held a memory.

 

_ I wonder if there’s some kind of clue in them? _ she wondered, making her way over to them. A bubble rose up to eye level and the vulpine leaned forward, peering inside.

 

_ A man with bright orange hair and warm blue eyes smiled kindly down at her, a strawberry ice cream in his hand. He looked young - he had to be around the age of 20 by the looks of things. Bending down, he held out the treat and a pair of small little hands took it gleefully. _

 

_ “Thank you, papa!” Rika’s childish voice chirped as the man stood up, a deep chuckle escaping his throat. _

 

_ “Just don’t tell your mother,” he said, putting a cheeky finger to his lips with a wink. “You know how she feels about dessert before dinner.” _

 

_ Her father? _ Renamon wondered. She couldn’t say for sure, having never met the man in her long years of exploration and solitude, and pictures were woefully absent from the Nonaka household. The context of the memory suggested this to be the case though.  _ Curious… _

 

Moving past the bubble, she continued on thoughtfully, until another one slipped up from the ice and floated in front of her.

 

_ It was a small apartment - at least small in the context of Rika’s current living space which was incredibly spacious to the point it felt like nobody was around. A little girl, with long orange hair and beautiful violet eyes, clothed in trousers was humming as a man stood behind her, brushing her hair. Like the girl, his hair was that of flames, and in his mouth was a little hairband.  _

 

_ His brow was furrowed in concentration and after a moment, he put the brush down. Taking the elastic out of his mouth, with practiced movements, the child’s hair was up in the same style ponytail which she would wear later in life. _

 

_ “How’s that baby girl?” he asked, placing his hands on the child’s shoulders, looking into the mirror in front of them. Small hands with little pudgy fingers reached up and patted the locks, before the child turned around and beamed. _

 

_ “Good! Now let’s go to the park like you promised!” _

 

_ Another one with her father… _ Renamon frowned, taking an extra moment to consider the memory before moving on, getting closer to the center of the lake before encountering another bubble. It fluttered first this way and that like an errant butterfly as it rose to eye level. Narrowing her eyes, Renamon caught it in one paw and brought it in for a closer look - taking great care with it for fear that by accidentally breaking it would destroy the memory along with it.

 

_ It was night time - that much was obvious by the darkness of the room. However, a small crack of light shone through the door, and there was muffled talking, words which became clearer as little feet drew closer.  _

 

_ A small hand reached forward, and pressed the door open silently an inch, peering through. Inside what appeared to be the kitchen stood two adults - one of which was Rumiko, looking younger than ever, and the other was Rika’s father. _

 

_ “They’re on my back, Rumiko,” the man hissed, his tone barely contained rage as he ran his fingers angrily through his fiery locks. “They want to know when their heir is coming!” _ __  
  


_ “They have one, Yamato,” Rumiko snapped back, leaning against the table. “Or have you forgotten that you have a daughter?” _

 

_ “That’s the problem! Rika isn’t a boy! That may be fine for your family, but I  _ need  _ a son!” Yamato growled, his voice rising in volume slightly. _

 

_ “Be quiet! Rika's sleeping! What if she hears you talking that way?” Rumiko snarled, looking like an agitated cat. “And for your request for a son, I'm not going to keep fucking you just so you can have a boy and forget about Rika and whatever children we have!” _

 

_ “Rumiko you're unreal!” _

 

_ “Oh,  _ I'm  _ unreal?! Look in a fucking mirror!” _

 

Renamon released the bubble, feeling disgusted at the man who called himself Rika’s father at one point. It was no wonder Rika felt such anxiety when it came to people she cared about. If someone as close as her father left her over such a trivial reason…

 

One more bubble drifted in front of her, however it remained trapped under the ice, and once more Renamon frowned. A scene came into view that appeared most...alien to her. 

 

_ Shinjuku, the normally bustling city, looked abandoned. There was no movement of cars or people on the grey city streets. Instead there was a red blob, which looked like the consistency of jello, covering part of the city. A hand reached forward, a khakkhara firmly grasped in it.  _

 

_ Swinging the staff two times, pink blossoms spread outwards before turning into a black and white barrier. Without much of a word or a comment, Rika - it had to be Rika, right? - jumped and floated closer to the blob, entering it effortlessly.  _

 

_ Inside was the thing of a nightmare.  _

 

_ It looked like blood vessels, surrounding broken buildings, devastation all around. Floating through the city, eyes darting around, they lingered on the city park. _

 

Odd,  _ a familiar voice - the vulpine’s voice - whispered from out of nowhere.  _ The D-Reaper didn’t touch the vegetation.

 

“There!”  _ A black gloved finger pointed, the top of purple armguards with a balance symbol, not unlike Renamon’s own, came into view. Following the line of sight showed something being deleted in the park. _ “That’s where Gallantmon has to be!”

 

_ Moving closer, odd bird-like things - not unlike Mnemosyne’s, but different in design and attached to cords - flew past. Suddenly everything became fuzzy, almost as if it were distorted, before clearing up. Breathing became labored, but still, the park became closer before landing not so gracefully. _

 

_ “Gallantmon?” a voice - not Renamon, nor Rika’s - called out. “Takato? Guilmon?”  _

 

_ Eyes scanned the area before pausing, something glinting on the path. Upon moving closer, it appeared to be Takato’s goggles lying on the ground. Stooping down and picking them up, the vision once again scanned the area, pausing as a figure came into view. _

 

_ “Takato?” _

 

_ “Sakuyamon!”  _

 

_ It wasn’t Takato, but Kenta who came into view, a MarineAngemon floating behind him. The little Mega, upon seeing the other figure, perked up and flew closer, making “puah” sounds as little hearts escaped it’s lips.  _

 

_ “Kenta, what are you doing here? Have you seen Takato?” _

 

_ “No,” the boy answered, pressing his lips together as he glanced around the park. “I saw you coming this way and followed. I haven’t seen anyone or anything else besides you.” _

 

_ “Oh … I see…”    _

 

The bubble floated away, leaving Renamon to frown after it, curious as to what it meant before shrugging it off for the time being. Rika had a store of memories that she wasn’t aware of due to the placement in history she emerged from. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if all of these memories were connected.

 

_ There’s a common thread of loss among them, _ Renamon mused.  _ She misses her father, who left her, and Mnemosyne has rewritten her memories so often that, in spite of Takato always being by her side, they are still forced apart in the end. _

 

Continuing on toward the center of the lake, she knelt down and brushed aside the frost to reveal Rika’s floating visage. Flames leapt up around the kitsune’s hand as she pressed it to the surface once more.

 

“Rika…” she spoke to her sleeping Tamer. “It is time for you to stop running. You do not need to fear losing those you care about.”

 

The flames became hotter and she pressed all the harder against the ice. Was it softening? Or was she imagining things.

 

“If you lose anyone now,” she continued, “it will only be because you didn’t hold onto them and fight for them. Please Rika…” Her expression softened. “Don’t destroy your own happiness…”

 

Once again the child’s violet eyes creaked open. Bubbles of air escaped her mouth as they widened, hands going to her throat, water clearly beginning to fill her lungs as she clawed desperately at her skin, coughing to no avail. Her head looked upwards, fear maring her pretty face. Upon seeing Renamon, her hand reached up helpless, her mouth moving, words which could not be heard escaping her lips.

 

_ “I’m coming Rika!” _ Renamon shouted. Rearing a fist back, she slammed it down onto the ice. Small flakes of frost and ice flew into the air, but the greater whole remained just that - unbroken. Forcing the fox fire around her fists to burn even more brightly, she brought them both crashing down once more. There was a flash of light and the next thing Renamon knew, she was lying on the floor next to Rika, her head ringing painfully as she blinked bright sparks out of her vision.

 

“R-Rika…” she gasped, looking for her Tamer desperately. “Are you…? Where…?”

 

Rika, for her part, gasped for air, greedily sucking it in as she coughed. Holding her hands to her throat, her head spinning, she waited for the room to stop spinning before seeing the kitsune just a foot or so away. Reaching out, she lay a hand on Renamon’s paw, unable to talk at the moment, but wanting to let her partner know she was OK.

 

Clasping Rika’s hand into her much larger paw, Renamon clambered up into a sitting position and quickly drew the girl into a powerful hug. The pain was subsiding, but there was no question that whatever forces were keeping Rika from remembering, they were  _ very _ powerful.

 

“How do you feel?” she asked after Rika’s coughing subsided. 

 

“I’m not sure,” Rika admitted, her body shivering slightly, closing her eyes as she snuggled closer to Renamon to calm her rapidly beating heart. It only seemed like a second when Renamon’s eyes glowed blue and when she awoke again, but for some reason there was a feeling of unease now permeating her body. “I mean I’m OK, if that’s what you’re asking.”

 

“Do you remember anything?” she asked quietly, stroking Rika’s hair with her other paw now, wanting to comfort her in any way she could. She feared that she failed, but...if there had been a chance…

 

Rika paused, digging into her mind, but she found nothing. Her body shook again, a slight spazz movement as if it was trying to warm itself, and she clung closer to Renamon as she shook her head.

 

“Sorry,” she whispered.

 

Renamon’s shoulders sagged in utter disappointment, but she continued to hold onto Rika.

 

“No,” she began.  _ “I’m _ sorry. I fear that I am not doing right by you as your partner. I need to think about how to go about this.”

 

She sighed mentally, considering her options.  _ Perhaps Himiko and her machines could help…? _ she wondered. How to broach that particular subject to Rika though? She held an immense dislike for her cousin. It took a great deal of effort just to convince her to let her be experimented on.

 

“Perhaps...I am just not strong enough…” she whispered.

 

“You’re more than strong enough,” Rika mumbled, pressing her ear against Renamon’s chest. She could feel the slight pulse of the echo’s “heartbeat” - or better said, her digital core as Digimon don’t have organs like humans or other Real World creatures do. “So don’t say that. You’re doing fine. Just because it didn’t work doesn’t mean you are to blame.” She gave a wane smile. “You know how thick my walls are. So don’t worry about it.”

 

“We’ll have to keep trying,” Renamon suggested, “but I’m not certain if this is the right route. If we could consult with Henry or perhaps even Jeri...or...Himiko...” - Rika grunted at her cousin’s name, making it quite clear what she thought of  _ that _ plan. “...than maybe we could find a clue.”

 

“Why don’t we talk to Jeri and Henry tomorrow during lunch?” Rika suggested, sighing tiredly. She felt like she got hit by a train, and then ran over by a car for good measure before proceeding to almost drown. Anything which was keeping her awake before suddenly disappeared in a flash. “All of a sudden I’m tired.” 

 

“Very well,” Renamon nodded. There wasn’t much reason to call either of them at this hour of the night anyhow except to annoy them. Lifting Rika up into her arms, she brought her back over to her futon and covered her back up beneath the blanket, still warm and snug from earlier. 

 

Placing a paw on Rika’s forehead, she brushed back her bangs and smiled softly.

 

“Goodnight, Rika,” she said.

 

**###**

 

IceDevimon glared at the Matsuki residence with eyes burning red with hatred, yet he didn’t make so much as a move to deal with the offending Tamer that dwelt within. His claws – what remained of them – shook and he felt a burning pain pulsating from the stump that had once been his right arm. A thick coating of ice covered it, stemming off the bleeding of data, but despite the ice’s properties, the pain remained, a permanent reminder of what this… _ human _ did to him.

 

What the human was capable of once roused.

 

He clutched at his stump and squeezed it, drawing his breath in a sharp hiss as he imagined it to be the Tamer’s throat before releasing his grip.

 

_ He’s too powerful, _ he thought bitterly.  _ I can feel it, even now. I don’t dare risk attacking him directly. Not while I’m…weak. _

 

He hated the admission, but in this situation it was true. His injuries more than proved that. A Champion level digimon injured so severely by a mere human was unprecedented, yet here was the evidence. He had gotten too greedy, believing this version of Renamon to be easy prey without her ability to digivolve.

 

He had reason to. The  _ others _ – the  _ echoes, _ as he soon learned to call them – had been easy targets and ripe for the killing. What was more, Rika was also vulnerable. All she needed was a single  _ push _ and then she would be his…

 

Only she wasn’t.

 

_ Too fast… I didn’t understand anything about the situation. I need to plan… Find a way to isolate him from the others and then…when he’s at his lowest…crush him. _

 

His red eyes gleamed in the light of the moon.

 

He had just the right candidate in mind.

 

**###**

 

There were three echoes that he had studied before, once he became aware of echoes, uncertain before what to make of them and their repetitive action, but certain that, at some point down the road, their apparent uselessness would be important some day.

 

That day was today.

 

There were two grubs of humans – children, a boy and a girl. In front of them stood an Impmon with some kind of gun of some sort, though it looked brightly colored in appearance, with a closed, rounded snout, suggesting that it wasn’t anything except a toy. He had investigated them, tracing them back to their point of origin – a house that contained two, older children, ten years old that were similar in appearance.

 

From there it was just a matter of learning more about them, finding other echoes until…finally…

 

He slashed his claws through the three echoes, destroying them utterly. It did nothing to reduce the pain he felt in his injury, but it felt  _ good _ all the same.

 

_ You will be my pawn, _ he thought as Mako’s face disintegrated into shards of sparkling light.


	27. Alstroemeria

Her body felt tired. She didn’t go to sleep until late last night, and the emotional toll had kept with her when she woke up. While it wasn’t  _ as _ painful, there was a feeling of a part of her was missing. Even still, when she watched Renamon walk off with Himiko this morning, for the first time a lump caught in her throat. She wanted to yell out, beg the kitsune to not leave her behind. To come with her. She was sure if she asked, Renamon would stay by her side.

 

No words escaped her lips though. Renamon, after all, wasn’t papa.

 

Still, she prodded lifelessly at the bento her grandmother had given her this morning. While it looked delicious - she could smell the tantalizing aroma of the sausage her grandma put inside, just the way she liked them, she just wasn’t hungry. She couldn’t bring herself to eat.

 

_ Grandma is going to know something is wrong though if I bring it back with food still inside _ , she thought with a sigh. The elder woman was too sharp for her liking sometimes - it made it near impossible to hide anything from her.

 

Jeri strode over to Rika, a smile on her face that belied the slight flutter in her heart as she spied the red-haired girl sitting against the tree, a tired expression on her face. She felt bad. The poor girl had looked that way for the entire day so far and nothing she or Henry did had been able to alleviate her suffering. Still, she was one to try again and again. She didn’t like seeing people upset. Sitting down next to her, she popped open her bento.

“Not hungry, huh?” she asked, seeing that Rika’s lunch had remained untouched so far. “You’ve been so quiet about what’s bothering you. You know we’re here if you need someone to talk to.”

Pulling out her chopsticks, she began with the strips of seaweed and glanced at Rika thoughtfully.

“Just out of curiosity… This doesn’t have anything to do with your kiss with Takato…does it?”

A part of her felt that Takato shared at least some blame in this, and considering it was the most recent of events to hit their group, it made sense. Takato had a way of causing trouble, even without meaning to.

 

“Huh?” Rika said looking up to see Jeri sitting next to her, the brunette pulling her out of her thoughts.  _ Why would she think …  _ the recollection of her conversation with Renamon last night and the fact she and Takato had apparently dated in the past came to mind.  _ Oh. _

 

“No. That’s not it,” she assured the girl before pausing for a moment. She had completely forgotten about the kiss honestly until Jeri brought it up, and once again, her discussion with Renamon last night - the vulpine’s second failed attempt to help her remember, lolled through her brain. 

 

Putting her chopsticks down, she leaned against the tree and looked up at the sky. While it was more or less clear at the moment, it was supposed to rain later tonight.

 

_ Should have brought an umbrella... _

 

“Hey Jeri … why do you think I can’t remember anything?” she asked quietly after a moment. “No matter what I do it ends in a dead end.”

 

“What do you mean?” Jeri asked, tilting her head to one side. “Mnemosyne messed with our memories, so I can’t imagine that it’d be very easy to get them back. I mean,” she shrugged, “Takato, Kazu and Kenta still don’t have their memories back, and Takato tried to do that same trick with Renamon that she did with me.”

 

“Yeah, but, Renamon did the trick to me  _ twice  _ now and I still haven’t remembered squat,” Rika complained, her hand once again going to her throat, the feeling of drowning echoing in her memory. Massaging the skin uncomfortably, her hand dropped as she continued. “And … I dunno … I feel like being  _ this  _ involved in things … I should remember  _ something  _ you know? Even the memories of the echoes I dived into didn’t bring anything back. It was like watching someone else’s life.”

 

Jeri knotted her eyebrows together as she considered her friend’s words. She remembered how, during her sleepover at the girl’s house, Rika had confided to her about the ice-vision and her trouble remembering the past. She hadn’t been all that sure what to suggest, or if she even should. After all, Mnemosyne was the source of the trouble.

_ Unless… _

Jeri felt the scar on her arm tingle, and she resisted the urge to touch it. She hated doing so, and recognized the impulsive habit for what it was. In a way, she wondered if Rika had the same trouble.

“Maybe there is something about  _ you _ that’s behind it?” she suggested, deciding to cut to the chase quickly. “I can’t think of anything from all the other resets that would make Mnemosyne’s mindwipe that much harder for you. Most of the time it was you being...well...you. You didn’t go digimon hunting or anything like that and you, Takato and Henry all started to get your memories back too, so... I don’t know. I’m not sure what else it could be. I just know that…sometimes…we do things to ourselves because we’re hurting.”

She looked at Rika sympathetically. “I remember how, when we were kids, before any of us became friends with you, you had closed yourself off from even Renamon. Maybe it’s something like that?”

Rika didn’t recall being closed off from Renamon - not that it meant much. If anything, the fact she was closed off to the Digimon considering the vulpine was one of her closest confidents seemed rather  _ odd _ to her in a way, but all the same made sense considering her personality. 

 

She didn't open up easily.

 

“Renamon thinks it’s because I keep losing people,” she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper as she fiddled with her chopsticks, the admission making her feel weak. Running her finger across the smooth wood before putting them back down on the plastic. “And so on a subconscious level …” she shrugged. It wasn’t so much as said as it was implied. 

 

“So you think you’re pushing your memories away because you might lose them again?” Jeri finished, looking at her sadly. 

 

“More or less I guess,” Rika acknowledged. 

 

Jeri hummed to herself as she pushed another strip of seaweed into her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. “I can understand that but...it’s not exactly healthy. I’m not sure how to explain it, but I do know that you’re running from the problem, and until you confront it you probably won’t remember.  _ If _ that’s the case I mean, and not Mnemosyne just...being a big...stinky butt.”

 

“Stinky butt?” Rika asked, barking out a laugh at the description. 

 

Jeri blushed at Rika’s reaction, becoming embarrassed at her choice of words. “I-It was the first thing that came to mind, okay? Anyway, I just...think that maybe you need to be a bit more honest with yourself and not run from what makes you afraid. Because if you do…”

 

Jeri traced a finger along the rim of her bento, her eyes falling a little as she thought of her lost opportunity with Takato.

 

“...you might end up losing people you care about for real, and then what are you going to do?”

 

Rika didn’t answer the question, biting her bottom lip as she slid the cover of her lunch box closed and put it to the side.

 

It wasn’t that she didn’t know what made her afraid of losing others. The reason essentially slammed into her metaphorically 100 kilometers per hour in a semi truck yesterday, and caused an epiphany which she could have honestly lived her entire life without. 

 

She was afraid of losing others because she didn’t want to be left behind again. It was easier to keep people at an arm’s length distance, so when they eventually  _ did _ leave, they wouldn’t take her heart with her again. 

 

Yet the way Jeri worded her question, it suddenly made her feel like people leaving her behind was her fault. That she didn’t do whatever magical dance she needed to make them stay, or didn’t try hard enough.

 

_ Then what are you going to do? _

 

_ I don’t know _ , Rika thought, resting her head against her knees, pulling her legs closer to herself as the walls which surrounded her became a little bit more literal. Her eyes felt hot, and part of her recognized the desire to cry. Yet nothing came. Nothing ever did - she was too strong for that.  _ I don’t even know to make anyone stay in the first place. _

 

“Anyway,” Jeri said, starting on her shrimp, “the first step is to determine what is likely the source of the problem. You’re afraid of losing people but...why? Even though you know what’s causing you to forget those you care about, you’ve let yourself…”

 

She paused in her speech and looked over at Rika’s bento, now covered and still uneaten. Sighing, she scooted over to the girl and took the shrimp between her chopsticks and aimed it at Rika’s mouth.

 

“Say ‘ah’,” she told her.

 

“Thanks, but I’m not hungry, Jeri,” she said quietly, holding back a humorless laugh when the girl said she needed to determine the source of the problem.

 

“You need to eat anyway,” Jeri persisted, prodding the girl’s cheek now. “Some food is good for you, and if you don’t eat, you’ll only feel worse about yourself, especially when you’re in class and your stomach is growling at you. Now eat before I decide you’re a baby that needs to be nursed.”

 

Rika looked up at that, a skeptical look on her face. While she knew there was some truth to what Jeri was saying about needing food, she just couldn’t force it down her throat. Just the thought of it honestly made her feel a bit ill.

 

That and she didn’t believe for one minute that there was anything Jeri honestly could do to make her do something she didn’t want to.

 

Jeri brought the chopsticks around and poked at Rika’s lips. “Come on… Open up,” she said, frowning at the stubborn girl.

 

Upon seeing Jeri’s frown, her resolve momentarily wavered before she tempered it again. She shook her head, and gently pushed Jeri’s hand prodding her mouth away. 

 

Sighing, Jeri adjusted so she was facing Rika more fully. “Won’t you do it...for me?” she asked, continuing to prod at her mouth. “I’m trying to look out for you, like you did for me.” Her eyes softened as she looked into Rika’s eyes. “Please Rika…”

 

Rika looked away, completely losing the second she uttered ‘for me.’ Opening her mouth up slightly, she sulked as she remembered the one rule she shouldn’t have forgotten.

 

Jeri Katou was literally impossible to say ‘no’ to.

 

A smile broke across Jeri’s face as Rika finally complied. Pushing her chopsticks into the girl’s mouth, she deposited the shrimp inside and then withdrew, beaming happily. 

 

“There, see? That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”

 

The only answer Jeri got, besides the girl chewing and swallowing, was a very definite childish grunt - Rika’s staple noise she made whenever she completely lost an argument to someone but refused to admit it. 

 

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” Jeri admonished, taking up another shrimp. “If you ate your lunch, you wouldn’t be in this situation. “Now say ‘ah’ again…”

 

“Um...I’m not interrupting you two while you’re on a date or something, am I?” came the voice of Henry Wong as he drew up next to the two girls, eyebrows raised in surprise at the scene before him. Jeri  _ eeped _ and blushed heavily, but her chopsticks remained where they were.

 

“N-No,” she said, shaking her head quickly. “I’m just… Rika’s being difficult with her lunch, so I’m...making sure she gets fed. That’s all.”

 

Rika blushed as well, although more for the fact she got caught in an embarrassing situation by Henry of all people. She wasn’t sure if he would let her live this down later when she didn’t feel like lying in the middle of her room with her door closed and lights off for the next month or so.

 

“If you’re going to keep insist on feeding me, I’ll just eat my own lunch,” she mumbled, reaching over and taking her bento box again. She had zero doubts now that Jeri would keep forcing her to eat until satisfied, so she might as well gather the last of her dignity before that died.

 

“It’s about time,” Jeri mumbled, taking the shrimp and popping it into her mouth, only to blush even more brightly a second later as she realized what she just did.

 

_ Indirect kiss… _ she thought, slowly starting to chew the shrimp. She forced herself to resist the urge to bury her face in the grass and wait for the world to end.

 

“Well, at least your stubbornness knows  _ some _ limits,” Henry said, eyeing both girls in contemplation as a thought sprang to mind regarding them.

 

_ Could they…? _

 

He hadn’t considered it before, but with this incident and the knowledge that Jeri and Rika had a fairly close bond as well over the years… 

 

_ Perhaps things have changed a lot more than I realized from the memory wipes, _ he thought, feeling bad for the kissing game that he forced Rika and Takato to go through. If Rika really wasn’t interested in him this time around…

 

_ Things are going to be messy once everyone’s memories are back, _ he mused, popping open his bento box.

 

“Henry, if I continued down that road, it would have been like kicking a puppy,” Rika pointed out, gesturing to the brunette as if that would prove her point. “I’m stubborn, but look at her and tell me to my face that you could say no to her. And if you said yes, you’re a filthy liar.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry,” Henry smiled. “I wouldn’t lie about that. She’s wrung me through the ringer a few times as well over the years. She just...has that way about her.”

 

“You make me sound like I’m some kind of evil mastermind plotting world domination,” Jeri scowled, eating her lunch more rapidly now.

 

“Aren’t you?” Henry asked, raising an eyebrow at her, only to receive a tongue stuck out at him in response. The boy chuckled.

 

“Very good impression of Terriermon.”

 

“Relax,” Rika grinned, patting Jeri’s head, the heaviness from earlier lifting slightly off her shoulders with the teasing of the smaller girl. “You’re a very cute evil mastermind.” 

 

Jeri grunted herself now under Rika’s pat. “Anyway,” she began in a lower voice, “do you think you should ask Henry about what we were talking about before he showed up? Maybe he can help.”

 

Henry raised an eyebrow at the girl’s whispering, having not quite caught what she was saying.

 

Rika nodded as she removed her hand and put the sausage in her mouth. While Jeri was easier to talk to and open up with, Henry usually had more answers and was more philosophical. If anyone knew what her problem was, she was sure it would be the Chinese boy.

 

Turning to Henry, she returned to her position on the tree.

 

“So before you came, I had asked Jeri why she thought I couldn’t remember anything despite numerous attempts to,” she said. “Renamon thinks it’s because I keep losing people, and Jeri thinks it’s because I’m running from my problems.” 

 

Henry bit into a rice ball and rolled Rika’s words around in his head for a moment before replying.

 

“I take it that this has more going on here than what Mnemosyne was doing to us,” he said. “Is there anything I should know? Because I get the feeling I’m missing some vital information.”

 

“Well… Rika’s tried having Renamon hypnotize her like she did with me and Takato, and she’s had a strange...vision involving her being under a frozen lake and…” She glanced at Rika. “Drowning too, you said?”

 

“I have the feeling of drowning prior to waking up both times,” Rika said with a slight frown, rubbing her throat. “Apparently I was sleeping under the ice and then I would … ‘wake up’ and start to drown. When I came to, I really did feel like I had just inhaled a lake full of water.”

 

Henry massaged his chin thoughtfully. “It’s interesting that you mention ice… When we were Tamers, you were so shaken by your encounter with IceDevimon that you tried to cut Renamon out of your life. Even before then you had a hard time opening up to us and others for the longest time. Well… Except for Jeri. You warmed to her pretty quick.”

 

He smiled at the girl, who blushed lightly and turned away.

 

“If I were to hazard a guess, the ice represents a fear you have, or acts like a barrier to keep out what you fear. It’s a common theme in stories to have ice represent isolation from others or even how you feel about them.”

 

He turned back toward Rika. “Do you mind if I...tread on personal ground?” he asked her carefully.

 

“... If you think it will help,” she said after a moment, her heart dropping to her stomach and suddenly once again she felt nauseous. 

 

Henry nodded. “This is about your father, isn’t it?” Try as he might, he had an idea that if it were just about Takato, Rika wouldn’t be in this situation. She had been drawn to him too many times for her to not fight for him if it were just the memory wipes being the case. If anything, it would give Rika  _ more _ of a reason to pummel Mnemosyne. No, there had to be something deeper to all of this, and he suspected that this particular topic had to be central to it all.

 

“Her father?” Jeri asked, turning to look at the girl. She knew Rika’s father left her, or rather had gathered it from the lack of his presence in the household. The exact reasons were never made clear though.

 

_ It would make sense though, now that I think about it… _

 

Rika flinched at Henry’s question, expecting it, but with the wound of betrayal still fresh, she was unable to look as calm or disinterested about the subject as she would have in the past. Unable to meet either of her friend’s eyes, she nodded once refusing to trust her voice.

 

Henry nodded as Jeri’s hand found its way over to Rika’s and cupped it gently. “If you like,” Henry began cautiously, “I could find him for you and you could...meet him or talk to him. I don’t know, but if this is the problem, confronting him might be your best option. It’ll get it out of your system the quickest anyway.”

 

“That...might be too much of a shock though,” Jeri countered, knowing from experience that sometimes too much too fast could be just as damaging, if not worse than the original problem. It often depended on the person, but as a rule of thumb she felt that it was important to find the pace Rika was comfortable with without dragging any heels before pushing forward.

 

Henry nodded, not sure if she was right, but understanding the sentiment all the same.

 

“Well, at the very least we can talk about it. What do you think, Rika? Do you want to talk?”

 

“I don’t want to see that fucker’s face ever again,” Rika said darkly, anger taking hold of her at the thought of talking to him. What would she say? Oh remember me, the  _ daughter _ that you had and completely abandoned without another word? No, she was sure all her father would see was a stranger on his doorstep.

 

No wonder her grandparents steered the conversation away from her father when she was younger after her parent’s separation.

 

“I  _ hate  _ him,” she continued, the rage building. It was something she hadn’t really considered until this moment, but with the words leaving her lips it felt like there was a certain … truth to it. She always loved him … held out hope he would return … yet ... “He couldn’t even be bothered to even send a card on my birthday! What sort of parent can’t even let their child know they acknowledge they’re alive at least once a year? Just because I wasn’t born a boy-”

 

Realizing what she said, she immediately stopped short and bit her lip and looked away. It was more personal than she wanted to get, and more information about herself than she wanted to say.

 

Henry and Jeri both exchanged looks before returning to Rika.

 

“Well… That’s progress,” Henry nodded with a dry smile. “Go on.”

 

“I don’t want to talk about him,” Rika whispered. 

 

“So you don’t want to remember?” Henry asked, his words having double meaning. Not wanting to remember her father and by extension not wanting to remember anything else.

 

“That’s not fair, Henry,” Rika snapped at the boy. “You wouldn’t want to think about it or remember either.”

 

“Rika…” Jeri touched her arm...this time not by unconscious act, but calculated. “There are a lot of things we don’t want to remember...remember?”

 

She gave a small smile at her ‘joke,’ but it slipped away very quickly. “Rika… I don’t want to push you too hard or anything. I don’t like the idea of making you upset or uncomfortable but...you’re upset that you can’t remember anything about the past, but if this is the source of that problem, then you have to want to remember, even if it’s painful.”

 

She dropped her hand, hating herself for what she was about to do next.

 

“Years ago, I lost Leomon, and I...lost myself to my grief. Because of that I was taken advantage of by the D-Reaper. Years later I would start to...hurt myself.” She swallowed at the painful memory as a image of a bloody sock puppet flashed through her mind. “When I talked about it, I found that it went back to when my mother died. Even...Even the D-Reaper helped me realize that, as brutal as it was in doing so. But once I found out...I could...get it out there and start healing.”

  
Rika felt light headed as her eyes found themselves to the scar on Jeri’s wrist. She never asked what it was, but now it was suddenly clear. Her mouth becoming dry, her fingers intertwined with the brunette’s as she swallowed and glanced away.

 

“Makino,” she said finally, glancing at Jeri to see if she recognized it and put the dots together without her having to spell it out. “That … that was my last name before we changed it. You … you both know about the family, I presume.”

 

“Just that it’s an important one,” Henry said as Jeri nodded alongside him.

 

“And you know about the Hata family?” she continued. 

 

“It’s one of the most important families in Japan,” Jeri nodded again. “Also, Masahiko’s friend, Akira, is related to them.”

 

“It has influence in politics,” Henry added. “And it’s one of the oldest.”

 

Rika nodded her head miserably, deciding not to mention Akira was technically her half-brother. 

 

“... I’m the result of a failed union between the families,” she said quietly. “My mother had fallen in love with my father young, and had me when she was 18. Despite her being a teenage mother, both families approved of the union because they saw benefit in furthering their own … political goals. After all it would be beneficial for the both of them to have a heir to strengthen that bond.

 

“The Makinos wanted a boy. The Hatas wanted someone … notably more Japanese. Instead they got me.” She stopped and sighed. “... My father left shortly after an argument with my mother. I don’t think either of them knew I was listening. He begged her to have another child with him - a boy. She refused saying I was enough.” She looked down. “I’m the reason my parents divorced and my father left. Even though mama doesn’t say so, she still loves him, even after all this time. Besides my mom and grandparents, both sides of my family seek to remind me that it’s my fault that the union didn’t work out. Himiko treats me incredibly well all things considering.” She barked out a dry laugh. She never thought those words would leave her mouth. “She actually considers me family.” 

 

“Oh Rika…” Jeri said, her eyes full of sympathy as she returned Rika’s earlier squeeze. “I’m so sorry.”

 

Setting his bento box down on the grass, he likewise touched Rika’s hand, offering comfort.

 

“How do you feel?” he asked after a moment of silence had passed.

 

“A bit better I guess,” Rika said miserably. She didn’t like talking about her father for numerous reasons - both because of the feelings and unpleasant memories it brought up - not that she had been able to push them down since yesterday - but because she  _ hated _ feeling like she was being pitied. “It’s nothing I haven’t known, and if I really cared what they said, my hair would have been dyed black a long time ago. I’m just … tired of it all.” She paused. “I still don’t want to see him, so don’t even ask.”

 

“Fair enough,” Henry nodded, giving her hand a slight squeeze before pulling away. “Just remember that we’re not your father. Any of us. Mnemosyne’s to blame for all of this. It took us from you. You didn’t lose us by choice.”

 

Jeri massaged Rika’s hand comfortingly.

 

“Not to mention that you got us back as well,” she smiled.

 

“Yeah,” Rika laughed slightly, smiling at them. It still was hard to do, but she felt a weight leave her shoulders. She didn’t know why - she always held things back because she  _ didn’t  _ want people to know, but when she told them against all common sense she was glad she did. “I know.” 

 

“We’ll see,” Jeri said, her smile becoming sad. “Sometimes though,” she tapped the side of her head, “we lie to ourselves. It’s easy to say  _ you know, _ but until you believe it all the way down…” Her hand traced a path down to her chest. “...you may not actually know at all. You have to work on being honest with yourself often...even when it hurts.”

 

Rika coughed awkwardly at that, glancing away. Part of her wanted to ask how she knew her so well, but it was a question which need not be asked. She knew she struggled being honest with herself - it wasn’t something she was completely oblivious to. 

 

“You sound like you and Henry have been getting along more,” she tried to joke. 

 

“We got along before in the past,” Jeri chuckled. “Before the memory wipes and even after. We just remember them.” She tilted her head slightly, the tips of her hair brushing against her shoulders as she gazed at Rika.

 

“Be honest with yourself, Rika.  _ Want _ to be honest with yourself.”

 

She dropped her face slightly, pressing her lips together, struggling for a moment with a thought - an idea that cropped up. A part of her didn’t want to suggest it, but she knew, if she were being honest with herself, that if she didn’t...she wouldn’t be a good friend to Rika.

 

“Maybe…” she began softly, running her fingers over Rika’s. “Maybe you should tell this to Takato as well. It...might help you become more honest with yourself.”

 

“What does Takato have to do with it?” Rika asked with a blank look, blinking in confusion. She supposed it might be good to tell him if only to be fair - after all he was a dear friend along with Jeri and Henry. Yet what was she supposed to say? 

 

_ Oh hey Takato, will you listen to my fucking father issues? _

 

Yeah she didn’t think so. 

 

“Practice,” Jeri replied. “You don’t do it enough yourself, as I remember and Takato… Well…” Her smile grew, becoming genuine. “He’s a surprisingly good listener. He’ll listen if you want him to, and he won’t ask why.”

 

“Jeri,” Rika sighed, squeezing her friend’s hand gently. She knew that her friend meant well, but it wasn’t anything she felt like talking about. After all, she was so used to keeping her problems inside her. It wasn’t anything which was going to just  _ change _ . She wouldn’t have told them either if Jeri hadn’t opened up herself. “I don’t feel like talking about my …  _ father  _ issues out of nowhere. I’m not arguing that Takato is a good listener, it’s just that … you know me. I don’t like talking about myself.”

 

“Well… It’s your decision. It was just a suggestion anyway.” Withdrawing her hand, Jeri returned to her lunch. “But...I think that might also be part of your problem. You’re the center of the topic, and you don’t talk about your problems. That’s just my impression anyway. I can’t force you. You have to want to be better, like I said.”

 

Rika sighed as she returned to her own lunch. She didn’t understand why not wanting to talk about her issues was so bad. She didn’t want to feel pitied or weak, and it wasn’t in her personality to just bring up things without provocation. She just didn’t understand how  _ talking  _ about it to Takato would help her remember. 

 

“So how’s Renamon?” Henry asked, sensing that this topic had reached its limit of discussion. Rika was stubborn after all, and sometimes arguing with her would only make her dig in further

 

_ Better to just let her draw herself out, _ he thought.

 

“She’s doing well I guess,” Rika answered. “She really doesn’t talk about what Himiko does. She assures me though she’s treated well, so I guess that’s good.” She paused and sighed. “Apparently their progress has been … slow though.” Running her thumb across the rim of her bento, she stared at the remaining sausage in her lunch before giving dropping it into Jeri’s bento, recalling the shrimp from earlier. 

 

Henry watched in amusement as Jeri immediately blushed at the gesture.  _ Were Terriermon here, I’m sure he would have some things to say in regards to this. Rika would  have punched him into the stratosphere of course, but still. _

 

“Well,” he began, “I imagine that they’ll get faster as time goes on,” Henry remarked.

 

“I sure hope so,” Rika sighed, giving Jeri an odd look, noticing her flush. 

 

_ What is she so embarrassed about? She was literally feeding me minutes earlier _ , she wondered before shrugging it off. Jeri - like Takato - seemed easily flustered at times. The only difference between the two from what she could see was that Jeri wasn’t as skittish as the boy when she was. Which was good - she already struggled with trying to coax Takato to relax.

 

“I feel more at ease when she’s around,” she continued. “If it wasn’t her choice-” she grimaced slightly. It was her choice, but Rika still didn’t want her to go. She was selfish like that. Still was. “I still don’t like it. I know it’s necessary, but … I worry, you know?” 

 

**###**

 

Chewing on an unlit cigarette, Himiko surveyed the five out of the six Monster Makers. In a short period of time, Tally had managed to gather a majority of the group she asked for. While she would have liked to have Gorou Mizuno, a.k.a “Shibumi” amongst the scientists now sitting in the conference room, she knew that getting him would be a bit more difficult than the rest from what previous reports told her.

 

_ Most of the chess pieces are here,  _ she thought, taking the cigarette out of her mouth.  _ And with Riley bringing in Ryo, we’ll have all the Tamers in the city finally. _

 

The fact the Tamer hadn’t aged a day from last reports was of great interest to her, but at the moment there was more pressing matters. While Mnemosyne remained a constant threat, there was one she was more concerned with at the moment. 

 

“So what’s the status report?” she asked.

 

“As you know, we’ve installed the tracer program inside Renamon,” Janyu said, lifting a sheet of paper from the folder laid out before him. “Although the information we’re getting is…difficult to make sense of at the moment. We definitely  _ have _ a source, but I…” He frowned and glanced at the others, who nodded.

“There’s a large amount of digital information on the other end,” Babel, a bald, dark-skinned man wearing glasses said. “Layers of them. This could be the first sign of the digital world that the AI mentioned.”

“We also may be experiencing some measure of destructive interference,” added an Indian woman, pushing up her glasses as she adjusted herself in her seat. “We’re not sure what’s causing it, though it might be simply the normal exchange of information between the worlds.”

“Long story short,” began Dolphin, a heavy set, red-haired man with glasses, “we’re making progress, but right now it’s a snail’s pace because we’re dealing with a completely unknown alien world.”

“The only thing we know absolutely for certain,” supplied Daisy, a short-haired, blond woman with a prominent nose, “is that Shibumi’s code is written over a lot of the information we’re getting. Which is already no surprise given the source code of the digimon.”

 

“So we need Shibumi to make more progress?” Himiko asked, her lips pulling into a frown.

 

_ Of course. _

 

“It would be helpful,” Janyu said, “but it’s more that we need time to make sense of it all. We haven’t really had an opportunity to study this digital world or the digimon in it - or any other artificial intelligence life that exists there - to get a proper understanding of how to navigate it. Even astronomers needed time to study the motions of the planets. This...digital world has motions of its own as well and operates under rules we know nothing about. It’s just not that simple.”

 

“Is there any questions I can answer?” 

 

Words appeared on the screen attached to the projector behind Himiko. Sitting at the desk, with a word processor open, was Renamon. The vulpine found it rather frustrating to need to type out everything, unable to communicate with them the way she could with Rika or Takato, but she had to remind herself a few months ago she was unable to communicate with  _ anyone _ . 

 

The Monster Makers exchanged looks before Curley adjusted herself once more in her seat. “If you could tell us anything about the digital world that you know of...it’s geography and makeup, that could help.”

 

“Perhaps anything involving the weather as well,” Janyu added. “If the digital world follows rules programmed into it, perhaps a program that mimics disruptive weather patterns could interfere with our technology.”

 

“So you’re thinking that if we design a program to shield against that, we can clear up the signal?” asked Daisy.

 

“At this point, there’s no idea that’s a bad one. It’s just a matter of clearing off the ones that don’t work.”

 

Renamon let out a breath, wondering how best to explain her home to the scientists. What they asked were rather … loaded questions. 

 

“Well,” Renamon began to type, the words coming slowly as she weighed her words. “Just like the Real World is vast, so is the Digital World. It is affected by the data output the human world puts into it, and there are layers. The lower you go, the less complex the geography becomes.

 

“In between layers are … well I’m not quite sure how to explain them, but there are self-contained environments which are suited to the Digimon which live there. Just like the Earth, they can be a multitude of things from forests, oceans to ruins. Weather as well varies, and the transition between night and day is instantaneous.

 

“Also, visible in the sky no matter what plain it is viewed from is a pulsing globe of code and light, which represent the Earth. From it emanate data streams, vast columns of energy which reach down into the Digital World and manipulate is digital matter, physical representations of acts performed on computers across the world. Should anyone be caught in a data stream, they will be swept up into it and deposited elsewhere, on any of the Digital World's potential planes. Between Earth and the Digital World is a warped region of inter dimensional space where reality is constantly in flux, and defined only by the perceptions of individuals passing through it.” 

 

“We have a lot of difficulties to cut through,” Dolphin hummed, jotting down some quick notes. “We’ll have to take this in small steps at a time. It could be that just tracing it through Renamon might not be enough without a basic ‘map’ of the digital world.”

 

“What would you suggest?” Janyu asked.

 

“Well… I don’t think anyone here is going to like it, especially Ms. Hata…” He nodded respectfully to Himiko. “...but we may need to send something...or someone  _ to _ the digital world.”

 

“The Digital World is very dangerous,” Renamon typed quickly, just seeing in her mind eye Rika volunteering herself in a heartbeat. Glancing over to Himiko, she noticed the director’s hand gripping her forearm tightly. Like the echo, Himiko’s thoughts drifted to her younger cousin and the fact she would stupidly throw herself into danger.

 

_ Not to mention the Digital World, according to Mnemosyne, was nearly destroyed in the D-Reaper’s attack six years ago,  _ she thought _. Plus I doubt Mnemosyne would just sit back and allow us to go there. If I have any hopes of destroying it, I can’t do anything which would attract its attention.  _

 

“Renamon is right,” Himiko said. “We don’t know what we would be going into. We can’t just go jumping into things.”

 

“I didn’t say jump into things,” Dolphin said, frowning at his own folder. “It’s just a suggestion off the top of my head. The how to do it we could figure out... _ if _ we decide to send anything at all.”

 

“Maybe we can design a digital pulse program and send it back up the stream,” Babel suggested. “You know, kind of like sonar. The tracer’s sensitive enough. As long as we don’t lose contact with it, we can send it up the stream in increments and pick things out.”

 

Himiko bit her lip. Her main concern was avoiding the detection of Mnemosyne. It seemed rather powerful and omniscient, and until she learned the limits of its abilities, she wanted to tread lightly. However, she understood the need for knowledge. 

 

Speaking of which…

 

“Do whatever you think you have to do,” she said bluntly. “Just make sure you design it that we don’t attract any …  _ unwanted _ attention. Speaking of which though, how has progress been going on finding other sentient echoes?”

 

“We’ve detected at least one other,” Daisy replied. “However its movements are erratic and we keep losing it. We’re trying to establish a pattern of behavior so we can predict where it will next appear. So far it likes hanging out on the far western end of Shinjuku park.”

 

_ Well Rika isn’t allowed to go there anymore _ , Himiko thought, glancing at the empty chair. The vulpine didn’t need to be told twice, clenching her claws tightly. She doubted Rika would be very happy to hear it, but it was for her own good until IceDevimon was dealt with.

 

“Good. Continue to do so. And whenever possible, delete it,” she said bluntly. She wouldn’t give this  _ demon _ the chance to hurt her brat of a cousin.

 

“Delete it?” Janyu asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “I thought our goal was to communicate with sentient echoes if at all possible.”

 

“This particular one is too dangerous to allow to survive,” Renamon explained, quickly answering before Himiko could. “I have encountered it in the past. Not all sentient echoes are like me. This particular one is, for a lack of a better word, demonic. It will stop at nothing to get what it wants, and has no qualms hurting whoever gets in it’s way. It is, what I believe humans call, a serial killer.”

 

“I...see,” Janyu replied. Although he wasn’t sure if they should simply take the Renamon’s word for it, she had so far been level with them. Perhaps it was better to play safe than sorry. These echoes were based on creatures with considerable power after all. “All right. We’ll continue our work and see what we can come up with.”

 

“Thank you,” Himiko said, nodding her head. While it was frustrating they weren’t making quick headway, at least they might be able to take care of IceDevimon soon. Then they could start setting their sights to bigger fish.

 

**###**

 

Riley’s hands gripped the steering wheel, glancing in her rearview mirror before glancing backwards, turning on her turn signal, before merging lanes. One of the convenient things about the bullet trains was that they would be back at Shinjuku already, but they were still hours away.

 

That and Riley thought the teenager would have more personal possessions on him, or given  _ something _ more than the clothes on his back and the “odd device” in his pocket. Yet she had been wrong. She pushed back returning a day to get him clothes which weren’t worn down.

 

“We’re going to be coming across an exit where we can get some food in the next hour or so,” she informed the boy sitting next to her, glancing over awkwardly. It wasn’t  _ that _ hard to gain custody of him, but the paperwork was horrendous. The fact she was from the government made the process much faster than it would have been for any civilian. “You hungry?”

 

“Yeah,” the teenager nodded, smiling in embarrassment at needing to be looked after by a federal agent. It just seemed like a waste of her time when she could have been out hunting bad guys. “If it’s not a big deal, I mean.”

 

A big deal… Given the interest that the government had in him and the odd device he carried, it seemed like he  _ was  _ something of a big deal. All the same, he didn’t want to be a bother to anyone. He was presently a nameless boy with no memories of how he got where he was and no evidence of anything untoward happening to him prior to ending up in the middle of nowhere. He liked to imagine that a government agent had more important things to do than to follow up on a non-existent person.

 

“It’s fine, kid,” Riley assured him, suddenly slamming on her brakes when a white car cut her off suddenly. “WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING ASSHOLE!” she yelled, flipping off the driver angrily. “If I only had the authority to pull your ass over,” she grumbled under her breath darkly, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel. 

 

Taking a couple of calming breaths, the conversation lulled back into awkward silence. Biting her lip, she wondered what she should even talk about. Director Hata really didn’t give her much information. Actually she gave her little information beyond “do whatever you can to bring him back.” She wasn’t sure what exactly a John Doe caught her interest, but she had a feeling it had to do with the odd device - which seemed vaguely familiar.

 

The boy did too thinking about it. 

 

“So,” she said slowly. “Have you remembered anything? Any little thing, even if it isn’t about yourself.” She smiled awkwardly at the boy. “I want to enroll you in school when we get to Shinjuku. With your age, I think you might be in high school, but it wouldn’t be good to put you in a grade level higher than your current memories.”

 

“Afraid not,” the boy replied, shaking his head. “Don’t get me wrong, there are  _ some _ things that feel familiar, like...I don’t know. Muscle memory I guess.” Pulling out his odd-looking device he tapped the screen for indication.

 

“For some reason, I feel like whenever I look at this, it’s like I know I can slash something...something like a card through the slot in the side, and the screen…”

 

He pressed the center button and a holographic circle rose up above it, spinning wildly for a moment before receding.

 

“...does that weird thing,” he finished. He shook his head. “But that’s about it. Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine,” she assured him with a smile. “I’m sure if we give it time, they’ll just come back naturally.”

 

Of course she didn’t know that. She was a computer programer. The mysteries of the human mind were a completely foreign subject to her. She could create lines of code, new applications which could affect the real world from cyberspace, but ask her why anyone acted a certain way, she wouldn’t be able to answer. 

 

Still, it felt like the right thing to say. It seemed so …  _ wrong _ for him not to recall anything about who he was.

 

“In the meantime though, is there any name you would like me to call you?” she asked. “Until we figure out your real name that is. Calling you kid or John Doe is going to get real old, real fast.”

 

The boy thought about it for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly.

 

“Ryo’s as good a name as any,” he replied. That felt right. Simple, fairly common and easy to remember. Until he knew who he was, it was better to keep it that way.

 

“Right,” Riley nodded her head. That was simple enough. “You can use my last name in the meantime. So, Ryo Ohtori.” She smirked slightly as she sped down a curve. “If my boyfriend would propose already, it would be Ryo Yamaki. He’s going to be living with us. We work together, so you’ll probably be spending a lot of time with us at work.” She glanced at him. “Fair warning, you probably won’t find it that interesting.”  

 

Ryo chuckled softly to himself. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I bet I can find enough things to occupy myself wi…”

 

He didn’t get the chance to finish his statement when his bright blue eyes grew wide in surprise in shock. Leaning forward, he gasped as he spotted a great, lumbering... _ thing _ ...marching across the road on two massive hands, a pink cable trailing behind it.

 

“What was that?!” he exclaimed loudly.

 

“What’s what?” Riley asked, squinting her blue eyes trying to see what could startle Ryo. She didn’t see anything except …

 

_ The semi?  _ she wondered, her brow furrowing. But that couldn’t be right. They saw plenty of large trucks traveling across Japan and the teenager didn’t seemed reasonably shocked about any of them.

 

Ryo’s mouth fell open as he looked back and forth between the woman and the monster. Seeing how calm she was and how little panic he was observing from other drivers around them, a thought occurred to him.

 

_ She can’t see it… No one can see it. _

 

Upon closer inspection, there didn’t seem to be anything else going on with the creature as it lumbered across the landscape. It just...moved, and that was pretty much it. No dust or explosions. No quakes from something so massive. No vehicles being knocked to the side.

 

It was as intangible as a ghost to the world around it.

 

“Nothing,” he said, making a decision to keep from sounding crazy until he understood the situation better. He didn’t know why but some part of himself - a part that ran deep into him - told him it was best to pursue a policy of silence and to understand before anything else could be done. If this woman felt that he might become dangerous before they reached their destination or anything else, his movements would then become restricted.

 

“Just thought I saw something at first,” he said, forcing a chuckle and doing his best to relax. Or at least  _ appear  _ to be relaxed. “Maybe I should get my eyes checked out. You never know after all.”

 

“Hm,” Riley hummed, pressing her lips together as she sped down the freeway. She didn’t quite believe it was ‘nothing,’ but she wouldn’t press it for now. “If you say so.”

 

**###**

 

Riley pulled them into a rest stop – a McDonald’s – and parked their vehicle. Unbuckling, she looked up at Ryo.

“You should probably use the bathroom before we get going again. Do you need anything? Snacks? Drinks?”

“I could use something to eat,” Ryo admitted, his stomach growling in confirmation. Laughing lightly, the scarlet-haired woman nodded.

“All right. After you use the bathroom, pick out what you want and I’ll get it. Don’t worry about the bill. It’s on the government.”

“Uh…thanks,” Ryo chuckled as they got out of the vehicle, not sure how to best respond to the joke. After locking up, they headed toward the McDonald’s. Upon entering, Riley perused the menu while Ryo quickly located the bathroom and hid himself inside. She picked out a couple things for her portion of the journey and glanced outside. She frowned slightly, seeing what appeared to be a balding man standing by her car. With his back turned to her, she couldn’t recognize him, yet she felt a peculiar sensation of familiarity about him and his posture. Curious, and a bit worried about what he was doing near her vehicle, she started toward the door, if only to shoo him off.

Her vision of him was blocked briefly by the corner of the door as she stepped outside, and upon her exit she found him gone. Frowning, she looked around. The parking lot had many other vehicles nearby, but the gap between them and hers was such that she should have seen someone retreating away from her car.

No one. Looking over her shoulder to see if Ryo had emerged yet – he hadn’t – she headed over to her car, taking a gander around her to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, and did a quick inspection of the vehicle. She found nothing out of the ordinary.

No. There was. One thing that she nearly missed.

_ Impossible… _

Riley locked her car.

She was  _ sure _ of that. She even clicked the button a few extra times, the horn honking at them before they entered McDonald’s. Yet sitting on Ryo’s seat was some sort of …  _ card _ . It looked like a playing card, yet it was completely green in color and when she picked it up and tilted it downward, a pixelated yellow “D” with a white pixel monster emerging from it.

_ We couldn’t have been in there for more than 5 minutes _ , she thought, looking around the car to see if anything was missing.

Nothing was.

_ What the hell is going on? _

_ _


	28. The Storm of Friendship

Takato leaned against the side of his desk as he stared out the window, his eyes in deep thought as they took in the deep blue sky. Here and there were clouds, thick and muscular, threatening looking, but fragmented. A bird flew across his vision and he followed it for a moment before dropping his gaze down to the cell phone in his hand. Tapping it once more, it lit up, revealing a picture of a red-haired, violet-eyed girl playing a game, a fearsome smile on her face.

He blushed, and smiled back, but it was a grim smile, and his heart beat painfully hard in his chest. Swallowing, his thumb hovered over the call button before retreating. Leaning his head back, he clenched his eyes shut. Taking a heavy, shuddering breath he pressed the phone to his forehead.

_ Rika… _ he thought. The memories continued to wash over him. He ached to call Rika… To talk to her about the memories and to know…how she felt.

_ I can’t though, _ he thought.  _ She doesn’t remember. It’d be wrong of me to bring this up with her when she doesn’t remember… The pressure that would put on her… _

No. He couldn’t do that to her.

_ My own feelings are messed up enough as it is. I’ve got to get a hold of myself before I can… _

His phone suddenly buzzed in alarm and Takato squawked in surprise, nearly dropping it in surprise. After many flips and hand grabs, he hit the reply button.

“Uh…H-H-Hi?” he stammered. Who was it that called? He forgot to check.

 

“Takato,” Rika’s voice came over the phone, somewhat muffled for a moment before it became clearer. “Where are you?”

 

_ Rika! _ Takato groaned mentally as his heart beat half in pain, half in happiness at the sound of her voice.

 

“Home,” he replied. “Where are you? Is everything okay?” He checked his mental calendar. Yes, they were supposed to meet up with the others today. When was that again?

 

_ Oh nuts… I lost track of time… _

 

“Everything’s fine,” Rika assured him. “I just wanted to remind you that we’re not meeting at the park due to IceDevimon but in Ichigaya. Wasn’t sure if you got my text from earlier, and if you did, you remembered.”

 

“Text…?” Takato lowered his phone to check and nearly kicked himself for not noticing it sooner. “Oh… Sorry, I missed it. Sorry about that. Anyway, I’ll be there.”

 

“Good thing I called then. Call me when you get here, so I can find you, OK?” 

 

“I will,” Takato nodded solemnly. He paused. “Hey Rika…?”

 

“Hm?” Rika’s voice took on an inquiring hum.

 

Takato closed his eyes, fighting against himself for a moment before reopening them.

 

“Nothing. I’ll see you when I get there.”

 

With that, he hung up. 

 

Lowering the phone, he took a deep breath and contemplated events for a moment before glancing at the time.

 

_ I’ve got to get going, _ he thought, grabbing his wallet.  _ Everyone’s counting on me. I can’t afford to get lost in my head now of all times. _

 

Exiting out of the picture, Takato locked his phone and headed out the door.

 

**###**

 

The clouds were getting greyer and Rika could feel drops of rain land on her clothes, causing the fabric to darken from the water. Opening up the clear umbrella her grandmother insisted she bring with her as she ran out the door, the rain began to beat down on the plastic in a steady tap.

 

Jeri had texted her - apologizing profusely - that she would be late. Apparently her father needed her to do something for the tavern before he would let her run off again. Rika assured her it was fine. Honestly, she wouldn’t put it past the brunette to be on time despite that.

 

Pulling her phone once again, she pressed her lips together in annoyance when no new messages popped up on her screen. Patience was not one of her better virtues, and as the appointed time ticked closer, she grew more impatient.

 

Hearing footsteps approaching her, she glanced up, glowering on instinct, only for her facial expression to soften upon seeing Takato approaching her.

 

“Hey, you’re actually on-” she paused in mid sentence, squinting upon realizing he didn’t have an umbrella. “...Didn’t you bring an umbrella?”

 

Takato paused to stare at her for a moment before glancing down at himself. A dry chuckle emerged from his lips and he shook his head.

 

“Ah...no,” he admitted. “I was kind of worried that I wouldn’t make it on time, so I...didn’t think about it.”

 

His eyes softened as they rose to meet Rika’s once more. Another memory tugged at the corners of his mind, but he forced himself to focus. This was  _ not _ the time for that sort of thing.

 

_ The heavenly sound of her laughter - so rare and beautiful; the soft feel of her lips pressed against his…  _

 

_ Stop it, _ he commanded himself.  _ Please… Just...stop. _

 

For now, his mind obeyed, but the memories hung back, waiting.

 

Giving an irritated sigh, she raised the umbrella up higher. It was so like Takato to forget his umbrella despite the weather forecast calling for rain. 

 

“Well? What are you waiting for?” she asked impatiently. “Get under here before you catch a cold or something.”

 

Making an  _ eep _ sound, he hurried on over to Rika, opting to not argue with her, and ducked underneath the umbrella just as the downpour increased in intensity. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the girl.

 

“Thanks, Rika.”

 

“Don’t mention it,” she said simply, looking around the area to see if she could catch sight of Renamon, the vulpine wandering off for the moment to “canvas the area.” She seemed increasingly tense as the days went on with no sign of IceDevimon or any further progress on stopping him, but Rika felt she should relax a bit more. She understood her partner’s apprehension, but to get this wound up and paranoid was playing right into his hands.

 

And Rika refused to let the demon dictate  _ anything _ about her life, to get the best of her. So she didn’t worry about it.

 

Out of spite.

 

Turning her attention back to Takato, she frowned slightly recalling his rather abrupt hang up after his inquiry which he ended up waving off with a ‘nothing.’

 

“Anyway, what was that thing you wanted to ask me earlier?” she asked, getting right to the point. Subtly was not one of her strong suits.

 

Takato blinked as he turned toward her, not expecting her to wonder about that as quite a bit of time had passed since then. He opened his mouth, all the denials ingrained into him starting to rise to the surface, only...he stopped.

 

Closing his mouth, he turned away. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he looked down thoughtfully, wondering if he should answer her, or how to answer her. Fear held him… The judging. The eyes watching him, gauging his reaction. The possibility of rejection, not just of his heart and feelings, but that he might be viewed as crazy held firm. He felt as though he were looking out over a vast gulf of ocean, and he were being expected to swim in its dark depths.

 

His breath caught in his throat as anger rose in him at himself...his behavior.

 

_ I haven’t realized… _ he thought quietly.  _...just how much of a coward I turned into. _

 

“I just…” he began, deciding to open up just a little bit… To take that chance. “I just had a memory earlier. I guess I was...kind of bothered by it and I thought about talking to you but…”

 

He curled his fingers into his palms and he sighed in frustration.

 

“I don’t know,” he said after a moment. He looked back at Rika. “Do you remember anything?”

 

“Not really,” she admitted, watching his expressions change curiously before shrugging her shoulders. “Not from lack of trying though. Apparently I have some issues regarding my father I need to take care of.” She paused and pressed her lips together. “...That sounds even worse out loud than I thought.”

 

“You always thought that,” Takato nodded absently as he turned away, not quite thinking about what he was saying. Memories were again crowding close to the surface, and Rika’s closeness caused his mind to move too quickly - a flicker of an image and a conversation, and he seized on it reflexively. “It came out when you sang. You said you hated singing because of him.”

 

“I  _ sang?! _ ” she asked aghast, seizing on that more than the fact this apparently wasn’t the first time they had this conversation. If only because she was used to her friends by now knowing her more closely guarded secrets she held, if only because she told them in the past.

 

Singing though … she  _ didn’t _ sing. 

 

Takato winced, wishing he would pay more attention to the things he said, before nodding reluctantly. 

 

“It was just a verse or two,” he said, not meeting her eyes. The memory rose up and he flinched, taken aback by how powerful it was. For an instant...he was actually there.

 

“You unexpectedly dove into my lonely heart,” his lips moved unexpectedly as, in his mind’s eye, he saw himself wandering through Rika’s yard and finding her seated by the koi pond, her back facing him, singing softly to herself. “You kindly wrapped up the things that hurt a little…”

 

The words died off as the memory faded, and he raised one hand to his face, his head throbbing a little. The only sound that he could hear now was that of the rain as it pummeled Rika’s umbrella. 

 

“Kami,” Rika groaned, burying her face in her free hand. She didn’t know what to make of it - she wasn’t quite sure how to feel that people knew the things she kept - or believed she did - close to her heart for so long. It felt like part of her soul was exposed, and she felt …  _ weak _ . 

 

To make it worse, it seemed like today was just one huge blow in letting her know everyone was quite aware of her  _ daddy  _ issues. 

 

She didn’t know how to react to that - if only because she didn’t remember lowering her guards. It wasn’t like she minded her friends knowing it just … she didn’t know quite how to put it into words. Like that because she couldn’t remember any of this, there was a loss of agency. That and her increased vulnerability may have opened her to something far worse - pity.

 

“What else do you know?” she asked quietly, not sure if she wanted to know.

 

Takato lowered his hand and looked back at her, and felt horrible. The way she sounded… The way she looked almost seemed to tell him that she was afraid of him. Of what he knew. Feeling his heart sinking into his stomach he again turned away.

 

“I…” he began, hesitantly. He looked up toward the heavens, beseeching them for some kind of answer that would help him, only to find Rika’s umbrella, splattered with raindrops, obscuring the view.

 

_ Lie, _ a part of him said from the deepest parts of himself.  _ Don’t you dare hurt her… _

 

Takato closed his eyes. Rika would never forgive him if he did that to her.

 

“I know that your dad divorced your mom and that you haven’t seen him in a long time,” he said in a hushed voice. “I guess we talked a lot that day. You were pretty upset when you saw that I heard. You said some things about your family. I...don’t remember them all too well right now, but I know they’re all pretty...influential I guess? Old families.”

 

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” she said dryly, lowering her hand wondering if she should just tell Takato the rest before he remembered. To regain some control - however miniscule. That and if it somehow came out she told Henry and Jeri and not him … something about the thought made her insides squirm.

 

_ I need a way to say no to Jeri _ , she thought grumpily. 

 

“The Hatas and the Makinos. Mom married young, families approved for political reasons. She had me. Everyone was upset because the Hatas wanted someone who looked, well, Japanese, and the Makinos wanted a boy. When it was clear that neither side was getting what they wanted, my dad bailed and since then both sides of the family haven’t quite forgiven me for messing things up. The end, now you’re caught up and let’s change subjects,” she said, getting it all out in one impressive breath.

 

Takato grimaced, knowing what this had cost her. “Sorry,” he apologized. “So...uh… What...would you like to talk about instead?”

 

He felt awkward saying that. Now they had a white elephant in the room with them and the others still hadn’t arrived yet.

 

_ Maybe we shouldn’t talk about anything at all? _

 

He fidgeted for a moment and forced himself to be still. For the most part. His mouth, as usual, didn’t know when to stop moving.

 

“Sorry for upsetting you,” he repeated. “I didn’t mean to.”

 

“Stop apologizing. It’s fine, and I know that already,” she snapped, her irritability increasing, falling back on her tried and true defensive - threatening violence even though she mostly didn’t mean it. “And if you’re thinking about pitying me - don’t. If you do, I don’t care how much I like you, I  _ will _ punch you.”

 

Takato chuckled at that. “You actually did once. Can’t remember over what, but…” He tapped his cheekbone. “Clocked me pretty good.”

 

He felt a little better now. It was good to see that the same-old Rika was still there in spite of all the memory wipes that occurred. In a lot of ways, she stayed more together than he did.

 

“Could have been worse I guess,” he shrugged, looking around to see if the others were arriving yet.

 

“You probably deserved it if I actually  _ did _ punch you,” she muttered under her breath. Even if she never expressed it out loud, hitting Takato was like kicking a puppy as well. Not as bad as Jeri - you’d have to be a devil to even  _ think _ about raising a hand against her, but that was just something in her whole personality. Still, he must have  _ seriously  _ pissed her off which was saying something considering the allowances she made for him.

 

Pausing for a moment, she peeked at Takato, feeling glad he didn’t linger on her father issues and let them drop easily enough.

 

“But if we’re on the topic of memories, what about that one from earlier bothered you so much? Did something happen?” she asked. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to but … I am curious still.”

 

Takato felt a blush crawl across his face again and he stiffened up. “Um…” he began. “It’s…” He paused and ruffled his hands through his hair in agitation, letting out a loud groan.

 

“Sorry,” he said, dropping his hands from his now messy hair. “I just don’t know how to say it or if I even should. It… It would probably just make things awkward between us.” He frowned ahead of him and continued in a quieter tone. Despite that, his voice sounded different. He was uncomfortable, but he was weighing the situation. “I don’t think we need that right now with everything that’s going on.”

 

Rika studied him for a moment, pressing her lips together so they formed a thin line. She noticed how his face light up and his voice changed. She could only think of one thing which could make things awkward, and suddenly, there was this twisting feeling in her gut.

 

_ Guilt. _

 

“Alright,” she said, shrugging after a moment, her face relaxing into a well-practiced neutral expression. “We need to work on your skittish behavior around me as is. You act like I’m going to eat you or something.”

 

At that, instinctively, Takato reached up to his shoulder and massaged it, as if his hand remembered an old wound.

 

“Sorry,” he replied. “It’s just...Mnemosyne. I’ve got memories returning and things are different. I’m still trying to deal with how I am  _ now _ and…” His hand rose to his head and he pressed his palm against his skull. “Feels like my brain is splitting into ten me’s and they’re seeing ten you’s. I don’t know how to act around you right now.”

 

“What did I tell you about apologizing?” she chided before smirking at him, unable to pass up an opportunity to tease him. “And just act natural. We’re best friends, right? I already know you are a dork, so you missed the boat if you’re trying to impress me.”

 

“Me acting natural also included kis-” Takato snapped his mouth shut with a loud click, accidently biting his tongue in the process, as he realized what he was about to say.

 

“Owww…”

 

“You OK there?” Rika asked, her voice taking on a concerned tone as she ignored the fact he was just about to say ‘kissing.’

 

“Fine,” Takato mumbled in annoyance at himself. “Just...me being a Gogglehead, that’s all.”

 

He glanced at her and smiled. “You know, it was you who gave me that nickname, not Ayaka.”

 

“I can see that,” Rika grinned back. “I have good taste in nicknames after all. Still, you’ve always been clumsy -” suddenly the image of a sad-looking dinosaur coated in camouflage flashed in her brain and she burst out laughing. “Like the time you decided to paint Growlmon in water-based paint? I thought you had gone insane you know.”

 

Takato cocked an eyebrow at her in confusion. “Growlmon…?” he asked. “I...don’t remember a digimon with that name.”

 

“You don’t?” Rika asked, suddenly wondering where the name came from and if she was finally losing it. Still, the image felt …  _ right _ .

 

“Growlmon was Guilmon’s champion form.” Rika turned around to see Renamon - a few feet away keeping dry underneath a tree and suddenly she felt bad for the fact there wasn’t enough room underneath the umbrella for her - the kitsune’s blue eyes wide in shock. “Takato, Henry and Terriermon painted him in an … admittedly poor attempt to hide him from prying eyes the first time he digivolved.”

 

She kept staring at Rika, a sense of hope and elation rising from her core. She thought that her efforts had once again been in vain, but …

 

_ I never told her about the incident, and I never saw her interact with any echoes regarding it either _ , she thought, a smile beginning to crawl across her muzzle.  _ Takato truly is good for her after all. _

 

“That… You must have remembered something!” Takato exclaimed, a smile breaking across his face. Grabbing hold of her hand in excitement, he spun her around so that she was facing him more fully. “Think! What else happened? You said I used water-based paints. How’d you know that?”

 

Excitement welled up in her chest at the realization she finally,  _ finally  _ remembered something, a smile blooming across her face. She supposed she would have to tell Jeri later that she was right - in private of course, if only because of her pride. 

 

Closing her eyes, she pulled at the image again. It became slightly clearer.

 

“Because … the paint was running in the rain,” she said slowly. “I could see his red skin under the brown, green and grey.” 

 

“What else?” Takato pressed eagerly, tightening his grip ever so slightly around her hand.

 

She racked her brain for more details. There was the rain, and the pitiful expression of Growlmon. Her attention in her memory shifted back towards the ground, Henry and Terriermon standing protectively of Takato, whose eyes had turned red. 

 

“... I think I made you cry.” She turned to Renamon for confirmation who coughed awkwardly and looked away. “... Yeah, definitely made you cry.” 

 

Takato’s smile softened and he pulled her into a tight hug.

 

“That’s awesome,” he whispered happily.

 

“Am I … uh, interrupting something?”

 

And for the second time today, Rika found herself caught in an embarrassing situation by one of her friends - and as her eyes flickered over, this time it was Jeri whose face was stained red. 

 

Breaking away, Takato smiled at the brunette, so caught up in his happiness he couldn’t even think about the implications of the scene.

 

“Rika remembered something,” he replied, barking a laugh. “Apparently she made me cry. Isn’t that cool?”

 

Jeri squealed in delight, and dropped her umbrella as she launched herself forward to envelope Rika into a tight hug ignoring Rika’s yelp of, ‘ _ Wait, I don’t have enough room! _ ’ After the heavy discussion from lunch, it seemed almost like a miracle that she remembered something so soon after finally confessing her issues surrounding her father.

 

A small part - a  _ dark _ part - tinged with jealousy that it was Takato who helped coax the first memory out. Still that was quickly crushed with her own tight squeeze of the taller girl, just happy that something seemed to be going  _ right _ for a change.

 

“I’m so happy for you!” she beamed before taking on a more chiding expression, although her eyes sparkled with impishness. “But of all things you remember, you remember making Takato  _ cry? _ What gives, Rika?”

 

“Don’t be mad at her, Jeri,” Takato laughed. “I’m just glad she remembers something again that was taken by Mnemosyne.” Stepping back a ways into the rain to give the two girls room, he smiled. “So what else do you remember? Anything?”

 

Rika rubbed Jeri’s head - purposefully messing up her hair in “revenge” for her little jab - but completely missed her blush and ignoring the irritated huff as she looked up thoughtfully, Renamon walking over to pick up Jeri’s fallen umbrella and held it over her and Takato.

 

“No … nothing,” she admitted as she desperately tried  to recall something - anything else. It seemed forcing it wouldn’t help, and she looked down at Jeri, who looked slightly crestfallen at that. Poking the girl’s forehead, she smiled at her. “I should listen to you more often.”

 

“Mn, I know,” the smaller girl hummed as she let go of Rika and took a step back, brushing off some invisible dirt off Rika’s black jacket before fixing her own hair. While a part of her was glad that she was right - that she ended up helping her friend in the end, despite Rika dragging her heels - something about it …  _ stung. _

 

_ Get a hold of yourself. Rika and Takato have always been close. That’s why you told her to talk to him at lunch _ , she reprimanded herself, noticing the umbrella floating slightly even though the handle was near Takato’s hand.

 

“Switch back?” she suggested to Takato, taking a step into the rain and holding her hand out for her umbrella. Renamon - for who else could it be - handed her back the umbrella. 

 

“If Rika’s okay with it,” Takato chuckled. “I mean, there are two umbrellas here now, so she doesn’t have to.”

 

“Two umbrellas and four people. Either way I’ll be sharing, so I don’t really mind who I share with,” Rika shrugged.

 

Takato glanced at Renamon and nodded to her.

 

“I don’t think I’ll be switching out anytime soon,” he smiled at Jeri, rubbing the back of his head. “Renamon needs some cover too.”

 

Jeri nodded as Renamon stepped out from Jeri’s umbrella and stood next to Rika, who held the umbrella a bit higher to make room for the kitsune. The brunette really didn’t mind sharing the umbrella with Takato - her cheeks flushed slightly against her will as her imagination briefly seized on the romantic connotations before she shoved the thought violently to the side. She had given up on him after all.

 

“Why are you so tall?” Rika asked the vulpine, who merely smiled in response.

 

“Would you prefer me to hold the umbrella?” she asked amused, only for Rika to shake her head. 

 

“Just asking,” she hummed, pulling out her phone and checking her messages. “OK, so Takato was actually early, Jeri was on time, as always, so we’re waiting for Henry and Ayaka. You two hear anything from them?”  __

 

“I didn’t hear anything,” Takato shook his head. “Then again, I seem to have a hard time hearing anything today so…yeah.”

 

As if on some signal, there was a splash of a puddle as a copper-haired girl stepped into view, scowling at the group.

 

“Someone care to explain to me  _ why _ we’re meeting in the rain and  _ not _ in a cafe or something?” Ayaka asked in what could only be called utter annoyance. “I mean, really?”

 

Not expecting an answer that would satisfy her, she glanced back and forth between Rika and Jeri, noting whose umbrella the boy was currently hiding under.

 

“You keep your mitts off of her, Gogglehead,” Ayaka glared at Takato, who looked at her in confusion.

 

“Huh? What did I do?” he asked, flummoxed.

 

Rika snickered as Jeri’s blush grew brighter as she protested with an, “Ayaka!”

 

“Don’t ‘Ayaka’ me, Jeri,” the girl snorted. “All right, who else is left? Just Henry?”

 

“Yeah,” Takato nodded, still trying to figure out what the girl had been getting on his case for. “I’m sure he’ll be along.” He glanced at Rika. “I mean, he got your message about the park, right?”

 

“Considering he was there when I was informed myself when Renamon picked me up from school, yes,” Rika said bluntly before glancing up at the kitsune with a slight smirk. “I swear to god, you were practically channeling my mother.” She coughed slightly, changing her tone to match Renamon’s. “You’re not going to the park anymore, Rika.”

 

“She’s practically your big sister,” Takato pointed out while Ayaka smirked.

 

“Yeah, and you  _ need _ someone to tell you these things anyway since you do nothing but get into trouble,” she added. “Demon Queen, remember?”

 

Rika huffed irritably as Jeri giggled, feeling slightly bad for Rika but not enough to rise to her defense - after all, it  _ was _ true. While she may not deserve the moniker of  _ Demon Queen _ , she definitely more than earned the title of troublemaker.

 

There was another splash as now Henry came into view. He smiled, having heard the last jabs at the fiery-haired girl.

 

“They’re right, you know,” he said. “You  _ do _ need someone to look out for you. Anyway, looks like everyone’s here. What’s the plan for today? Where are we hanging...out?”

 

He blinked as he zeroed in on Rika’s umbrella, and a hand raised in the girl’s direction. Beneath the umbrella, slightly hunched over, was a certain, golden-furred kitsune. She looked ghostly and fuzzy at the borders, but otherwise he could  _ see _ her!

 

“I...can see Renamon,” he said before looking at Jeri and Ayaka. “Am I alone in this or can you two see her?”

 

“I just see Rika holding her umbrella awkwardly,” Ayaka said, planting a hand on one hip as she looked the girl over. “No fox though.”

 

“You can see Renamon?” Rika asked surprised, turning to her partner who looked equally as befuddled. It seemed today was just ripe for surprises.

 

“I can’t see her,” Jeri complained, her lips pulling into a frown as jealously once again stung her. While she had gotten pretty good guessing where she was based on little things - where Takato and Rika looked, or things Renamon herself did - she still needed a cellphone to see her.

 

“Something changed,” Henry said, rubbing a hand on his chin as he drew closer. “Did anything happen earlier?”

 

“Ah… Well, Rika remembered something,” Takato said. “Maybe that had something to do with it?”

 

“Wait, what?” Ayaka cocked an eyebrow at the red-haired girl. “You remember something all of a sudden? When did this happen?”

 

“Before you guys came. Takato had bit his tongue, and I was telling him he was always clumsy, and all of a sudden this image of  _ Growlmon _ looking like some sort of kicked puppy covered in running paint from the rain popped into my head,” Rika explained.

 

“Oh so it just wasn’t a random memory of you making Takato cry,” Jeri smirked, causing Rika to stick her tongue out at the girl only for it to be returned in kind.

 

“Wow,” Ayaka said. “Either Takato’s got to bite his tongue more often or Rika should try remembering making him cry more often.”

 

She narrowed her eyes at Rika. “I bet you made him cry a  _ lot.” _

 

“Uh… What are you trying to say, Ayaka?” Takato asked, tilting his head to one side, once more unable to understand her hostility to Rika. 

 

“Forget it,” she grunted. “Anyway, now that Henry’s a little less blind now, can we  _ please _ find a place to set up shop so we’re not getting rained on?”

 

“I know this cute little coffee shop just down the street,” Jeri said, hoping to stop any fight from breaking out before it started. She wasn’t sure either why Ayaka was so hostile toward Rika - not that the redhead held back in her own snarky behavior. Still, they had yet to break out in a fight yet, so things were still going pretty well. “Why don’t we go there?”

 

“Sounds good,” Takato nodded. “Let’s go.”

 

**###**

 

Kazu stabbed his pencil into his eraser gum, glaring at his notes as if by doing so they would magically make sense to him. Ripping the pencil out, he held it between his fingers again before jamming it back in. The eraser bucked and jerked ever so slightly at the impact, its open, blackened wounds – of which there were many – bled eraser dust.

His eyes flickered up to Kenta, who sat across from him and he felt a flash of anger before dropping his gaze back down. He wished he didn’t feel that way, but try as he might he couldn’t get the fire burning inside him to settle down and back off.

_ He’s a good friend and all… The only real, honest one I have left, but… _

Lifting the eraser by his pencil, he brought it back down onto the table, twisting the needle-sharp tip a little bit deeper. In his mind’s eye, he saw a pair of warm, amber eyes and a loving smile beneath them. His heart ached at the memory and he tightened his grip.

_ If she had really cared at all like she said, she would have called, _ he thought.  _ We could be talking about this instead of…this. _

 

“You aren’t going to learn anything if you keep killing your eraser,” Kenta said warily, his dark eyes watching Kazu. Ever since his breakup with Jeri, his …  _ friend’s _ mood had darkly increased. His angry outbursts were more frequent now, and more than once Kenta was reminded he was “my only real friend.”

 

It made him feel worse for his own increasing traitorous thoughts, but as far as he was concerned, Jeri had the right idea. 

 

“Why don’t you just teach me to learn this stuff instead of talking about my erasers,” Kazu growled in annoyance. “I do what I want to the damn things.”

 

To emphasize his point, he stabbed it again, grinding the tip hard and deep. His fingers itched. He needed a cigarette soon. He tried quitting and had tried to keep it that way on the off chance that Jeri would come back to him, but every day was harder to resist the temptation than the last. His habit, which he reduced to once a day, was coming back in force.

 

_ Or maybe you could actually pay attention in class for once _ , Kenta thought, but didn’t say anything. With Kazu’s irritability and his own luck, he would get stabbed with the pencil if he was lucky - beat up if he wasn’t.

 

“Well, what don’t you understand exactly?” Kenta sighed, wondering what the point in all of this was. If Kazu got to college, he couldn’t - wouldn’t, he told himself - be doing this. He had his own studying to do, yet most of it was spent teaching Kazu.

 

_ I should get paid. _

 

“Just... _ all _ of it!” Kazu exclaimed in frustration, spreading his hands out to indicate all the papers and open textbooks strewn out in front of him. Leaning forward into his hands, he buried his fingers into his hair and let out a strangled cry of frustration.

 

“I just don’t get what any of this is supposed to do for me. History… Literature…  _ English! _ What’s the point of this stupid stuff?”

 

_ For you, who knows? _

 

“We need it to get into a good college, which will lead to making good money, not to mention not shaming your family,” Kenta reminded him before biting his lip, before tentatively pushing out hesitantly, “Although you can probably making a good living picking up a trade or an apprenticeship. The work won’t be glamorous, but you could support yourself.”

 

Kazu glowered at Kenta before getting to his feet. 

 

“I need a smoke,” he said, digging out his packet of cigarettes and patting around for his lighter. He frowned when he did not immediately find what he was searching for and stalked out of the room.

 

“Damn it… Where the fuck is it?” he grumbled. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…”

 

“Maybe it’s in your desk drawer,” Kenta said, looking up for a moment before returning his attention to his notes. He had seen Kazu squirrel many a things away in there over the years, and if his lighter was going to be anywhere, it would be there. 

 

There was a stomp of feet as Kazu went over to his desk and he pulled it open. After looking through it fruitlessly for a few seconds he slammed it shut angrily.

 

“I bet Mom got a hold of it again,” he growled, his fingers twitching in anger as he clutched at the sides of the desk in frustration. He could feel his skin clawing at him in desperation, needing a break from all the stress of the studies. Of constantly needing to be on his toes. To  _ prove _ to his parents that he wasn’t a worthless failure.

 

A break from the memories of  _ her. _

 

“Get out of here, Kenta,” he said after a minute of glaring at the wall. “I want to be alone.”

 

_ No need to tell me twice,  _ Kenta thought as he grabbed his books and slid them into his bag with practiced ease. He had gotten better at packing up his school supplies - any extra minute in these “study” sessions alone with Kazu were an extra minute of Kenta’s nerves popping.

 

“Whatever, man,” Kenta grunted, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he stood up. “Bye.”

 

“Yeah. Bye.” Kazu dropped his head and tightened his grip on the desk. For an instant - just an instant - he imagined he heard a tone in his friend’s voice that reminded him eerily of Takato and Jeri right before they left him. 

 

_ Isn’t he getting faster at getting his junk all packed together? _ a part of him whispered nastily, but he forced it out of his mind. Kenta was his friend! The only true friend he had left. 

 

“Hey Kenta?” he asked as the boy started toward the door.

 

“What?” he asked, turning back around, his hand hovering over the door handle. He hoped the boy wouldn’t ask him to go buy a lighter or something. Again. Kenta didn’t want to be spending what little money he had - no matter how much Kazu promised to pay him back - enabling Kazu’s bad habit. No matter how he felt about the boy, he did wish he would stop smoking - for his own health. 

 

“Thanks for everything, chumley,” he said, turning toward him and forcing a pained smile on his face. “Now get out of here.”

 

Kenta felt his gut twist in guilt as he forced a smile of his own his face. It was times like these that he felt the worst for his own dislike of Kazu, since it was when his old friend shone through. The one who looked out for him, the one who never put him down and made him feel like crap.

 

The one he still clung to with a little more hope disappearing each day he would ever see him again.

 

“...Sure.”

 

And with that, he left.

 

**###**

 

_ Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! _

 

Cursing to himself angrily, Kenta ran down the street toward his home, using his bookbag as a makeshift umbrella as he tried - and failed - to dodge the pounding rain. His uniform within minutes of him leaving Kazu’s house already stuck to his lanky body, and he cursed himself for not having the foresight of bringing an umbrella. 

 

He just hoped he wouldn’t catch a cold - even if it would be a good excuse to stay home from school. Yet if he was going to skip, he couldn’t help but selfishly not want to be sick and miserable in bed instead of enjoying what could be a stress-free day.

 

“ _ Kenta? _ ”

 

Pausing when he thought he heard his name being called in the howling wind, he squinted his eyes, rubbing fruitlessly at the water-stained glass once again wishing he invested in contacts, when suddenly, out of nowhere, Jeri popped up. The rain which was pounding down on his body suddenly ceased as Jeri held her umbrella over the two of them, her forehead furrowed in worry.

 

“Jeri?” he asked before noticing for the first time there was other people - all of whom he recognized - standing behind her. Ayaka and Takato he wasn’t  _ too _ surprised to see, although the awkwardness clawed at him all the same. Despite knowing she now hung out with Rika, and was close friends with Henry - going to school with the two - he found himself a bit surprised to see them as well. “... Ah, uhm … uh.”

 

_ Shit, what do I say?! _

 

Ayaka tilted her head at the boy, half-remembering the conversation the two of them had at the playground that one day that now felt almost a lifetime ago.

 

_ Before I got caught up with the stupid craziness, _ she thought.  _ Before...Akio.  _

 

She looked down and saw that he was soaked to the bone. “Jeez Kenta… What the heck were you thinking? You’re as bad as Gogglehead here.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“It’s true though,” she snapped, shooting the brunette a sharp glare. Approaching Kenta, she immediately started to pat him down in the hopes that by doing so she could wring some of the water out of his clothes. It was useless of course, as he was drenched from top to bottom. Stepping back, she made a disgusted sound and turned to Jeri.

 

“Is there a clothing store or something nearby? He needs something dry fast.”

 

“Oh, uhm, that’s fine,” Kenta assured her, not quite sure how to handle her weird behavior toward him, or to handle the situation at all really. “I’m not that far from my house. I’ll be home in the next five minutes or so hopefully.”

 

_ That and I don’t think I have money to just buy some dry clothes. _

 

“Just five minutes?” Ayaka asked. “Fine, but I’m coming with you. Five minutes is five more minutes of you getting wet and probably getting sick.”

 

She pushed her umbrella forward and Jeri’s back. “We’re pretty much done anyway, so it’s not like you need me anyway.”

 

Takato looked at Kenta thoughtfully for a moment before exchanging a quick look with Henry.

 

“Why don’t I come too?”

 

“Gogglehead, this  _ isn’t _ a tea party!” Ayaka whirled about on the poor boy. “You don’t have an umbrella and mine only has enough room for two. You two can play kiss and makeup later.”

 

“Bu-wha…?” Takato gaped, blushing slightly in surprise.

 

“Why don’t we all go?” Jeri suggested, trying to come to Takato’s rescue. She hadn’t really seen Kenta since breaking up with Kazu, and she felt bad for that. The spectacled boy really wasn’t that bad - he was a sweetheart really, but his self-confidence problems just were worse than Takato’s. 

 

Not only that but he was a Tamer too. Part of her felt like he should be included in things and not simply … left behind. 

 

_ Kazu is one too _ , she reminded herself, her gut twisting at the thought of her ex. While she was still rather upset about her break-up, the pain had pretty much dulled by now, and the fact she was able to throw herself fully into whatever mess  _ this  _ was provided a welcomed distraction.

 

“Eh? Why-” Rika began to protest, not quite understanding why Jeri suddenly wanted to escort this guy to his home when the said brunette rounded on her with a sharp look causing her mouth to snap shut.

 

“Good idea,” Henry agreed while Takato looked about at the others, smiling at their support of Kenta. 

 

“It’s not a bad idea to hang out a little bit longer anyway,” Takato added. Their meeting may be over, but there was no reason to just part ways so abruptly just because of that.

 

Ayaka rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine. Let’s just get a move on okay? I don’t want to be out here all day you know.”

 

“No worries,” Henry chuckled, starting to move forward. Takato was quick to fall in behind him while Ayaka took hold of Kenta by the arm and began to push him along.

 

“Come on…” she sighed. “Before tweedle-dum gets himself lost or something.”

 

“H-hey!” Kenta protested, his face blushing not quite sure what to make of the sudden appearance of everyone and their agreement to walk him home like nothing had ever happened between them in the past. The only person who even put up a fight was Rika, which was no surprise to him. What  _ was _ surprising was that she stopped after one look from Jeri.

 

_ That’s the girl who broke Kazu’s nose? _ he wondered, falling in step with Ayaka, Jeri skipping all too cheerfully along with Rika lagging just slightly behind them all. Glancing at Ayaka, his eyes roaming to the others, they dropped down to the sidewalk as he held his bookbag close to his chest.

 

“Uhm … thanks though. You guys didn’t have to walk me back…” he said quietly. 

 

Takato silenced him with a light laugh and clapped him on the shoulder.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “We’re here because we want to be.”

 

“Except Rika,” Ayaka said, earning her a sharp look from the brown-haired boy.

 

“She’s just not used to you. Anyway, how are you doing?” Takato rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “Sorry about...well...everything. It’s been a crazy few months, hasn’t it?”

 

“Y-yeah,” Kenta agreed, glancing at Takato. “I’m not mad though.”  _ Anymore. Just jealous you had the strength to do what I can’t.  _ “So don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you.” He paused and pressed his lips together, and looked at Takato again. “What have you guys been up to though?” 

 

“Crazy stuff,” Ayaka said. “How badly do you want to know?”

 

Takato paused and looked at the others hesitantly.  _ Should we tell him? _

 

Rika frowned and shook her head. Jeri empathically nodded her head as Kenta, not noticing either of the girl’s behavior just laughed.

 

“How crazy we talking?” he asked after a moment, finding that a conversation where physical violence in retaliation for whatever he said wasn't on the forefront of his mind was easy to slip into.

 

Takato closed his eyes. The hesitation to reveal what he kept from him all those months ago remained, and Rika felt it too. Still, Jeri seemed to think differently, and while he trusted Rika’s instincts, he also trusted Jeri’s.

 

“Well… If you really want to know,” he began, “let’s get you home first. You’ll probably want to sit down before we tell you.”

 

“Why?” Kenta asked before his eyes widened in worry. “You aren’t caught up in something illegal, are you?”

 

His eyes drifted over to Rika as he said that on instinct, jumping when the girl scowled at him. 

 

“What?” she demanded as he meeped looking forward, unable to hear the snort of amusement coming from the space next to Rika although he  _ did _ hear Jeri’s giggle. 

 

_ What is this woman and being able to control vicious beasts?  _ he wondered.

 

“Nothing,” he whimpered, feeling her glare boring into his back.

 

Henry chuckled and shook his head at Rika. “Just like old times,” he said, more to himself than to any of the others. “Maybe this time...things really will be different.”

 

“Eh? What are you talking about?” Kenta asked, turning to the Chinese boy, not quite understanding what he was talking about as Rika glowered at him, Jeri telling her to “ _ play nice _ .”

 

Takato felt an odd tickle in the back of his mind at Henry’s words, and he saw a flash in his head of himself and the others - Rika, Henry, Jeri, Kenta, Kazu, Suzie and three others he didn’t recognize - looking up at the sky, watching small, round digimon fade into nothing, tears streaming down their face as, in their greatest triumph, they saw what it cost them.

 

The image was gone almost as soon as it came however, and the brown-haired boy blinked as he noticed a change in the weather. Sunlight shone down on them now, giving the area around them a golden sheen. Rain continued to pelt them though, but it was a cozy sound. It, coupled with the umbrellas, made him think that they were all in some kind of fort, hanging out.

 

“Hey,” he began. “It’s a sunshower.”

 

“Guess a kitsune is getting married,” Henry chuckled, winking in Rika and Renamon’s direction.

 

Rika looked up at her partner with a smirk, who looked down at her slightly confused, not understanding why they would believe a sunshower means a kitsune was being married or why that would be a prerequisite for marriage in general. In her own experience, rain just made her smell odd, and after learning what marriage was, it wasn’t something she would want to do in the rain.

 

“I am not getting married,” the vulpine informed her only to cause Rika to burst out laughing, making Kenta look at her in confusion.

 

_ Talk about mood swings … Kazu was right. She  _ is  _ crazy,  _ he thought.

 

**###**

 

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Kenta said, grabbing some dry clothes out of his drawer, already drying off as best as he could with a towel when they entered his house. When they took off their shoes and stacked their umbrellas neatly in the doorway, the spectacled boy noticed he didn’t see his parents shoes. A short inspection of the kitchen resulted in a note letting him know they’ll be ‘back later’ and to ‘reheat the leftovers’ if he got hungry. “I’ll be back in a minute with some tea and snacks.”

 

Jeri did just that as Kenta left the room to go change, settling herself down on the neatly made bed. Rika on the other hand, feeling uneasy at being in a home of a person she really didn’t know (or like so far), shoved her hands in her pockets and looked around.

 

It was relatively plain she guessed. A laptop with papers strewn on a desk. A bookshelf lining the wall filled not only with books and manga, but movies, video games and a couple of action figures as well. There was some posters on the wall from different animes such as Gurren Lagann, some video games she was sure Henry would recognize and a single old Digimon poster.

 

“I sometimes forget that it isn’t normal to have a Spartan room,” Renamon remarked dryly, glancing at Rika who only grunted in response. She didn’t quite understand after looking into so many other rooms over the past three years why Rika’s was so  _ empty _ . 

 

Takato chuckled, turning toward the girl he knew Renamon was referring to. “Well… We already know Rika’s not a normal person. Not that that’s a bad thing I mean, but...still.”

 

He flushed lightly, wondering if he were overstepping the bounds he promised to steer clear of while Henry gave him a curious look before shrugging off as Takato being who he typically was, a Gogglehead.

 

“This is going to be a bit tricky,” he said. “But...hopefully Kenta will be all right. He’s been out of the loop for so long after all…”

 

“It’ll be fine,” Jeri assured him with a wide smile. After all, Kenta wasn’t like Kazu - he would listen. Renamon was here as well, so they had a way to quickly qualify their claims. Kenta may have low self-esteem problems, but she knew that he was stronger than they gave him credit for.

 

“Your endless optimism continues to be unreal,” Rika rolled her eyes, unsure how Jeri could be so  _ certain  _ that things would go well. The brunette just stuck her tongue out at her.

 

“I could say the same about your negativity,” the lion-hearted girl retorted. 

 

“Let’s not go starting any arguments,” Henry admonished. “We need Kenta to be open to us, not expecting like he’s about to be attacked. He deals with that a lot already.”

 

He turned to Renamon. “We’ll need you to put on a little show when we reveal you. Nothing fancy. Just...do what you usually do to show that you have a physical presence in the world. Only...less scary.”

 

“I’ll try,” Renamon said. “Although I’m not sure how an invisible being suddenly moving things wouldn’t be considered ‘scary.’ He seems rather … skittish as is.”

 

“You’ll be fine,” Rika assured her, patting her arm comfortingly. Renamon smiled at her, wrapping her tail around Rika in a hug. 

 

“That would make a good picture,” Takato smiled. “Should we take that one as evidence, or wait?”

 

“We lose pictures, remember?” Henry reminded, causing Takato to rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

 

“Oh… Right.”

 

“Hey, sorry. I hope I didn’t make you guys wait long,” Kenta said as he came back in the room, balancing a tray with six glasses, a kettle and a package of cookies. Placing them down on the ground carefully, Jeri slipping off the bed to help him.

 

“So,” began Takato as everyone took a glass, “about earlier… What do you want to know?”

 

Taking the kettle, he began to pour tea into glasses. Steam rose into the air from each one and Takato breathed in, feeling the warmth enter him and chase away the cold from his body. It made him feel a little bit better about what they were about to reveal. It was never easy. The risk of alienating Kenta felt so high.

 

“I really don’t know what you mean,” Kenta answered as he took a glass, nursing it slightly, feeling a sense of heaviness bore down on him. He wasn’t sure how a simple question could lead to this tense atmosphere. 

 

_ Are they doing something illegal? _ he wondered, once again glancing at Rika, only to look away hurriedly when she caught his gaze.

 

“I...don’t think it’s illegal. It’s just...well, crazy sounding. I…” Takato glanced at the others before sighing. “You might want to take out your phone for this. Use the camera and aim it over there, by Rika.”

 

A pause. 

 

“You’d better put your glass down for this one.”

 

“Uhm … OK,” Kenta said, raising an eyebrow as he put his glass down and dug his phone out of his pocket. Feeling completely foolish as he opened the camera feature, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was some sort of prank. Payback of some kind.

 

_ Takato isn’t like that _ , he admonished himself, but it didn’t have any real feeling to it. If you told him a few years ago Kazu would become into the person he was today, he would have laughed at them.  _ People change _ .

 

Raising the phone and pointing it toward Rika, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking at -

 

_ Wait. What is that? _

 

His brow furrowed in confusion as there was movement and suddenly there was a large yellow  _ fox _ which looked suspiciously like a Renamon - he may have stopped playing the game but he still remembered the creatures - come into view. Looking up and seeing nothing, he turned his attention back to his camera.

 

His head acted like a bobble head a few more times until-

 

“Ah. It waved.” A pause, then finally as the implication sunk in as he dropped his phone and scooted away in shock. “Holy crap, digital ghosts!”

 

“Well… More or less,” Henry said. “There’s a lot to catch you up on.”

 

With that, Henry laid out the story as he understood it. From when he first realized that their memories were being altered, and then taking it backwards to their own history as Tamers and what the world was like prior to the mind-wiping. He was methodical, answering any questions that Kenta had while trying to keep it as simple as possible. Once he was finished, he leaned back to take in the boy’s reaction.

 

_ It’s a lot to take in, _ he thought, drinking from his glass. The tea had cooled decidedly since he started, and he quickly added more from the kettle.

 

“I … I need a drink,” Kenta groaned, feeling like everything he knew was a lie. His world shattered into a million pieces under the span of a half an hour. He wanted to believe it a lie - after all Digimon being real? A being which tried to end the world, using Jeri to do so? Another one which was continuously erasing their memories? It all sounded like something straight out of a science-fiction story.

 

Yet…

 

Yet…

 

_ There is no way all of them are lying about this.  _ The talk about the D-arcs - his eyes flickered over to his closet where he kept his Digimon stuff. He had thought it was a limited edition card reader, but it was proof he was a Tamer, and to a  _ Mega _ Digimon no less.

 

“We’re underage,” Rika frowned.

 

“And everything I know is a lie!” Kenta snapped irritably, before flinching realizing he barked at the wrong person. “So-sorry. I’m just having a hard time processing this.”  

 

“Take it easy, Kenta,” Takato said, reaching out and massaging his back. “Take deep breaths. Um… Do you want to...I don’t know...shout or anything? Maybe that’ll help?”

 

_ “How _ will it help?!” Kenta snapped, pulling away from Takato. “Are you saying I should scream like I’m some kind of crybaby? How does that solve anything?!”

Clutching the sides of his head, he gave an extended, frustrated groan.

“Kenta…” began Takato again, only for the bespectacled boy to turn a fearsome glare on him. Takato’s mouth snapped shut at the palpable rage boiling beneath the surface. Kenta quickly looked away, looking ashamed.

“This…Mnemosyne… It’s way too big,” he continued, his arms trembling in anguish and fear. “How can we stop it? It’s…pointless.”

 

“Speak for yourself,” Rika snapped irritably. “Saying it’s pointless without even trying - what sort of attitude is that? We’ve taken down bigger things with more of a threat. If you don’t want to fight, go ahead and wallow in self-pity. I don’t really care.”

 

“Rika!” Jeri admonished, a bit surprised at the attitude she had taken up with Kenta. She knew Rika never was quite close to Kenta - even in the past - but still. She understood Kenta’s fear - she found herself asking the same question day after day.

 

Kenta felt something snap in him and he turned his attention on the red-haired girl.

 

“Of  _ course _ you wouldn’t care!” he grated. “Since when did you care? You came in and broke up my friends and then you dragged them into this crazy…” Kenta flailed an arm around, grasping for something that would best describe what he felt. “... _ whatever  _ this is! This...science fiction role play-thing! When we don’t even have our  _ digimon _ with us?!”

 

He was breathing heavily now, his face flushing as all the anger and frustration he felt in him - building up on his insides like a thick, toxic slime - came roaring out of him in one mad rush.

 

“This whole thing is  _ stupid!” _

 

Rika felt her anger rising. She was  _ tired _ of everyone blaming this  _ thing _ on her. She was tired of being blamed for  _ everything _ . Why was it her fault? What exactly did she do? She didn’t tell Takato about the echoes until she learned he could see them as well. She didn’t start the fight between Takato and Kazu, nor whatever lead to the break-up between Jeri and Kazu.

 

“I’m so  _ sick  _ and  _ tired _ of people blaming me for things,” she snarled.

 

“Rika, calm down-” Renamon tried, placing a paw on her shoulder only for Rika to shrug it off. She wasn’t really in the mood to be calmed down right now. Standing up, she glared down at Kenta, Jeri slowly getting to her feet as well recognizing the rage in her eyes.

 

She had seen it before, and it usually resulted in someone getting hit. 

 

“Let’s not do anything hasty here,” Takato said, getting in between the two. “Look, I get that things are...not going the way we planned…”

 

“ _ No shit _ ,” Rika snarked, clearly not placated, although Jeri was feeling slightly better there was a body between Kenta and Rika. Still she was ready to help Takato hold her back if necessary, and she knew Renamon was ready to intervene as well.

 

Takato grimaced, not at all sure how he was going to defuse the situation. Rika was  _ pissed. _

 

_ Here comes another black eye, _ he thought until the quiet sobbing of Kenta caught his attention.

 

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

 

Turning, Takato saw the boy’s hands underneath his glasses, pushing them up as he pressed against his eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears. With all the anger out in the air now, he saw the darkness for what it was. His anger, yes, but it was also Kazu’s anger as well. All the vile, toxic frustrations, the ventings and harshness thrown at him whenever things didn’t go his way or he came up short against an obstacle. Kazu had to know on some deeper level that his life was steadily coming apart at the seams, but he buried his fears and frustrations deep down where it festered like a disease, spewing out every now and then, worsening in frequency and virality as time wore on.

 

In recent times, Kazu saw a source to one of his frustrations; the loss of his friends. Takato and Jeri hit him the most, and behind them was always Rika and whatever was going on with her. When he wasn’t saying anything about it, the issue was always the elephant in the room, unspoken but present.

 

Almost without realizing it, he allowed it to fester in himself as well.

 

“All of you left.” His shoulders shook as he spoke. “I’ve been alone and all I’m doing is waiting for Kazu to snap for real. And all of you…” Lowering his hands from his tear-stained face, he looked around at everyone. “...you’re together. With this fantastic story and it’s like… Like…”

 

Kenta  _ urped _ all and bent over, gagging and choking. Hot bile erupted in a thick stream from his mouth and spilled out onto the rug.

 

“Kenta!” Takato exclaimed, rushing over to him, grabbing hold of him. A pair of hands pushed themselves in front of him though, and Ayaka was suddenly there, warning everyone off with a sharp look. She had been watching silently the whole time, rather enjoying seeing the normally quiet and reserved boy actually cut loose for once - although she wished it was against the  _ right _ person and not them - but upon seeing him start to vomit from the accumulated stress, she broke away from simply standing by.

 

_ Time to step in… _

 

“I’ve got this,” she said, wrapping her arms around Kenta’s shoulders and helping him up. “Jeri, you want to clean up the mess? These bozos will only mess things up.”

 

“Do you need a hand?” Henry asked, only to receive a shake of a head in response.

 

“I said I’ve got this. The rest of you putter.”

 

With that, she steered Kenta out of the room and toward the bathroom.

 

The hostility had started to evaporate when Kenta started to cry, and completely disappeared when he vomited. There was no way Rika could be mad at someone so  _ pathetic _ . Now she was just left with a vague sense of guilt.

 

Not that she was the only one.

 

While Jeri was glad the situation didn’t end in violence, she couldn’t help but feel horrible. She was part of the reason Kenta was alone - she didn’t even reach out to him, try to include him when she broke up with Kazu. She only really hung out with the boy when Kazu was around honestly. He was always in the background. 

 

“I’ll … uhm, go get some paper towels from the kitchen,” she stammered, not sure how to handle the situation.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Rika sighed, running her fingers through her hair. When Jeri turned to her in surprise, she looked away and scowled. “I hate standing around doing nothing. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

 

“No,” Jeri replied, smiling wanly at her. 

 

“He’ll be okay,” Takato said. “I know it looks bad now, but...he’s a lot tougher than you think.”

 

“I’ll hold you to that,” Rika grumbled, following Jeri out of the room, shoving her hands back in her pocket. “I don’t exactly like the feeling I just kicked some pathetic creature in the gut.”

 

Takato’s face softened.

 

“I’ll do what I can,” he said. “I used to be where he is now, you know. I wasn’t much when we met for the first time again.”

 

“Well let’s just hope he’s like you then,” she said.

 

“ _ Rika? _ ” Jeri’s voice called from down the hall, causing Rika to turn around.

 

“Coming! Jeez!” she called before running after the girl, Jeri’s voice echoing in the hall with the retort of, 

 

“ _ Don’t ‘jeez’ me! You were the one who wanted to come in the first place!” _

 

**###**

 

Kenta and Ayaka returned to the room sometime later, Kenta looking pale-faced and sickly still, but he looked… Takato didn’t want to say ‘better,’ but he definitely looked ‘purged.’ He looked up at Rika and flinched away at first, but caught himself. Forcing himself to approach the girl, he bowed to her.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, swallowing. “I…I didn’t mean for you to… I mean… I’m…I’m a jerk. I wasn’t fair to you.”

 

“It’s fine,” she grunted, feeling even more guilty for snapping at him. Jeri had told her the circumstances of his situation in a hushed whisper when they were looking for paper towels, and she felt even worse. While she was annoyed at his general pathetic nature, she couldn’t really fault him anymore. “Sorry that I … set things off I guess, even though that was never my intention.”

“Don’t…” Kenta swallowed again. “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. It…” He pushed his glasses up and massaged the bridge of his nose. “It’s just… It’s not your fault.” Sniffing, he dropped his glasses back down and looked Rika in the eye. “I’ll try not to treat you like that again. Okay?”

 

Rika shifted her weight uncomfortably. She never really got used to apologies to her - it always seemed  _ foreign _ . While everyone was quick to blame or suspect her, for people to say they were wrong and tell her they would try not to do it anymore … how was she supposed to react to that?

 

“OK. Just … don’t cry anymore. It makes me uncomfortable,” she mumbled.

 

“She’s socially inept, so just don’t get bothered by her sour attitude,” Jeri told Kenta, smiling at the boy, feeling the need to step in. She didn’t want him to feel like he had to hide his emotions in front of Rika - he needed the release valve or else something like this might happen again.

 

Kenta nodded and held out a hand to Rika.

 

“I’ll try,” he promised. “I don’t know what I can do, but...I’ll do what I can even if it means serving everyone tea or even misou soup.”

 

Staring at the outstretched hand, wondering why he wanted to shake her hand, she jumped something when Renamon helpfully elbowed her. Taking it, she noticed it was still clammy and she internally grimaced. This was the first time she caused someone to throw up - that she knew of.

 

“Yeah.”

 

Henry glanced at everyone, a small smile forming on his face as he breathed a mental sigh of relief. Though they lacked everyone, they were now one more step closer to their team returning to normal.

 

_ Nominally, _ he reminded himself. _ Without everyone remembering the past, we might as well be strangers to each other. Hopefully that’ll change. _

 

His mouth set itself into a thin, grim line and he looked outside Kenta’s bedroom window. Grey skies swallowed the blue back up, causing the golden light to disappear once more. It felt ominous and he shivered unconsciously as the sound of rain began to strike at the house.

  
_It has to._


	29. Opposing Sides

“Tell me your secrets, oh mysterious one,” Janyu said, placing the green card on the slot and pushing it into the digital scanner. The computer screen sprang to life and he turned toward it, a smile on his face.

“Look at that,” said Dolphin, approaching him from behind. “This is pretty solid stuff.” He adjusted his glasses and frowned slightly. “Having trouble making sense of it all though. It…almost looks like some kind of… I want to say a  _ record? _ Am I warm?”

“Looks that way,” Janyu nodded in agreement. “Interesting how it’s based on the original algorithm behind digimon. It’s almost like whoever made this was trying to create a digimon of memories or something. I…”

Janyu trailed off as he gasped in surprise as a line of code passed across his vision. The reflection of Dolphin nodded.

“You see it too, huh?”

“Yes… Shibumi’s code.” He narrowed his eyes and turned toward his fellow friends and Monster Makers. Getting up from his seat, he stepped aside. “You’re all going to want to have a look at this.”

 

“What exactly are we looking at here?” Himiko asked, taking a step forward looking at the code hoping that it would make sense. While she had picked up on some programming knowledge since working for Hypnos, she wouldn’t call herself an expert - far from it.

 

“Looks like a 2004 Ternary system,” Reilly replied, joining her. She had to deal with the strange card sitting in her pocket for the remainder of the trip back home. Her butt felt incredibly sore, but she wanted to know what was in that card.

Her eyes ran over the code and she frowned slightly, taking it in. It looked like a Ternary code connected in a vast web.

“From what we’ve seen of the echoes and the information on digimon,” began Janyu, “their data structure is made up of a complicated interconnection of Ternary codes in much the same way that organic life is made up of carbon. I assume that the ‘fuzzy logic’ aspect helps create a kind of cheat to take advantage of human dreams and become…what they are.”

“Furthermore,” Rob ‘Dolphin’ McCoy added, “it appears that this method was used to create an expanding memory for this card. I’m not sure why or for what purpose, but there you have it.”

The remaining Monster Makers returned their attention to the screen.

“This is definitely Shibumi’s signature,” Curley said as Babel rubbed a hand on his chin. “When we were in college he introduced this change into the digimon we created, and that’s how his theories began to expand. Once the spark of life was created, there was no turning back. But…I don’t understand why he would use the same code for this card. It’s not a digimon, yet it clearly has a great deal of information within it.”

 

“How did you say you got the card again?” Himiko asked, frowning slightly looking at Reilly.

 

“I found it in the car seat when Ryo and I returned to the car after making a stop for food. I saw this man hanging out around the car while in the restaurant, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. The car was locked,” Reilly told her boss, dragging a hand over her face. It seemed whatever Director Hata had them doing, they were going deeper down the rabbit hole.

 

_ What have we got ourselves into? _ she wondered.

 

“Shibumi always was enigmatic,” Janyu noted, leaning against his chair. “He disappeared some years ago following a car accident that left him in a coma. If he went to the digital world somehow…” He paused and shook his head. “That should be impossible though.”

 

“You realize that you analyzed a talking fox, right Tao?” Babel asked sarcastically. Janyu chuckled.

 

“Excuse an old man for his oddities. It would explain a lot though. If the digital world is derived from thought, just think of what a man like Shibumi could do from there. Especially if he learned enough. If I read the files right and understood the Renamon...simply ‘anything’ would be well within his abilities, including dropping a card into a locked car.”

 

_ Well this is going to make Tally’s job locating him a lot harder, _ Reilly thought, feeling bad for the younger woman. Tally had confided in Reilly before she went to pick up Ryo that she felt she was “chasing after a ghost.” Listening to the conversation and her own experience, it seemed the off-hand comment had more truth to it than either of them thought.

 

“The question is … why Reilly,” Himiko hummed thoughtfully. It seemed this card was an answerer to a lot of questions, but the person they needed to explain things would rather play some childish game.

 

_ I’ll have to ask Janyu or one of the Monster Makers in private when Shibumi fell into his coma. I know from the records he was present for the battle against the D-Reaper _ , she thought.

 

“Well … when I was talking to Ryo if he remembered anything, he told me the only thing he really remembered was that the device he was found with was a card reader,” Reilly said slowly. “So … perhaps it isn’t for me, but for him?” 

 

“If that’s true…” Daisey began, running a hand under her chin, “what would happen if we scanned the card through his device?”

 

“We should analyze the device first and see what its capabilities are,” Janyu pointed out. “We don’t want to do anything here without knowing what could happen. We’re practically rewriting the laws of physics here after all. If we scan this card through a device without knowing what the device  _ does, _ who knows what might happen.”

 

_ It’s just a card reader _ .

 

Himiko knew that - she couldn’t say anything of course. Instead she took a sip of coffee to bite back any biting sarcastic remarks. It wouldn’t do to let the others knew she knew a lot more than she was letting on - that would lead to uncomfortable questions and potentially ruin her plans.

 

Still, she was curious what would happen if they ran the card through the reader without Ryo’s Digimon partner being present. 

 

_ Plus if it can give us an insight on why he hasn’t aged a day in five years, that would be fantastic as well _ , she thought before furrowing her brow. 

 

“Should I fetch him?” Reilly asked, turning to Himiko. The director nodded. It wouldn’t hurt for some tests to be run. 

 

Nodding her head, Reilly left the room to go fetch Ryo. Putting the coffee cup down, Himiko took another look at the lines of code taunting her. Whatever secrets it was hiding, she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

 

**###**

 

Mnemosyne hung in digital space, watching an episode from the first season of the digimon franchise. It was…an odd habit to pick up. After all, this simple simulation, so incredibly crude, simply did not capture the majesty of the real thing.

_ So many real things, _ Mnemosyne thought, watching as the episode progressed.

_ “Courage. Hope. Friendship! The children’s crests are beginning to glow, one by one…” _ spoke up the villain of this particular arc, one of the most long-lasting; Myotismon.

_ “Everyone makes mistakes!”  _ pleaded the DemiDevimon that was his servant. _ “Remember disco? Besides, sir, not all of the children's crests have begun to glow yet!” _

Mnemosyne regarded the Rookie dispassionately as it pointed to an image of one of the Digidestined, Sora.

_ “That girl has the crest of Love, and it's still not glowing, thanks to me!” _

Mnemosyne shut off the screen, having seen enough.

_ Just like the crests, the Tamers’ memories are returning, one by one.  _ Three images flickered to life in front of Mnemosyne, one of Takato, Rika and Henry.  _ It’s because of those three. Yet you… _

A hand extended toward Rika’s image, bringing itself to rest on her face.

_ You are remembering the slowest for some reason. It’s almost like you’re trying to forget on purpose. Perhaps you are the key to returning everything to how it needs to be. _

The images winked out of existence and Mnemosyne soon followed, stepping through a digital portal.

 

**###**

“Mom, Dad, I’m home!” Takato called as he entered through the side door of the bakery. “I brought some friends home. We’re…ah…having a study session and…stuff.”

“Okay,” Mie replied, ducking her head into the hallway from the kitchen. She smiled upon seeing the two. “Hello Ayaka. Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you too, Mrs. Matsuki,” Ayaka bowed, her hair brushing against her shoulders as she did so. “Sorry I haven’t been around lately, but I’ve been trying to keep your son out of trouble.”

“I’m sorry that he’s been giving you trouble then,” Mie snorted, crossing her arms over her chest as Takato  looked at the girl in silent protest. Ayaka grinned.

“No problem. He’s…getting smarter.”

“I am?” Takato blinked, not expecting that. Ayaka simply grinned at him.

“Such a nice girl,” Mie smiled before frowning at her wayward son. “How come you two don’t get together? You need a nice girl to keep you out of trouble.”

“I…  _ Mom!” _

“How about you Kenta?” she asked, pretending to ignore her son’s blushing face while Ayaka eyed him in amusement. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you doing okay?”

 

“Ah, yes,” Kenta blushed, unsure really how to answer the question. He supposed he was doing OK - his heart was still racing from making up an excuse not to go home with Kazu and “hang out” - which honestly would have resulted in another failed attempt to teach him the material he should be learning in school. “How have you been?”

 

There was the sound of something crashing from the kitchen and Mie sighed.

 

“About to murder my husband,” she replied. “But otherwise, I’m doing fine. Do you need anything before you go upstairs?”

 

“Ah...actually Mom, Kenta and I would like to make some stuff ourselves. He said he wanted to learn a few things before the others get here.” His eyes widened slightly before he continued. “Oh yeah, I’ve got some other friends coming. They’ll take a while getting here though. They...have to make a detour.”

 

“All right,” Mie nodded. “Hopefully there’s a kitchen left for you to use.”

 

Turning into said kitchen, she raised her voice as she took in whatever scene of destruction that lay on the other side of the entrance.

 

_ “Takehiro! What are you…? All over the floor?!” _

 

“Aaand that’s our cue,” Takato chuckled in embarrassment. Kicking off his shoes, he started to climb up the stairs, quickly followed by Ayaka. “Hopefully that won’t take long.”

 

“Is your dad going to be OK?” Kenta asked nervously, following after the other two. He hadn’t been in Takato’s house in a long while, but he still remembered where things were. Part of him wondered why Takato said the others were taking a detour - after all, the other three just went to a different school.

 

“Oh, he’ll be fine,” Takato laughed, reaching the top and heading toward his room. “I know Mom makes it sound bad in there, but it’ll be okay. It’s just...I don’t know. The nature of the business I guess.”

 

Stopping at the door, he pushed it open and they all filed inside. Ayaka looked around and took a sniff before setting her bag on the floor.

 

“At least it doesn’t smell bad,” she said, taking in the mess that was Takato’s room. Takato blushed as he put his bag on his chair.

 

“Sorry for the mess. I’ve been tearing the place apart to find my digivice and, well, I obviously haven’t found it yet.”

 

“Did you lose it?” Kenta asked, frowning slightly as he put his bag down. He found it hard to believe Takato would lose something so important - after all, even  _ he _ was able to find his digivice with the rest of his Digimon stuff. He didn’t know what to do with it since their discussion, but he had taken it out along with his cards. It just seemed so  _ wrong _ to leave them locked up.

 

“I…” Takato frowned, a memory on the tip of his tongue, only to dance away before he could catch it. “I...don’t know. I mean, I guess so since I can’t find it, right? I’m pretty sure I always had it around.”

 

“You don’t sound so sure,” Ayaka said, eyeing Takato carefully.

 

“I guess I don’t,” Takato shrugged, clearing out a spot for them to sit on. “I don’t remember stuff very well.”

 

“Well you remember things better than me,” Kenta said, forcing a smile slightly to his face before it fell slightly. He had been having odd dreams recently ever since his talk with the others. Creatures which didn’t look like any Digimon he ever saw, and seemed like something right out of Lovecraft’s twisted mind. That and a constant sense of unease.

 

“Anyway, if you want help looking for it, I’d be happy to help,” he offered, the smile returning slightly. 

 

“I’ll take you up on that,” Takato grinned while Ayaka looked around thoughtfully.

 

“Maybe the ogre that eats your socks stole it,” she remarked. “I doubt you’ve kept it with your posters of bikini girls. Otherwise I’m sure you’d  _ always _ know where it is.”

 

Takato flushed and sputtered for a moment before glaring at the girl.

 

“Very funny.”

 

“I thought so.”

 

“Ayaka, this is 2008. Any porn Takato has is on his computer. Get with the times,” Kenta said with a completely straight face, taking a small bit of courage to tease the other boy while hopefully making a snappy comeback to the girl who seemed to have them all.

 

“Please,” Ayaka scoffed as Takato continued to look beat-red. “A boy like Takato  _ always _ has something so his Internet tracks don’t get noticed.”

 

“Can we  _ please _ talk about something else?” Takato pleaded, desperate for a topic change.

 

“Fine,” Ayaka shrugged. “You said you remembered some stuff earlier. What  _ do _ you remember?”

 

“Let’s change the subject again,” he grumbled irritably.

 

Kenta tilted his head, wondering for a moment why Takato wouldn’t want to talk about remembering something, but then an idea - no doubt influenced by the conversation a moment ago - and his hand went to his mouth in a surprised gasp.

 

“Dude, did you remember hooking up with someone?” Kenta asked, his eyes widening. While he wasn’t like Kazu - at least he liked to tell himself he wasn’t - he couldn’t help but be a bit nosey. He had been out of the loop for so long, and now he wanted to know  _ everything _ . “Was it Jeri?” A pause before he added in a more hesitant, if not disbelieving, voice - “or  _ Rika _ ?”

 

“Let’s change the subject,” Takato muttered, blushing even more furiously. Snickering, Ayaka looked over at Kenta.

 

“Bet it was both,” she said before turning her attention back to Takato. “So tell me something, Gogglehead. Does it count as cheating if you don’t remember being in a relationship with two girls? Or were you really a player?”

 

“I never got together with Jeri!” Takato snapped angrily before glancing away. “And Rika would kill me if I…”

 

His mouth snapped shut with a loud click, realizing he had said too much.

 

Gently taking a hold of Takato’s arm, Kenta lead him to his chair and sat him down, a bit too excited. While he wasn’t sure what Takato saw in Rika - despite his best attempts, she still scared him - he wanted to know the full story. He wanted to be a part of things, make up for lost time. 

 

“Takato, neither of us are going to tell her if you tell us,” he assured him before looking to Ayaka for confirmation. “But I’m surprised! I thought you had the hots for Jeri for like …  _ ever _ .” His voice dropping to an embarrassed whisper, not believing what he was about to ask, but he couldn’t help but be curious anyway. “Did you guys … uh … you know? Uhm …  _ do  _ it?”

 

“Didn’t you want to talk about Kazu?” Takato grumbled. 

 

“I’m pretty sure  _ this _ is more interesting,” Ayaka grinned, looking at Kenta. “I’m guessing it’s a  _ yes _ since he’s trying to dodge the question. What do you think?”

 

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Kenta nodded in agreement. “If he didn’t, he would be fiercely denying it to kingdom come.” Grinning at Takato, he hit him on the back. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

 

“I’m not denying it,” Takato sighed. “We  _ never _ did it. I mean, yeah, Rika bit me the one time and…”

 

Realizing what he just said, Takato clapped his hands over his mouth, his face flushing even  _ harder _ than before. Ayaka burst out laughing.

 

“She  _ bit _ you?! Wow, Gogglehead. I knew you decided to be friends with a psychopath, but this takes the digimon cake.”

 

Approaching, she swung an arm over the boy’s shoulder and leaned forward. “Bet you like that sort of thing, huh?” she purred, causing Takato to bury his face in his hands.

 

“Now, now, Ayaka, let’s not kink shame him,” Kenta berated her, trying so hard - and failing - not to laugh himself. Just the whole scenario seemed so  _ surreal _ , but more amazingly, he could  _ totally _ see Rika biting Takato. “There’s nothing wrong with being a submissive.”

 

“Maybe we should spring some money for a whip,” Ayaka grinned before Takato burst out of his seat.

 

“Stop it!” he exclaimed loudly. “Can we just...just knock it off already? Rika and I are just friends! I don’t…”

 

His expression fell as his anger rapidly deflated, and in the depth of his eyes, Ayaka saw a bone-deep sadness; a long mourning for what was lost. Her humor evaporating a little, she approached him and gave him a more companionable hug.

 

“Sorry,” she apologized. “We’re just having fun with you. You know that, right?”

 

Takato grunted something noncommittal and Ayaka chuckled.

 

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll get Rika that whip when her birthday comes around. When is it again?”

 

“Ayaka?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“...please be quiet.”

 

Ayaka sighed. “Nice even when you’re telling someone to shut up. You’re too good for this world, Gogglehead.”

 

Kenta was about to say something when he heard some more steps coming up the stairs, with two voices arguing as they approached.

 

“... and I don’t think it would kill you to wear a skirt.” Kenta could identify Henry’s voice as the footsteps approached the door. “You wear it for school after all and have yet to keel over and die.”

 

“Trust me, if I could wear the boy’s uniform, I would,” Rika shot back as the door began to open. “If I could wear my own clothes, that would be even better.”

 

All eyes in the room turned to find Rika, Henry and Jeri stepping inside. Sensing the opportunity for mischief, Ayaka grinned.

 

“Hey Rika,” she greeted, shifting her position so she was leaning on his shoulder. “Takato here says that you bit him once upon a time. Tell me… Was he a  _ bad boy?” _

 

_ Oh my gods, Ayaka…  _ Kenta thought, his face flushing in second-hand embarrassment, feeling suddenly very bad for Takato.  _ Are you  _ trying _ to kill him!? _

 

Any conversation between Henry and Rika stopped abruptly as the two teens stared at the copper-haired girl before Henry turned his head away and snorted in amusement, Rika’s face turning red slowly. Kenta desperately hoped it wasn’t from anger but embarrassment.

 

“ _ What _ ,” she said finally, turning her attention to Takato, “the  _ fuck _ , Takato?”

 

“My big mouth and me losing control of it,” Takato admitted in frustration. “You might as well hit me now and get it over with. Or, you know, I could just run at your fist if you’d like. Whichever works best.”

 

“Ohhh… Takato’s got a spine when he’s upset,” Ayaka hummed, looking at him with a critical eye. “Guess he’d have to if he shoved Kazu into a wall.”

 

“You have no idea,” Jeri said, stepping in front of Rika. “Um… Do we really need anyone punching anyone here? I’d rather not have that happen.”

 

“You know, you missed the opportunity for denying it, Takato,” Henry grinned as Rika dragged her hands across her face and  _ groaned _ , muttering something under her breath before shaking her head.

 

“What I want to know is why this was even a topic to  _ begin _ with,” she grumbled, crossing her arms and leering angrily at Takato. She didn’t exactly feel comfortable with talking about this sort of thing with Takato in private - less so when it seems he was talking about it to Ayaka, who seemed to have no self-control in bringing unwanted things in front of a group making it much more annoying to avoid the subject.

 

“Chill out, Firebrand,” Ayaka attempted to placate. “We were making fun of him and trying to guess what he remembered because he was being evasive and, well, you know how he gets when he blows up on people. It’s just one big mess all over the place. Feel bad for him, okay? He’s beating himself up right now already.”

 

“Ayaka…” Takato began, narrowing his eyes at her. He did  _ not _ like it when someone stepped in to explain away his own stupidity. Not that he felt he was more capable of defending himself, but it just...felt like he was lying even if the words weren’t coming from his own mouth.

 

“Then why did  _ you _ say something the second I walked in?” Rika growled. “You some sort of sadist or something? You’re explaining away his actions, but you’re the reason I’m annoyed at him in the first place!”

 

“Because I like to rock boats sometimes,” Ayaka shrugged with an embarrassed smirk. “I don’t really get your friendship anyway, especially with how you treat him and how he just…” She waved her hands, as if trying to grasp for an explanation. “...lets you walk all over him.”

 

“She doesn’t...” Takato began, only for Ayaka to press a finger against his mouth, grinning at him.

 

“The adults are talking now, Gogglehead,” she said, ignoring Jeri’s shocked gasp.

 

Red flashed across Takato’s vision at that, but with great effort he managed to keep himself from blowing up on the girl.

 

“How  _ I _ treat him?” Rika spluttered, getting angrier. She had the gall to say she treated him poorly when she was treating him like a child? “You’re the one talking to him like he’s a  _ child _ and are constantly putting him down!”

 

“You mean  _ you  _ don’t?” Ayaka countered, placing her hands on her hips. “Come on. I’ve been watching how you two interact. You’re always treating him like he’s your luggage.”

 

Jeri looked at her copper-haired friend, amber eyes wide with surprise. Just  _ what _ was going on here? Ayaka was being needlessly antagonistic toward Rika. 

 

“Hold on…” Jeri began, only for Ayaka to fix her with a sharp look.

 

“No. If Rika can’t take a joke or anything, why should I stop? I’m tired of watching her walk all over him. He deserves better.”

 

“A  _ joke?! _ ” Rika snarled, her fists clenching and Henry took a warning step closer to her ready to stop the girl from resorting to violence. The two needed to resolve whatever issue was between them, without the need to punch each other. “First off, I haven’t been ‘walking all over him’ - and that’s something I don’t want to hear from someone who told him less than a minute ago to essentially shut up. Second off, what part of this is  _ funny _ ?!”

 

“All I did was joke about you biting him and you blew up. What part of you biting someone  _ isn’t _ fu…”

 

The sound of Takato’s quiet laughter brought the girl up short, and she looked at the boy quizzically. His shoulders were shaking as he ran a hand through his hair and Ayaka noticed an odd gleam in his eyes.

 

“Uh...Gogglehead? Why’re you being creepy?”

 

“Funny…” Takato chuckled, trying to force his humor down just enough to talk. “I know what you’re doing, only, you know, you’re being kind of stupid about it.”

 

_ “Stupid?” _ Ayaka spluttered in surprise. “What…?”

 

“You’re trying to divert her anger away from him, aren’t you?” Jeri quickly chimed in, catching onto what Takato was getting at. Ayaka looked at Takato in stupefied amazement before looking at everyone, one at a time before glowering at the floor.

 

“You’re stupid smart sometimes, you know that?” she grumbled. “Most of the time you’re dumb, but sometimes…”

 

Kenta looked nervously between Rika and Ayaka. While the red-haired girl still seemed angry, he had thought at first Ayaka had lost her damn mind by antagonizing Rika. The thought of trying to attract her attention from Takato and putting it on herself seemed insane to him. 

 

“Well,” Henry said, feeling like this is a good time to end the fight. “Moving on, should we continue to what we actually decided to meet up with.”

 

“Actually Henry,” Takato said, finally relaxing a little. “I...kind of think that Rika and I need to talk. In private.” 

 

He glanced over at the red-haired girl carefully. “If that’s okay that is.”

 

“... Sure,” Rika grunted, shoving her hands in her pocket. “Don’t wait up for us.”

 

Gesturing toward his door, Takato headed out into the hallway and down the stairs, opting for the alleyway since it was the best place they were likely to have any privacy. His legs shook a little, in part from the stress of having his emotions keyed up so high, but also out of fear of Rika and what she might say.

 

He wondered if this was at all a good idea. She was already so mad…

 

The door leading to outside clicked shut behind them and Takato took a deep breath.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not going to give any excuses, but...I’m sorry. Hit me if you want or whatever, but I just...don’t know what else to say or do. So...sorry.”

 

He flapped his hands against his sides helplessly. From what he remembered, there really wasn’t much he could do when Rika was mad about something or someone. His memories were still fuzzy and disjointed on the matter of the Digimon Queen. All he knew was how she felt for him  _ then, _ but that didn’t matter in the here and now.

 

“I’m not going to hit you,” she snapped, a feeling of anxiousness creeping into her anger as well. “Takato, I’m-” she gritted her teeth, running her fingers through her hair. She didn’t know how to express exactly how she felt, but she felt it was necessary. 

 

“Takato,” she said finally. “Do you seriously think I bully you? That I do all that stuff that Ayaka said I do? Be honest with me.”

 

Takato looked at Rika softly. “I’ll always be honest with you,” he said before heaving a sigh. Gathering himself, he spoke.

 

“No, I don’t think you bully me, Rika. You’re just… I don’t know. You just like going in 100 percent into everything that you want to get into. Sometimes that leaves me dizzy. But bully?” Takato shook his head and smiled at her. “I don’t think you’ve done that since we were kids. And even then it didn’t last long.”

 

Kicking her feet on the ground, she nodded her head and mumbled, ‘good’ under her breath a couple of times. Shifting her weight again, she frowned, pressing her lips together. 

 

“Then why are you so afraid of me?”

 

Takato opened his mouth to reply before closing it, giving the question the weighty consideration it deserved before he spoke again.

 

“I just...don’t like seeing you upset,” he replied. “I guess I just want you to be happy and I’m...not good at figuring out how to do that. I’m getting there, but when we were kids… You weren’t very easy to read. A lot of the time it was a guessing game at what would make you mad so I ended up getting worried a lot.”

 

He looked down at the ground, resisting the urge to fidget. “And...how I changed while we were growing up hasn’t helped things,” he added, frowning. “I turned into a coward, Rika, and that’s not easy to shake off.”

 

“We’re not kids anymore though Takato,” she pointed out before sighing. “I don’t think you’re a coward though. You were willing to come talk to me the day after we met … well, I suppose it would be better said after we visited that shrine on New Year’s. I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with, but still … it  _ bothers _ me.”

 

She kicked a nearby trash can in frustration. She didn’t know how to properly put what she was saying into words. She wasn’t good at this sort of thing.

 

Reaching out, Takato placed a hand on Rika’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

 

“I know,” he said. “I just…” He paused and sighed again. His eyes searched the ground as though it had the answers to his questions before looking up and meeting her gaze. “Rika, I can’t promise I’ll always be at my best to, you know,  _ not _ act like I do sometimes. I’ve got a lot to work out, but...I promise to give you my best. Because that’s what friends do and…” He paused and smiled comfortingly. “...and you’re my best friend. You deserve better than how I’ve been lately.”

 

“You’re my best friend too, Gogglehead,” she sighed before smiling at him, although it was a wane one. “Also, in the future, let me know about … you know … prior, so I don’t get blindsided.” She scowled and crossed her arms. “I swear she has it out for me, and I haven’t even figured out what I did yet. Renamon is positive it’s because she likes you though.” 

 

“I’m pretty sure Ayaka doesn’t like me,” Takato laughed. “I don’t know why she doesn’t like you though. She’s actually a lot like you when it comes to personality. Ayaka just likes to wear dresses from time to time.”

 

“You’ll have to forgive me for not believing you about Ayaka when you didn’t know Jeri liked you,” Rika snorted. She had toyed with the idea of asking Jeri why Ayaka was so obnoxious to her, but decided against it. Since when did she care if people liked her or not?

 

“Actually I did know Jeri liked me,” Takato replied, leaning back against the wall of the bakery. “I just...like I said, I was a coward. I didn’t think I could really be good enough for her. I...wasn’t in a good spot up in my head.”

 

Rika stared at him in shock. She didn’t know that Takato knew about the other girl’s feelings. 

 

_ “He felt as though he weren’t good enough for you, and that you deserved better. You had to convince him otherwise on many occasions.”  _

 

Rika’s eye twitched, and while she had told him earlier that she wasn’t going to punch him, the temptation was mighty strong right now. The anger was back again, although she couldn’t exactly pinpoint the source. 

 

No. That wasn’t true. She knew exactly why she was angry - Takato’s self-esteem issues.

 

She knew it wasn’t fair exactly, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to shake and yell at him. She wanted to holler at Mnemosyne who was behind all of this to begin with.

 

Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the wall, she forced herself to calm down. It wasn’t easy, but she was able to squelch the urges for violence.

 

“Takato. Do you feel that way now? Do you feel that you’re not good enough?” she asked much too calmly. 

 

Takato was silent for a moment before answering.

 

“A part of me still feels that way. That old part of me before I started remembering.” 

 

He looked at Rika before turning away, blushing softly.

 

“But you convinced me too many times for me to think that I should believe that.”

 

His voice was quieter that time, again worried about making Rika upset. She didn’t feel the same way he felt toward her, beating in his heart like an old ache. He wanted to kick himself for sounding that way, but he knew the change was going to take time. It hadn’t been all that long ago that he realized the depths of his feelings toward her and what they meant.

 

_ I just wish I knew better how to talk about them,  _ he thought.

 

“Good. I didn’t want to pick you up and shake you if I didn’t have to,” she said bluntly before looking up and scratching the back of her head. “We should probably head back if that was it. Before we go, is there anything else you told Ayaka and Kenta that might get springed on me I ought to know about?”

 

“No.” Takato shook his head. “You biting me was all I blurted out when I got ma… Ahhh…” His blush deepened and he scowled at himself. “I...really need to watch myself better.”

 

“Yup,” she answered before walking over to the door. “Well if I’m not going to get blindsided by anything else, let’s go.”

 

Takato pushed off the wall and followed her.

 

“Right,” he agreed. “Let’s go.”

 

Heading back inside, they climbed the stairs together, hearing part of Jeri scolding Ayaka from inside Takato’s bedroom. Ayaka protested heatedly, and all of a sudden she raised her voice.

 

_ “Well maybe I don’t  _ like _ the idea of those two being together!” _ she exclaimed suddenly as Takato laid a hand on the door.

 

_ Kami… _ Takato thought, wincing a little, feeling as though his heart had just been stabbed before sliding the door open.

 

“The devil is here,” Rika announced, sarcasm dripping from her voice as they walked in the room. She had hoped they would avoid discussing unnecessary things while they were gone, but it seemed that was too much to ask.

 

“Hurray,” Ayaka said in a dull manner, earning her a sharp elbow from Jeri and a scolding eye.

 

“Everything okay?” the brown-haired girl asked, looking back and forth between the two. Takato shrugged as they set themselves down on the floor.

 

“Um… How about we get down to business?” Takato offered with a quirky smile. “Um… So what’s on the agenda today, Henry?”

 

“Everything’s fine,” Rika assured Jeri in an undertone, patting her head slightly. “Don’t worry and relax. It’s weird when I’m forced to be the calm one between the two of us.”

 

“Well if memory serves me correctly, it was to help Kenta with his Kazu problem without resorting to the solution you, Rika and Ayaka decided on,” Henry replied, smirking slightly as he eyed the three. While he could understand how Kazu got under their skin - he was annoyed by the other boy countless times as well - he didn’t think punching him, or in Takato’s case, shoving him against the wall - was the answer. 

 

“Right,” Jeri nodded as Ayaka grunted, folding her arms across her chest but otherwise saying nothing. “So… Let’s get helping.”

 

**###**

 

Mako was  _ supposed _ to be doing homework. That was why their parents got them a computer, after all, as they were constantly reminded, but instead of doing math problems, Mako was learning what happened to cats when you gave them catnip.

 

He personally found it very educational. 

 

Glancing over to Ai, who was on the phone with one of the other girls from club talking about  _ boys _ (in particular, Akira and how  _ cute _ he was or something), he turned his attention back to the computer. He wanted to learn something else in truth, but with his sister in the room, he didn’t feel comfortable looking it up.

 

So instead, he clicked on another cat video.

 

Instead of a cat video, an Instant Message popped up on his screen from Chat Book.

 

_ “Hello again,” _ it read.  _ “Partner. It has been so long...and I have finally found you again.” _

 

Mako stared dumbly at the message before looking back at Ai, wondering if she was pranking him. Again. She was still on the phone talking about boys, completely ignoring him. Pressing his lips together in confusion, he turned back to the computer.

 

“Who is this?” he typed back quickly. “If this is you, Masahiko, you have to do better than that.”

 

An image was sent to him, revealing an Impmon digimon playing card, twin fireballs in his hands with a mischievous grin on his face.

 

_ “You don’t remember me? I know it’s been a while, but I thought we were close… It’s me, Impmon.” _

 

Mako’s jaw dropped open, his heart speeding up in his chest. He still couldn’t believe it - especially since he wasn’t quite sure why Impmon would be IMing him. Mako pressed his lips together. Still, suspicion lingered, if only because he could just see Ai making fun of him later if it was just someone playing a trick on him because he was “gullible” or whatever. 

 

_ Besides, Digimon aren’t real _ , he reminded himself, a bit sadly.

 

If that’s true … you should know something about me that only Impmon would know,” he typed back, deciding that TV’s way of differing between imposters was good enough test for him. It was an impossible test, and would be the best way to tell who was pulling one over on him. “Something I never told anyone else,” he decided to add for good measure.

 

_ “You had a toy gun when we met,” _ came the reply.  _ “Red near the tip and blue at the center. Looked like a weapon a Vademon would use. You remember what a Vademon is, right?” _

 

He didn’t but a quick Google search quickly remedied that.

 

“Yes,” he lied. “But what does that have to do with anything?” 

 

_ “You gave it to me when you were a child,” _ came the response.  _ “Don’t you remember?” _

 

“I lost that gun,” he replied, frowning a bit. He remembered the blaster - it was his favorite toy. He was devastated when he lost it, and thought for a bit that Ai had something to do with it. He just could never prove it.

 

_ “You didn’t lose it, Mako,” _ the messenger replied. _ “I did. Why...don’t you remember?” _

 

“Digimon isn’t real,” Mako typed quickly, pressing enter before sending another message. “So whoever this is, just say so.”

 

_ “We are. I can prove it to you, but you must be quiet. We can’t let Ai know. You know how she takes your things.” _

 

He wanted to type that she didn’t do it anymore, but … something held him back. Even though they got along a lot better since they were children, Ai still had the tendency to bully him around.

 

“OK,” he agreed after thinking about it for a long minute.

 

The screen went black for a moment and then dissolved into snow. Red eyes appeared amidst it before an image formed, horned with a skull-like mask over a pale face. A ghoulish, fanged smirk drew across its lips as their owner nodded, and a second later the screen returned to normal.

 

_ “I am your partner, Impmon. I digivolved to IceDevimon, and I need your help.” _

 

Mako had to bite back a scream of surprised when the eyes appeared, not wanting to attract Ai’s attention. Shakily glancing back at Ai, who was still in her own little world, he hunched over the keyboard and typed faster.

 

“What do you need help on?”

 

_ “There is something trying to take over the real and digital worlds. I don’t know what, but it’s already in your world. The only thing I know for sure...is that a human is involved. You already know him. I believe his name is...Takato Matsuki?” _

 

Another photo appeared, this time of a brown-haired boy with red eyes, walking alongside Rika, the pair of them laughing together. The picture was...odd in that they were younger than they were now, though they had only met each other recently.

 

_ Isn’t this Jeri’s friends?  _ Mako thought, squinting at the photo. He remembered that Masahiko tried to set his sister up with the boy, and the results were … less than ideal. It took Akira, him and Ai to make him feel better when they were in club the following week.  _ Also they look … really young. _

 

“Are you sure?” Mako asked after a minute. “After all, Masahiko tried to set Takato up with his sister … and I don’t think he would do that for a bad guy. He really loves her, ya know?”

 

_ “I don’t know if he’s good or bad,” _ IceDevimon replied.  _ “I only know he is at the center of this. I wish I could say more, but that is all I know.” _

 

There was a second of silence before another response came.

 

_ “I need to go now. I think I am being followed. Keep your eyes open, Mako. Stay safe. I’ll see you as soon as I can… If you want me to. I know how hard it is to trust me, since you don’t...remember.” _

 

With that, IceDevimon’s Instant Message disappeared, leaving no record that it had ever been there to begin with.

 

Mako leaned back, giving a shaky sigh and looking at his computer in shock. He wasn’t sure what he just got himself into, but he felt like he needed to get to the bottom of it.

 

_ I need to call Masahiko _ , he decided.  _ And learn all I can about Takato as I possibly can. _


	30. Decleration of War

Mako slid the door to the clubroom open, noticing he was the first one there - a change of pace. Usually Akira or Ai got there before him, or one of the other older students. Scratching his head, he tossed his bag on the table in the middle of the room, and just to be safe looked outside.

 

_ Nothing unusual to let me know this is just some weird dream _ , he thought, opening the window to let the warm air in. It was getting warmer as May approached and soon it would be summer. Sometimes he wished classes could be held outside, but he already had hard enough trouble not falling asleep in them as is. The warm caresses of a gentle breeze would put him right to sleep.

 

A footstep clicked on the floor behind him as Masahiko stepped into the room, one hand gripping his bag as a solitary eyebrow rose up upon seeing his friend, alone and without his twin around.

 

“Did Ai and Akira finally hook up and ditch you?” He asked, placing his bag in a chair. “This is… I don’t know. You and Ai are usually together.”

 

Scowling, he leaned to look out the window. “There aren’t any Patamon flying around, are there?”

 

“Ai and I aren’t together all the time,” Mako informed him as he went over, pulling a chair out and plopped his feet on the desk. Ai wasn’t there to yell at him, so he was going to do what he wanted - while he was able.

 

Pushing the chair back slightly so it was balancing on the back two legs, Mako studied Masahiko for a moment, wondering what the best way to bring up Takato was without spilling the secret about IceDevimon. Even experiencing it first hand, Mako still couldn’t believe it was real, and he doubted Masahiko would believe him without proof. 

 

_ That and I don’t know if IceDevimon would like me talking to Masahiko about him… _

 

“Hey, I was wondering this for a while, but what about Takato made you want to hook him up with your sister?” Mako asked finally, deciding that might be the best approach. “What’s he like?”

 

“Takato?” Masahiko’s second eyebrow rose to join its twin. Tapping his chin, he shrugged. “He’s a good guy I guess. He used to visit Jeri more when I was a munchkin and he’d keep me busy when Jeri and Mom were working. I had a lot of fun then and my sister…”

 

He barked a laugh as he sat himself down. “Jeri was just about swooning over him like one of those moe girls in manga. You know the type. Blushed a lot. Giggled. Tried to hint to him that she liked-liked him. Only he was, you know, dense. I figured that maybe if I could set them up they’d finally…”

 

His expression became downcast as he thought back to the game they all played at the park.

 

“But I guess she wasn’t really interested after all.” He shrugged again and looked at Mako. “Why do you ask? It’s kind of a weird question.” 

 

A thought occurred to him and he leaned forward, becoming serious.

 

“I’m not letting you date my sister, just so you know. She’s a little old for you and...well, she’s just old for you. Plus I don’t think she’s interested in you.”

 

_ Of course, I might be wrong since I so obviously was with Takato… _ he berated himself.

 

“Hey what’s wrong with me?” Mako protested. “I’m charming, good looking and a perfect gentleman.” Pushing his hair back, he smiled at Masahiko and would like to think his teeth sparkled when he did so. “Who wouldn’t want me?”

 

“You’re such a kid,” Masahiko sighed, rolling his eyes. “No wonder Ai is always having to keep you in line. Anyway, what’s the big deal about Takato? It  _ is _ kind of weird for you to be asking about him. The guy’s in high school and we’re...not.”

 

“Just curious is all,” Mako shrugged. “Guy has at  _ least _ two girls after him, and one of them is your hot sister, so he must be doing something right. I can’t exactly ask him his tips, so I figured I’d pick your brain.”

 

“Jeri’s not after him,” Masahiko said, wrinkling his nose as he held back a sneeze. His allergies were starting to kick in with the warmer weather, but he didn’t want to just hide indoors with the windows closed. “And I don’t think that other girl is after him either. That kiss she gave him was...well, it looked like it was lukewarm, like my mom would say. I don’t think he’d ever notice if a girl liked him anyway. Like I said: he’s dense.”

 

“That other girl - the half Chinese girl - sure wanted him,” Mako pointed out, leaning his head on his hand. “And your sister liked him at one point didn’t she? He has to have some sort of secret besides being dense.”

 

_ Half-Chinese girl…?  _ Masahiko thought before remembering.  _ Oh, right. Her. Yeah, she was all over Takato. _

 

Masahiko frowned, wondering why he had been thinking of the redhead instead of Suzie before brushing it off. “Suzie’s too young for him too, just like you with my sister. Look, Takato’s a nice guy, but I get the feeling that’s  _ all _ he is. I’ve known him for a while. I’ve never seen him do anything  _ except _ be nice to people.”

 

He shrugged again. “Jeri must’ve liked that years ago, and maybe Suzie likes that, but if Jeri liked him, she doesn’t now. I’m sure there’s a reason for that. You know, the one where he’s dense.”

 

He had sensed Jeri become tense and frustrated at times regarding the boy - or at least fancied that he sensed how she was feeling. In light of that, perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that she chose not to have anything more to do with him beyond mere friendship.

 

He suspected most girls felt the same way. Someone who was  _ that _ slow in getting a hint just wasn’t reliable.

 

Mako leaned his head back and groaned. At least he got what he was looking for in terms of character - not that  _ nice _ and  _ dense _ did much, but at least he had more to work with now - he needed to keep up appearances. That and he was a bit disappointed he didn’t get any insights into picking up hot chicks.

 

“Man what do I need to do to get girls to like me?” He complained. “Life’s not fair.”

 

“You must have had bad karma in another life,” Masahiko shrugged. “That’s what Akira would say anyway. You think too much about trying to impress every girl you come across. Pretty sure they pick up on that.”

 

A pause before he continued.

 

“At least, that’s what Akira would say too. I think.” He sighed and leaned against his hand. “But what does he know? He’s just a kid.”

 

Mako hummed, not really saying anything. Not there was much to say and he had other things on his mind. He knew two things for sure: Takato was nice and dense and he was involved in something trying to take over the world somehow.

 

_ He must have been tricked _ , Mako came to a sudden realization. He needed to somehow talk to Takato and convince him he was being played for a fool, but how? If he just went to the high schooler and told him everything he knew, he was sure to be laughed at.

 

After all, he as just a kid.

 

**###**

 

“Takato’s such a kid,” Kazu grumbled to himself, throwing a ball at the wall of his room. “He had to have been tricked or something.”

 

His voice was low and edgy, not really seeking out any conversation from the other boy who sat in the chair across from him, textbooks and notes splayed all across the desk. His mind was singularly focused though, trying to work out a puzzle, the puzzle that had been eluding him for months.

 

Takato… _ Everything _ these past few months stemmed from him and his relationship with that red-haired  _ demon. _ He kept putting it off; forcing the topic away from his mind, but time and time again it kept coming back. For the first time, he  _ wished _ it was exam period again. That made Takato so much easier to ignore. Easier to forget that right now, Kenta was his only remaining friend, while Takato had ditched him for… _ her. _

 

_ Why? Why her? _

 

He hadn’t been the only one either.  _ Jeri _ , who came to him about Takato’s behavior had changed sides, dumping him in the process despite his defending the honor of Ayaka, someone he  _ loathed, _ and from whom the feeling was mutual.

 

He wasn’t sure which was worse, though at least with Jeri their fling had been brief. Still, that had hurt so much… Jeri had been the sweet nectar to his heart, and with her gone…

 

The ball bounced back into his hand and he turned it over in his palm, squeezing it tightly before he suddenly shot up and hurled the ball  _ hard _ at the wall. It blew past Kenta, narrowly missing him before smacking into his alarm clock, knocking it off its perch where it crashed to the floor.

 

“Shit…” Kazu scowled. “Sorry. Forgot you were there, Chumley.”

 

“Oh don’t worry, I’m used to being invisible,” Kenta grumbled sarcastically, pushing his glasses up, getting uncomfortably used to the explosive behavior. While before having a ball nearly pelt him in the face would cause him a jolt of fright, the fact he barely registered it until it knocked Kazu’s alarm clock down was cause for concern; Kenta wasn’t even sure why he owned the damn thing since if it wasn’t for his mother, Kazu would be late for school every day if he showed up. 

 

_ This is getting way too dangerous for my health _ .

 

“Also what’s the point of me even being here if you can’t even remember I’m here?” Kenta asked annoyed. “I’m here to help you, not nearly get hit by a ball because you’re in one of your  _ moods _ again.” 

 

Kazu’s frown deepened. “Chill out, Chumley. I said I was sorry. I’ve…” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. “I’ve had a lot on my mind, okay?”

 

“I can see that,” Kenta noted dryly, turning around to look at the alarm clock. Standing up, he walked over to the fallen contraption and picked it up. Turning it in his hands to see if it was broken - it wasn’t - he put it back where it belonged. 

 

Kazu tapped his foot on the floor and he stared pensively out his window.

 

“I just...don’t get it. How’d things just...end up like this? It’s so crazy. I remember when we were kids and we promised we’d always be best friends. Remember that one? We got into a fight with an older kid and he beat the shit out of us. Broke your glasses and made me lose a tooth.”

 

He chuckled, fingering his mouth. He was fortunate it had only been a baby tooth already in the process of coming out. His cheerful disposition quickly vanished though, remembering the current situation.

 

“Takato sure changed his tune as soon as he got a girl, didn’t he?”

 

Kenta shrugged non-committedly. He didn’t want to give too much away - Kazu was dense, sure, but he could be annoyingly sharp sometimes too.

 

“I don’t think they’re dating,” he said, sitting back down. “If he couldn’t confess his feelings for Jeri, even if he did like Rika that way, do you really think that he would let her know?” Picking up a pencil, he spun it around in his fingers before going back to his work. “Besides, people change. It’s part of growing up.”

 

“Chumley sure changed,” Kazu grumbled. “He never would have shoved me before.  _ Me. _ His best friend.”

 

He glanced at Kenta. “He’s  _ got _ to be dating that other girl - the Demon Queen. I mean, why else would he be hanging out with her? She’s such a nuthouse. We’re talking lunatic running the asylum crazy.” He spun a finger around one ear for emphasis before a thought occurred to him.

 

“Maybe Jeri was right and there is magic in the world or something? Maybe she’s mind controlling him. Too bad Jeri isn’t hanging with us anymore. Otherwise she’d probably say something about trying to break the curse or something.”

 

He waved a hand dismissively. Of all his theories, he put the least stock in that one. He humored Jeri a lot when she hung out with them, but never really paid her any mind when it came to the supernatural.

 

_ Gods, I miss her… I miss them both. _

 

“Everyone’s so dumb…” he muttered. “So crazy, it’s nuts.”

 

_ Or maybe the dumb one is you _ , Kenta thought, licking his lips. The words wanted to be said, but he didn’t have that much courage. He wanted Kazu to be the one to break up with him, not the other way around. It may be cowardly, but he had just barely enough courage to fire what little shots he has been.

 

Except now he was going in for round two.

 

“Well she’s also best friends with Henry and Jeri, remember?” Kenta reminded him neutrally. “She has to has  _ some _ charisma to be that well liked.”

 

“A girl that bitchy doesn’t have charisma,” Kazu grunted, tapping his nose for emphasis. “Can’t take a joke or anything. All she’s got going for her is her looks. Her smarts too I guess, but nothing else.”

 

His scowl deepened. “Besides, Jeri admitted to me that she still liked Takato, even though we were a couple. She’s got to be hanging out with bitchzilla because of Chumley. Figures. How dumb can a guy be to ignore someone like Jeri?”

 

His eyes became awash in emotion and he wiped at them fastidiously, not wanting Kenta to see just how badly Jeri’s breakup with him had torn him up inside. He had  _ loved _ her and she left him all over a stupid fight he had apologized for! Nothing they did meant anything to her.

 

“She was probably just using me to get back at him…” he said under his breath.

 

“You really think Jeri is that shallow?” Kenta snapped, slamming his pencil down, his temper flaring slightly. He was getting really annoyed at Kazu’s self pity game and placing the blame on everyone  _ but _ himself. Takato had the right of it that day. Kenta could only kick himself for taking so long to finally admit it himself.

 

“Jeri isn’t that type of person!” He continued on. “Also of  _ course _ she still probably still liked Takato! She’s been in love with him for six _ years _ Kazu. Feelings don’t magically change overnight. But that day when Takato left us, Jeri didn’t go after him. She stayed with you. She  _ chose _ you. So yeah, maybe she still liked Takato because she couldn’t turn off a magic switch on her feelings, because if that was the case she would have flipped that switch  _ years _ ago instead of pining after someone so dense and you would have as well instead of continuing to pine for her!” 

 

“Oh shut up,” Kazu  _ harrumphed,  _ looking away from the bespectacled boy. “What do you know? You’ve never been with someone. None of the girls even  _ look _ at you. But Jeri… Jeri did nothing  _ but _ look at Chumley. I know her. Better than you that’s for sure. She would have done anything to get him back.”

 

He cast his eyes away, his hands fidgeting, aching for a cigarette. 

 

“I would have.”

 

“Even if it meant apologizing to Takato, befriending Rika and possibly saying that maybe,  _ just maybe _ , you were at fault for some things?” Kenta challenged. He doubted Kazu would be able to befriend Rika - and vice versa too, despite Rika and Ayaka’s dislike of each other, they were rather similar. Still, he knew if Kazu was going to be part of the group again, two of those things needed to happen.

 

Kazu’s eyes flashed as they went back to the other boy. 

 

_ “I _ didn’t do anything wrong and  _ I _ apologized. I had to have said ‘I’m sorry’ a million times and that still wasn’t enough!” Getting up from his bed, he towered over Kenta, his shadow falling over him.  _ “What  _ more _ do you want?” _

 

Kenta felt like he should be scared. Terrified really. If he didn’t watch his words, Kazu would surely beat him up. He knew this … yet …

 

He wasn’t afraid. It was like he reached some sort of epiphany. This was it. He was waiting for this, wasn’t he? Besides, he had been cowed too many times, and if he was honest … Rika was much scarier than Kazu was.  _ Takato _ when angered was much more terrifying than Kazu was.

 

“I said apologize to Takato, not Jeri,” Kenta said cooly. “There is a difference. If you apologized to Takato, I’m pretty sure I would know since things still wouldn’t be icy between you. But I guess I got my answer.”

 

“You’re...wha….?” Kazu blinked, taken aback by Kenta’s sudden change in behavior, his... _ naked anger _ toward him. He had seen that look before, first in Rika’s eyes and then, later, in Takato’s. His hands shook and he pulled them into tight fists. “What’re you going on about?” He asked. “Seriously, what’s gotten into you?”

 

“Gotten into me?” Kenta asked before barking out a laugh, although it was a wry one. “What’s gotten into  _ you _ . You keep going on and  _ on _ about how Takato has changed, yet it’s like you haven’t looked in a mirror recently.” Kenta leveled his stare at his …  _ friend _ . “I’m just so  _ sick  _ and  _ tired  _ of your self-pity bullshit. Nothing is  _ ever _ your fault. If something goes wrong, it’s someone else’s. You did nothing wrong? Please.

 

“What happened to the Kazu who would always stick up for his friends and help them out? What happened to the Kazu who protected them from the bullies instead of being one?”

 

Kenta pressed his lips together. Kazu was his friend. Despite everything, he was still his best friend. 

 

And that’s why he needed to do this. Because if he didn’t … he wasn’t sure if Kazu would ever really learn his lesson until he faced the full consequences of his actions. He needed Kazu to go  _ back _ to the boy which held his loyalty for so many years … otherwise, as Ayaka put it, he would just be dragged down.

 

And for that, he needed some tough love and face the fear of being alone Kenta faced for so long.

 

With a heavy heart, he slid his stuff into his bag, his voice softening.

 

“Kazu, you’re my best friend. I know you may not believe me after this, but it’s true, and it’s because you’re my best friend I need to tell you the truth you refuse to acknowledge.” Slinging his bag over his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “The problem is you. Everyone changes, but you haven’t changed for the better. I’ve been so afraid of you for so many years - what you might do to me if I stood up to you, of your anger … but you know, there is only so much even  _ I  _ can take.”

 

Kazu stared agape at Kenta, at first not understanding what he was going on about, only for dawning comprehension to crash down on him as he saw Kenta start to pack. His words, his behavior… _ everything! _ It only said one thing.

Kenta was leaving him too.

“H-Hold on,” Kazu began, mentally cursing himself for the sudden quaver in his voice. Clearing his throat he continued, ignoring the shaking of his hands. “Hold on. You’re not… Let’s just talk about this.”

"Talk about  _ what  _ Kazu?" Kenta asked. He really was curious, as if the mere  _ threat _ of him leaving was enough of a wake up slap.

“I…” Kazu hesitated, not sure at all what to say.  _ Talk about what _ indeed. He knew what Kenta felt he should say, that he was being a jerk, but he  _ always _ had jerkish tendencies. That was how he was. Everyone knew in the past he was like that, but it was just joking around.

The mere thought that he could be doing anything else though caused a torrent of resistance to rise up inside him though, and he grinned – hesitantly, to gauge the waters – before replying.

“Just…where’d you get these crazy ideas?” he asked. “I mean, come on. This is me we’re talking about. You know I’m always joking around.” He made a  _ phhht _ sound, dismissing Kenta’s concerns. “Why’re you afraid of me? That’s nuts.”

"Because if I say something you don't like, I'll end up like your alarm clock," Kenta said before narrowing his eyes.

_ ‘Just joking around.’ _ That was Kazu's go to defense it seemed. Well no more.

"So you were just joking around when you said Jeri was just using you to get back at Takato? You were just joking around when you called Rika a dirty half-breed? You were just joking around what you did to Ayaka?" Kenta snorted. "Get real. If that's a joke, it's not funny. Hurting people isn't funny, Kazu!"

_ “I didn’t hurt anyone!” _ Kazu exclaimed loudly. “It’s not my fault that Ayaka couldn’t take a stupid joke! Rika’s a bitch anyway and Jeri…” He averted his eyes, feeling ashamed. “I’m just venting, okay? It’s no big deal. Jeez. Why’re you acting like I mean any of that?”

"Because you do!" Kenta snapped. "Also you clearly haven't acknowledged once that maybe you are the one at fault!"

Kenta sighed and pushed his hair back. He didn't know why he expected the threat of him leaving would be enough of a wakeup call.

"Sorry Kazu, but until you sincerely get your act together, I can't do this anymore." Beginning to walk toward the door, he paused and stopped.

"Rika and Ayaka dislike each other," he said simply. "Yet they manage to put their differences aside to keep Jeri happy. Ayaka couldn't even do that with you, and you know how far she would go for Jeri. Think on that for a moment."

Kazu didn’t hear his ‘friend’s’ words as he stormed toward him, his expression darkening. He was  _ not _ letting another friend leave him.

“You’re  _ not _ listening to me,” he growled. “You’re not listening, and you’re just going to walk away just like Chumley did. You’re not, do you hear me?”

He slammed his hand against his door  _ hard, _ the wooden frame reverberating violently from the impact.

“You’re  _ not!” _ he bellowed in Kenta’s face. A pitch blackness rolled over his mind and for a second he thought he was going to have to hit the guy to make him stay and hear him out.

An image flickered across his vision and he saw a pair of green colored eyes surrounded by thick, heavy, rust-colored armor, staring at him where Kenta stood, a sorrowful expression on its face.

_ Guardromon? _ Came the foreign thought.

The second passed as quickly as it came, and he found himself blinking in confusion at himself and at Kenta, as if he had never seen him before.

His body was trembling, and he felt sick. With both came the unsettling realization that something had just definitely snapped inside him.

Dropping his arm away from the door, he looked at his hand as though it were completely alien to him. He looked back up at Kenta, his mouth moving, but no words were forming.

_ Holy shit… Did I just forget how to talk? _

Kenta shivered when Kazu slammed his hand against the door, making it tremble. For a half a second, he almost gave in, but strengthened his resolve once more.

Still, he didn't have any more words to say, especially not to Kazu's outburst. So silently, he ducked his head and opened the door and ran out, afraid if he stayed he might never be able to leave.

Kazu’s legs gave out as soon as Kenta left, causing him to collapse back against the wall. He slid down to the floor, staring at the spot where Kenta had stood, feeling completely as though he were in someone else’s body.

_ Did I…? _ came the question from the depths of his mind, only for Kazu to lose it almost as quickly as it came. After several minutes, he struggled back to his feet and, with great effort, made his way over to his bed before crashing on it.

Thinking, it seemed, had become far too much effort for the time being.

_ Maybe if I slept it off… _ was all he had time for before unconsciousness claimed him.

###

"You can do  _ what _ now?" Himiko asked, lowering the coffee from her lips as she looked at the excited faces of the Monster Makers.

Sometimes it seemed they were children, getting excited about this and that if it wasn't the fact what they were playing with was inherently dangerous.

It almost made it clearer - at least to Himiko - she was even more needed as a leader to keep them in line and focused on the task at hand.

“We believe we’ve found an incoming signal emanating from the spatial distortion between this world and the digital world,” Janyu said, a broad grin on his face. “There’s not much we can do about it  _ yet _ with regards to finding its source, but we had a thought…”

He turned to Daisy, who stepped forward, looking more than a little bit triumphant at the discovery.

“Simply put, if we can’t locate them, maybe we should try sending out a signal of our own and calling them to us, whoever  _ they _ are that’s behind all this. It  _ might _ mean that we’ll call an echo, and that opens up all kinds of possibilities.”

“Of course this might amount to nothing,” supplied Babel, adjusting his sunglasses. “But this is easily the best bit of information we’ve made since we got the data from that Renamon.”

"So in simple Japanese, you are saying you can summon echoes," Himiko said taking a sip of her coffee, mulling it over. "Very interesting, but how will this help us in our goals?"

“It will help us get a better understanding of the differences between an echo like Renamon and the others that are non-sentient,” said Janyu. “Additionally, it opens up avenues for communicating with whoever’s on the other end. Perhaps even ensuring that we can  _ choose _ where echoes appear without having to cause complications for everyone else…perhaps give us a better idea of how to have the data flow in the reverse and send them all back.”

“Or send a virus,” said Dolphin, earning him a hard look from Janyu. Mr. McCoy noticed it, and his eyes set in a stern gaze. “Tao, we talked about this…”

That did the trick however. Whatever it was, it was connected to Mnemonsyne and the idea of giving it a virus gave her some glee.

"I see," she said, keeping a neutral face on. "Well, let's see it."

“If you could come with us,” Janyu said, setting aside his disagreement with Rob for later. “We ran an experiment earlier. The results were mixed, but we found it only required some adjusting. We should have a better response this time.”

Himiko nodded and followed them down the hall, wondering what sort of echoes they plan to bring back.

"I take it there is a way to terminate the echo if it is … less than ideal?" she asked, thinking of the D-Reaper.

“We have a button that you can press to shut off the signal,” said Daisy as she opened the door to the lab setup. Rows of computers and wires filled the room. “If that doesn’t work, there’s the tried and true method of unplugging the entire system. We kept it light since we’re still in the design phase and we didn’t want a digimon showing up and going mental on us.”

"Good to know," Himiko said, keeping further sarcastic comments on the tip of her tongue. Finishing off her coffee in one swing, she put her mug on a table far from the computers and crossed her arms.

"Show me what it can do."

The Monster Makers took their seats and each began to key in commands.

“Synchronizing with the signal,” Janyu said. “Sending transmission and…”

There was a heavy hum from the computers as they began their work, and the lights flickered.

“It’s all right,” Janyu said to put Himiko at ease. “That happened the last time. There’s a bit of a power drain. We might trip a breaker in the lights, but otherwise we should be fine.”

"As long as you don't blow up the building," Himiko said dryly. She could only imagine the trouble she would be in if  _ that _ happened, let alone trying to explain it away. 

As if in response, the lights flickered once more and went out, leaving the room to glow in the soft, ghostly light of the computers. From her seat, Curley gasped.

“We’re receiving a response. It’s a bigger one than last time.”

“A digimon signal?” Janyu asked, leaning forward to analyze the incoming transmission.

“No,” Curley replied with a shake of her head. “It doesn’t appear to be as complex.”

“We haven’t manifested much of anything yet, so we don’t know  _ what _ we’re about to get,” Babel pointed out.

“Well, whatever it is, it should be manifesting soon,” Daisy cut in. “I think it’s…yes! We’re getting something now!”

A ghostly visage materialized in the center of the room. It had the vague outline of a humanoid figure, slightly smaller than Himiko, but not by much. Janyu frowned and hurriedly typed in a command.

“There’s still some interference coming from the distortion. I’ll try to clean up the transmission. There. That should do it.”

As the ghostly image sharpened and became clearer, Himiko herself looked like she had seen a ghost.

In front of her was a woman whose face she only saw in old family photos. She looked like a typical Japanese woman - black hair and dark eyes - but despite being a child when she last saw her alive, Himiko recognized her mother.

The visage of the woman – the memory of Himiko’s mother – played out, going through the motions of waving goodbye to someone unseen before closing a door that too wasn’t there. Her smile, that had earlier been tired, vanished, and she leaned her head against the door for a moment before moving away from it. Her eyes were dead-looking, and the earlier, simple exhaustion in her body magnified immensely. She walked with slow steps, moving yet not moving, trapped as she was in the technological prison of Hypnos, yet continuing –  _ compelled  _ – to reenact the memory.

Steam floated across her image; steam from a bath she was now drawing. Stepping back, she went somewhere else; somewhere immediately adjacent to the bath. Her hands unscrewed something – a medicine container – and shook its contents into her open palm.

A pile of pills.

Her lips drew into that small, tired smile again upon seeing them, though this time there was none of the falseness behind it. Reaching to the side, she grabbed a cup and filled it with water.

One swallow of both water and pills later, followed by a disrobing, and she stepped into the bath, her balance teetering before she could even sit down... 

 

The image flickered before disappearing, Himiko's hand pressed firmly on the button.

With all eyes on her, she tried to control her breathing and the tears which stung at the corners of her eyes. It was somehow worse  _ watching _ it then being picked up by Aunt Seiko at school that day - who had come all the way down from Shinjuku at the time to take care of her while her father stood at her mother’s side, who wavered between life and death for two days before finally dying. She didn’t know what was going on at the time, and she wish she never knew.

"Whatever is on the other end of this,  _ destroy _ it," she croaked, her voice cracking against her will. It had been years, and the wound had healed, but suddenly it was like someone stabbed her in the chest.

 

And that someone, whoever it was -  _ whatever _ it was - was going to pay.  _ Dearly _ .

 

“Ms. Hata?” Janyu asked worriedly, getting up from his chair. “Are you all right?”

 

“Fine,” Himiko said tersely, turning on her heel and walking out the door. “If you need anything though, go to Yamaki.”

 

Janyu watched as she left, frowning at the door.  _ Just what was it about that echo that made her so upset? _ he wondered with a shake of his head.

 

**###**

 

Despite it being a strategy meeting, Rika's house was relatively quiet. There was no loud arguments between Rika and Ayaka, or someone trying to break the two up.

Kenta wondered if they were even here as he nervously opened the gate, gaping at the sheer size of Rika's house. Ayaka and Takato both told him she was from old money, but he wondered what family she was from to live in a mansion this size. 

There was a tap on his shoulder, yet when he spun around there was nothing. His brow furrowed in confusion for a moment when it happened again.

_ What the … _ he thought before remembering the Renamon - Rika’s partner. He still wasn’t used to thinking of the echo as Rika’s partner - he struggled as it was coming to terms he was a Tamer. Digging his phone out of his pocket, he turned the camera function on and the Digimon came into view.

"Ah hi…" he said awkwardly, not quite used to everything yet. The Renamon smiled and nodded, before gesturing for him to follow it.

Walking around the side of the house, he saw the small group seemingly each doing their own thing.

Henry had his laptop, sitting in the shade of the tree typing furiously, his brow furrowed in concentration. Ayaka was hovering over Takato, who had his notebook open and seemed to be working on their homework.

Jeri and Rika seemed to be reading the same book as he approached - probably an assignment - but only Jeri seemed to be doing it. Rika appeared to be using it to shade her eyes as she leaned against a rock, and Kenta had a funny feeling she was taking a nap.

"Uh hi…" he greeted, causing the group to look up from what they were doing - Rika even pushing the book up from her face, greeting him with a raised brow.

"Hey!" Takato greeted, smiling warmly. "I didn't know you would be able to join us today."

Kenta merely shrugged as he sat next to the boy, sliding his bag off his shoulder.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, glancing at Takato's paper. It was today's math assignment. He seemed to be doing pretty well - unlike Kazu. At the thought of his best friend, Kenta’s heart clenched uncomfortably, the freshness of his actions still weighing heavily on his mind.

"Henry had an idea and has been doing something on his computer for the last couple hours," Jeri explained. "We decided to catch up on our homework while we waited." She glanced at Rika. "Or in Rika's case, sleep."

"I was resting my eyes," Rika retorted, putting the book to the side now that a distraction had made itself known. Unlike Jeri, who was eating their awful required reading up, Rika could barely get through a paragraph of its ‘poetic’ drivel. She was honestly considering just Googling a summary since she doubted she would be able to finish the first chapter, let alone the entire book.

"Mhmm," Jeri hummed, making it quite clear she didn’t believe her.

 

"Hmm…" Kenta hummed before turning to Henry, ignoring the two girls. "So … what exactly are you working on?"

 

Henry looked up from his computer to glance briefly at the bespectacled boy before turning his attention back to it.

“I’m working on an algorithm that would help us figure out when and where echoes would appear. It might help us track IceDevimon’s movements better, and if it works…” He brought a hand to his mouth, tapping it thoughtfully. “Maybe Himiko can use it.”

He shrugged.

“It’s a long shot. Hypnos probably already has everything they need, but I don’t want to stop working just because the government is on the case. A little redundancy helps.”

"I see. Himiko is Rika's … cousin, right?" he looked to the fiery head girl for confirmation, who nodded. "So how is it coming along?"

“Slow,” Henry admitted with a pained expression. “My digivice is helping to ease some of the problems such as having something that is capable of tracking…” He lifted his digivice for emphasis, revealing a wire connecting it to his laptop. “…but working out the range and phase variances are tricky. I’ve been studying my digivice for a long time now, but I still don’t know everything about it.”

“Not to mention you were doing a lot of stuff on paper for the longest time,” Takato chimed in.

“Yeah. That…slowed things down a lot.”

"Er … should I ask why?" Kenta asked. He knew painfully little about coding, but he knew enough that something like that should be done on the computer. Especially if it was super complex.

 

“I was worried that I was being watched,” Henry replied, tapping a few more keys before considering his handiwork. “Since it seemed like every time we started to show signs of remembering, we would lose our memories. For some reason, Mnemosyne never got around to destroying anything that was a hard copy. Only digital.”

He frowned at that. “It makes me wonder…if Mnemosyne could be considered a ‘smart AI’… It doesn’t act like one.”

 

"Aren't all AI's smart?" Kenta asked confused. He felt like that was the implication of "artificial intelligence."

 

“Well, there’s smart and then there’s ‘smart’,” Henry chuckled. “Sorry. Smart Artificial Intelligence means something different to AI. ‘Smart’ isn’t even a term that’s used normally. I picked it up from a game. A smart AI can learn and comprehend their environment without limitations and show a great deal of imagination. Their processing power would be unprecedented, allowing them to arrive at conclusions very quickly. They’d be a quantum computer or something along those lines.

“Then you get into areas like ‘Strong AI’, which are digimon – AI that’s more like human-level intelligence – and you have ‘dumb AI’, which have a lot of limitations and lack of imagination. They’re very good in a specialized role and will always be better than a human when it comes to intelligence – even digimon in some cases – but Smart AI’s outperform them every time. Humans and digimon can match them.”

Tapping another key he looked up.

“So yeah. A ‘dumb AI’ would be like Einstein or us. A ‘smart AI’ would be…anywhere beyond Stephen Hawking.”

 

"So Mnemonsyne is like a Digimon or a dumb AI?" Kenta asked, for the first time feeling hopeful. It seemed impossible going against something that could erase memories, but if it left something like hard copies.

 

_ Wait… if that's true … _ Kenta thought realizing that they might have some clues in the old newspapers his dad hoarded.

 

The thought he could be more helpful than making snacks filled him with hope.

 

“Yeah,” Henry nodded. “So even though it has a lot of power, it has an Achilles heel that we can exploit. But that takes us to our next problem, which is…we don’t know enough about Mnemosyne to deal with it, especially without our digimon. If we could find a way to the digital world…”

He sighed and shook his head. He had been down that road too often. The roads to the digital world were closed to everyone, except Mnemosyne it seemed.

"Just have Takato break the barrier. Again," Rika suggested like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 

“Huh?” Takato blinked and looked at the girl in confusion. “Wait, I did what?”

“You remember that?” Henry’s eyebrows rose up in surprise at that before looking at Takato in confusion. “And  _ you _ don’t? I thought your memories were back… Or do you only remember those times when Rika kept trying to bite you?”

“I…” Takato’s face flushed madly. “I… My memories are… They’re…all over the place. And…”

He coughed anxiously, suddenly aware that all eyes were now on him.

“Don’t get mad at him again,” Jeri said, turning to Rika in order to head off her temper.

 

Rika looked at her friend with a 'really?' expression before turning back to Henry, scratching her head. She figured the biting thing wasn't going to be dropped anytime soon. It was giving her good practice at least for ignoring the fact she was well aware of Takato's feelings.

 

"I wouldn't say so much as remembered as just … knew?" Rika acknowledged. She didn’t really understand how she ‘remembered’ things either. They seem to be bits and pieces at random, and sometimes it wasn’t so much remembering a scene but recalling a fact.

 

"At least you didn't make him cry this time - that we know of," Ayaka snarked, causing Rika to glower at her.

 

“Knock it off, Ayaka,” Takato warned, adding his glare to Rika’s. Sighing, Henry shook his head.

“How about we change the subject before we have a repeat of last time?” he suggested. “Or at least if you’re going to argue, do it somewhere else? I’d like to be able to work on this.”

He hoped there wouldn’t be any flinging of emotions this time around. Setting aside the fact that it was straining the group, he didn’t want to go home. Jaarin had company over and they were a noisy bunch. If Suzie came home, he wouldn’t be able to get anything done at all.

 

Ayaka put her hands up in a placating measure before deciding to turn her attention toward Kenta. He didn't exactly answer Takato's question earlier, and she couldn't help but be curious since he was supposed to be with Kazu right now, not them.

 

"So…" Ayaka drawled, walking over toward Kenta, sitting down next to him. "Did Kazu kick you out again?"

 

"No," Kenta said, the weight of his actions suddenly baring down on him, Kazu's expression seared into his mind. "I left." A brief pause as his voice lowered. "I told him until he cleaned up his act, I couldn't hang out anymore."

 

A heavy silence fell over the group as all looked at the boy. Even Henry’s typing fell to nothing.

“Kenta…” Takato finally breathed, not in the least bit sure what to say or do until he finally choked out, “…are you…all right?”

"Yeah," Kenta said, before pressing his lips together. "No. I don't know."

 

He sighed, pressing his glasses up.

 

"He's just been my best friend forever, but I realized that if he is going to change back to the old Kazu, he needs to face the consequences of his actions."

 

"You did the right thing," Ayaka assured him, rubbing his back. While she hated Kazu's guts, she knew that for Kenta, turning his back on the boy was the bravest and hardest thing he ever did. It would be impossible for her if she was in his shoes, and she had to walk away from Jeri.

 

And she couldn't be more proud.

 

_ He's tougher than I thought,  _ she thought, a sense of respect coming over her.

 

"I know, but I still feel like shit," Kenta said, pulling his legs closer to him.

 

"You know what would probably help? Alcohol," Ayaka suggested.

 

“Say wha…?” Takato’s eyes widened in surprise as Jeri’s gaze shot over to the copper-haired girl.

“Um… Ayaka?” she began, having plenty of experience with alcohol and dealing with drunk individuals. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

"I'm not saying we get roaring drunk," Ayaka rolled her eyes. "But a drink or two would help."

"We're underage," Rika reminded her bluntly. Ayaka looked at her like she grew an extra head.

"Out of all the people to care, I wouldn't have pegged you as one of them."

"Actually," Kenta said quietly. "A drink does sound kinda nice."

 

“That’s the spirit,” Ayaka grinned, clapping Kenta on the back before getting up. “All right, where’s your mom?” She asked Rika. “We’re going to need her permission for this and everything. I’m sure she’s got some sake lying around the house.”

 

“She’s at work, and grandma is at a play,” Rika said, pressing her lips together, not exactly liking the idea of having people drinking at her house. What Kenta wanted to do on his own time was up to him - she didn’t want to enable him. “Also why do you want to drink  _ here _ ?” 

 

“Because  _ here _ we can keep an eye on him and everything so he doesn’t go and do something stupid like  _ apologize _ to Kazu,” Ayaka snapped as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Crossing her arms over her shoulders she looked at everyone. “Look, I don’t intend to feed him drinks until he can’t stand. It’s just to get him to settle down a little.”

 

She looked at Jeri meaningfully. “You think there’s a problem?”

 

“Ah…!” Jeri rubbed at her arm anxiously. “Well… I just… I’m just not sure it’s a good idea…”

 

“I think it’s a bad idea too,” Takato chimed in, only for Ayaka to roll her eyes.

 

“And that’s why it’s starting to sound like a good idea. You’re all a bunch of sticks in the mud.” She glanced at Rika and Jeri in annoyance. “No wonder you and Takato kept  _ not _ getting together. No sense of risk or fun.”

 

“Not wanting to enable terrible choices I think is pretty fair,” Rika said tersely, her heart clenching awkwardly knowing she and Takato  _ did _ get together.

 

“Ah, uhm, I really don’t like sake,” Kenta stammered, not wanting to put pressure on Rika needlessly. Plus he could only imagine how expensive the sake was here and the thought of drinking something like that filled him with anxiety. “Really … going to a bar should be fine …” 

 

“Oh please,” Ayaka said to Rika, ignoring Kenta for the time being. “I’ve been paying attention to you guys, Rika. I know  _ you _ enable bad decisions for yourself all the time. And I’m not enabling anything with Kenta. Everything in moderation, and one drink isn’t going to mess him up. Sometimes you need just a  _ little _ something.”

 

Rocking on her heels, she eyed Rika, an evil grin forming on her lips. Alarm bells that were already ringing rang even louder in Jeri’s mind.

 

“Ayaka… What are you thinking?” she asked warily.

 

“Oh… Nothing special. I was just wondering if the Demon Queen here has the courage to take me on in a drinking game or something since she thinks she’s such a badass.”

 

“Uh… This is  _ really  _ starting to go downhill…” began Takato, only for Ayaka to chortle.

 

“Maybe. What do you say, Rika? Do you have the guts? I don’t think you do because of  _ Gogglehead _ over there.”

 

She indicated the boy, who glared at her.

 

“Ayaka…” he warned.

 

Rika scowled. She  _ knew _ Ayaka was playing her like a fiddle, appealing to her inability to turn down a challenge. Her pride and courage. Everyone knew it too, the way everyone was looking at her.

 

“You don’t need to prove anything, Rika,” Renamon told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t let her get to you.”

 

“I know,” Rika grumbled in an undertone, dragging her hand across her face, her leg bouncing up and down irritably. She knew she didn’t have to fall for Ayaka’s challenge, but if she could was another story, and the truth was … she couldn’t. There was no way she could let Ayaka challenging her pride and courage go uncontested. 

 

Digging her phone out of her pocket, she hit speed dial on her mother’s cell phone number. Mom may be at work, but over the years whenever Rika called, she made sure to pick up. Probably helped Rika rarely ever called her at work. 

 

There was a single buzz on the other end before Rumiko picked up. Henry glanced up from his computer and watched the girl carefully, as did the others. All eyes were on her now.

 

_ “Rika?”  _ came the voice of Rumiko, Rika having set it to speaker.  _ “Is everything all right?” _

 

“Everything’s fine mama,” Rika assured her, glaring daggers at Ayaka all the while. “Actually I have something to ask…”


	31. Spirits

Ice clinked in her glass as it shifted within the embrace of the crisp, cool, amber liquid. Taking hold of the glass, Himiko swirled it around, staring at it numbly before downing it. The alcohol burned on its way down her throat and she gasped, slamming her drink back down on the counter.

“Are you okay, miss…?” began the bartender across from her, causing Himiko to turn a baleful look at him.

“You want to hear a funny story about the universe?” she began bitterly, turning back toward her now empty glass. It felt criminal that it was empty now.

The bartender came up to her, an eyebrow raised curiously. She took that as a ‘yes’.

“Today, the universe, on a lark I guess, sent me a memory of my mother committing suicide. Myself… My coworkers… We got front row seat as she did the deed. Popped some pills, took a dip in the tub… Went to sleep. Just like that.”

Sifting a finger through the ice, she withdrew a chunk and popped it in her mouth. Her teeth groaned at the unexpected cold, but she quickly shut them up by crunching the ice to bits.

“And it’s all thanks to quantum fluctuations with virtual particles combined with an artificial intelligence observing them to create…” She paused and turned toward the bartender, her expression falling. “You’re lost, aren’t you?”

“I’m thinking you’ve had one too many there,” he replied simply, taking her glass and pulling it away. “I’m cutting you off.”

Himiko groaned and pulled up her purse. “Fine,” she grumbled, not wanting to argue the point. She felt like she should have been done a long time ago anyway. She dropped a wad of yen onto the counter without bothering to count it. “That…should be enough,” she frowned. “If there’s extra, keep it as part of your tip for listening to me.”

Getting up from her stool she swung her purse over her shoulder and started toward the door, swaying a little as she did so.

_Oh yeah… This is going to feel good tomorrow,_ she thought. She wanted to cry. She did her best to not think about her long dead mother over the years; keep going forward and succeed; get noticed. Make damn _sure_ she got noticed. Without it, she was nothing. Not like Rumiko and her family, who only had to exist…

_Damn it,_ she thought, exiting the bar and turning in the direction of home. _I’ve got to go sleep this shit off. I need to be ready to deal with reality again by tomorrow._  

**###**  

“This is a bad idea,” Takato said as Rika dug through her family’s wine cabinet and produced a bottle of sake. “Rika, you’ve got to know Ayaka is just trying to get under your skin.” 

“I know,” Rika snapped, slightly irritably, looking at the glass bottle before shaking it a bit. It sloshed around the edges like tidal waves and upon looking at the seal, she noticed it was broken. She knew nothing about sake - or alcohol in general - to know if this was the ‘good stuff’ (as Kenta put it before going out with Henry to get something ‘simpler’) but if it was open, it shouldn’t be a problem. “It’s working.” 

“Um… If you _know_ then why would you let her?” Jeri asked from next to Takato, her fingers twisting around each other anxiously. “I mean… Isn’t that kind of a weakness to let yourself be manipulated like that? What if… What if you lose? I mean, you’ve never had wine before...I think.” 

“She hasn’t,” Takato said, scratching the side of his head. “This is asking for trouble. Not to mention a seriously nasty headache later on.” 

“Alcohol affects people differently,” Rika stated, almost like she was rattling off an answer to a teacher in school minus the typical attitude which came with it. “Depending on how much you ate and your body mass, some people can drink more than others. I weigh about 135, 140 pounds last time I got weighed. I made sure I ate a lot, so that means the alcohol will be slower affecting me.” 

“That isn’t answering their question, and you know it,” Renamon stated simply, plucking the sake out of Rika’s hands and examining it with slight disinterest. She always saw Rumiko, and on a rare occasion, Seiko, drink spirits, but never Rika. 

Not that her mother didn’t offer, or try to get her to ‘try a sip’ only for Rika to steadfastly refuse every time. Rika liked being in control - from her understanding, alcohol gave you less of it. Tilting the bottle to study the label, she wondered why humans drank it. She saw what it did to Rumiko - the woman became more emotional and her rational thoughts drastically lowered. 

“I think you shouldn’t do this,” she said after a minute. “I see the look on your face when you see it on the table when your mother drinks. Is rising to Ayaka’s petty challenge really worth years of sticking to your morals?” 

“Rika, I _know_ how alcohol affects people,” Jeri said, having not heard Renamon. “I’ve had to deal with enough of them at my dad’s tavern.”

Reaching out, she placed a hand on the wine bottle floating in midair, looking at the girl with worry. “Just because you ate a lot doesn’t mean that you won’t get drunk real fast. You’re still pretty lightweight, and yeah, you ate a lot, but you didn’t eat enough _protein.”_

She looked at Rika as though she were crazy and turned toward Takato helplessly, hoping he would say something - _anything -_ that would make Rika change her mind about this contest. 

“Rika, I’m pretty sure Jeri knows what she’s talking about. Plus, you’ve never had sake before.” He winced, remembering the first time he had sake, courtesy of his father during a New Year's celebration. “You really should rethink this. Why not...uh...train for it or something? Ayaka’s got an advantage over you after all.” 

“We both know that’s not going to happen,” Rika growled, her foul mood over the whole incident growing more by the minute. Reaching out, she nimbly snatched the wine back from Renamon, silently cursing her mother for _gleefully_ agreeing to the proposal. 

_Couldn’t she have acted a bit more like a mother and said no?_ She thought darkly, her scowl growing more pronounced. If she said no, Rika could have easily swept aside this little farce, but since her mother wanted her to act more like a ‘girl her age for once,’ she agreed without a second thought with a promise to be home soon. _At least she insisted that at least one of us remain sober._  

“I’m not going to let her win,” Rika continued despite knowing damn well she would lose. It was a foregone conclusion, but she was not one - for better or worse - to give up. “At least not without a fight.”   

“Rika, I hate to say it,” began Jeri, desperately trying to get her to understand, “but if you go through with this, I’m pretty sure you’re just going to end up regretting it. You’ve never even had a hangover. Trust me. That is _not_ something you want. Not over a stupid game.” 

“So what am I supposed to do?” Rika demanded. “Just let her call me a coward?!” 

“So what if she calls you a coward?” Takato asked. “We know you’re not. You’ve gone toe to toe with digimon, the D-Reaper… You’ve faced more than she _ever_ did, including yourself! She _can’t_ call you a coward and make anyone believe it.” 

His crimson gaze searched Rika’s violet eyes and he pressed his lips together into one thin line. 

“You don’t believe it...do you?” He asked before a thought occurred to him. “Is this about your memories? You’re already starting to get them back.” 

“This isn’t about my memories,” she growled, standing up, ignoring Takato’s other question. Renamon noticed this and frowned slightly. She knew her Tamer’s pride was a rather large … _weakness_ ironically for her, but she never saw it take her so far to purposefully get into a winless situation. 

She knew little about spirits, but Takato and Jeri both seemed to believe it would end poorly. She was inclined to believe them. 

_Should I simply break the bottle?_ She thought. _Or put Rika to sleep until she is thinking more clearly. Or should I let her fight this battle on her own?_  

If she was looking for a sudden epiphany, none came. 

“Hey Firebrand!” Came the call of Ayaka from outside before anyone else could say anything more. “Are you growing roots in there?” She asked. “Or do you need someone to hold your hand while you get the wine?”

 Jeri bristled at that and shot a glare in the direction of her copper-haired friend. “I’m going to have a word with her…” she began, storming toward the door. However, before she could get far, Rika’s fingers wrapped around her wrist and stopped her in her tracks. 

“Jeri,” she said simply, staring at the smaller girl, _willing_ her to understand. 

Jeri’s amber eyes met Rika’s for a moment before dropping to her hand and then quickly looked away, her face flushing lightly. “Rika… I just…” 

Ayaka poked her head in, her hair swaying like a swing set, and grinned at the couple. “Guess I was right,” she said. “You _do_ need someone to hold your hand. Thought it’d be Gogglehead though…” 

_“Ayaka!”_ Jeri exclaimed loudly, snatching her arm away from Rika. The other girl raised her hand in a placating gesture and grinned. 

“It’s her decision,” she said. “So how about it, Firebrand?” 

“Ayaka! This whole thing is stupid…!” 

“Jeri.” Rika said, her voice taking a firmer edge. She knew Jeri was acting out of concern, that she and Takato was acting in her best interest. If perhaps she was in a better state of mind, she’d appreciate the help for what it was. However, all she could see it as was something later down the road for Ayaka to hold over her, and honestly she was sick and tired of the other girl. 

She just wanted to shut the copper-haired girl up, and if getting into a drinking contest would do that, she would gladly take the sickness the next morning. It was a small price to pay. 

Jeri jumped at her tone and met her gaze before quickly looking away. 

“Fine…” she said quietly, scowling a little as she surrendered to the inevitable. 

“There’s really no stopping you once you’ve made up your mind,” Takato sighed, thinking back on what he remembered of his original friendship - and relationship - with the girl. Looking at her, he smiled grimly. “Do your best and win.” 

**###**  

Henry didn’t think a half an hour run to local convenience store with Kenta to pick up a case of beer would result in him coming back to anything drastic. After all, Renamon, Takato and Jeri were there to stop Rika from doing anything _too_ stupid - or at the very least, slow her down - before they got back. 

However, the two boys stood in the living room, and Henry felt perhaps maybe he shouldn’t have left. 

On the table there was a single bottle - now nearly empty - as the two girls stared, or perhaps better said, _glared_ each other down. Sake sloshed in each of their glasses, and the Chinese boy noticed Rika’s hand was shaking, some of the liquid spilling on the table which separated them. 

Jeri, Takato and Renamon were nearby, watching the scene almost like one would watch a train wreck. Renamon’s tail was flicking irritability, and it was a good thing Renamon couldn’t cause things to combust with her glares alone otherwise Rumiko might come back to a home on fire the way the vulpine was glowering at the glass bottle as if it personally offended her. 

As Rika’s hand raised to drink the next shot, Henry strode over and deftly plucked it from her hands. 

“He-hey!” Rika slurred, trying and failing to grab it back from him only to crash to the floor instead. “Fu… I was … I was _drinking_ that. Give … give it-” 

“I know your mother gave her blessing to have a drink, but I don’t think this is what she had in mind,” he noted dryly, deciding to confiscate the wine bottle too - just in case. “This stupidity ends now.”

 “Hey, hey…” Ayaka glowered, getting to her feet. Her balance was a bit off and she wobbled a little, but she quickly righted herself. “Give that back to her,” she demanded. “This match isn’t over until I say it is. We’re only _just_ getting started!”

 “Thank goodness for Henry,” Takato breathed in relief. “Someone has to show some good sense.” 

“We heard that, Gogglehead!” Ayaka shot at him before glaring at Rika. “Seriously. What _did_ you see in him? He’s such a dork!” 

She snickered suddenly, as if at a joke. “Duh. Of course he is,” she said to herself. “He _has_ one after all.” 

She returned her attention to Henry and made an attempt to snatch the wine bottle away from him. “Back,” she growled. “We’re not done yet. We still have to kick each other’s asses.” 

Henry easily moved it out of the way and ignored the two girls, walking back into the kitchen to put the sake somewhere where neither of them can get to it. Rika staggered to her feet behind him, pausing a moment to get her bearings because the room decided to suddenly spin. When she could focus, she glowered at Ayaka. 

“If you wanted to fight, let’s do it,” she slurred, holding her fists up, more than willing to punch Ayaka in the face. 

“One of you guys stop that!” Henry called from the kitchen, not bothering to look back. Rika was strong, yes, but she was inebriated and was positive Renamon, Takato _or_ Jeri could easily keep her at bay. 

Jeri started to move, but Takato was even faster, and quickly positioned himself between the two girls, hands up in front of Rika. 

“How about we _don’t_ fight, okay?” He asked, cursing himself for not standing up to her strongly enough earlier to discourage her from drinking, even though he knew he likely would have had as much luck as with a brick wall. She looked plenty angry with him - and everyone in general - right now just from their constantly trying to get in the way of proving her courage to Ayaka. 

_If she punches me and forgets, I’ll just tell her I ran into a wall,_ he thought, smiling at the girl in the hopes of calming her down. 

“She’s literally asking for it!” Rika snapped, taking a threatening step forward. “Move it Gogglehead! She needs a good kick in the ass!” Swaying slightly, she tried to glower at Ayaka from where she stood. “This enough of a handicap for you, huh? I’ll still win!” 

“Rika…” began Takato as Ayaka spun around and stuck out her tongue. 

“You can _try,”_ Ayaka taunted. “You’d have to get past Gogglebutt though.” 

_“Gogglebutt?”_ Takato’s eyebrows rose at that, but he quickly turned his attention back to Rika as she tried to push past him. “Whoa! No! No fighting!”

 “Listen for once, will you?” Jeri asked, coming up to the girl and taking hold of her by the hand. “Please?” 

“She’s taunting me!” Rika growled, trying to push against Takato and escape Jeri’s grip. Renamon watched her struggle, her brow furrowing. Even though she had about five glasses of sake and her motor functions seemed to be impaired, as well as her mental processes, Rika she knew had _more_ than enough strength to get to Ayaka if she really wanted to. “She was the one who wanted this, so why are you holding me back!” 

“Because fighting is bad and fighting when you’re drunk is even worse?” Takato supplied helpfully as Ayaka sauntered on over to them, hands on her hips and grinning triumphantly. “I’m pretty sure that’s a good enough reason.” 

Rika just snarled in response, suddenly exhibiting more strength as she tried to lunge at Ayaka. Takato quickly caught her by her arms and pulled her in close against him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. 

“Okay. I think that’s enough,” Takato frowned. He realized that by doing this, Rika was likely to both hurt and hate him until she was out of it, but he didn’t want either of the two girls to hurt each other over something as stupid as a drinking game. Ayaka snickered. 

“Ever the gallant hero, huh, Gogglehead?” she asked. Grabbing the ends of an invisible skirt, she offered the boy a curtsy before returning to a normal stance, cocking her hip to one side and placing a hand on it. “Well, maybe _that_ lady might not be thankful, but I sure am.” 

Reaching out suddenly, she lightly smacked Takato’s rear, causing the boy to jump as he blushed bright red and to tightened his hold on Rika in surprise. 

_“Ayaka!”_ Jeri gasped, also blushing at her friend’s antics. Ayaka giggled before abruptly bursting into laughter. 

“Oh kami… You guys are just...so...ridiculous!” 

Doubling over into uncontrolled fits of snorts and laughter, Ayaka collapsed onto her butt. 

Rika snarled, an animalistic noise befitting a feral animal than a teenage girl and with a surprising amount of strength, pushed Takato away from her as hard as she could. In her drunken state, she wasn’t sure what exactly she was angry at, but all she knew was that she wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around Ayaka’s neck and _squeeze_. 

Managing to free herself momentarily, gravity grasped her instead and she crashed to the floor just as Henry walked back into the living room, Kenta watching the scene with wide eyes, unsure what to do. Part of him wanted to intervene, do something, but another part couldn’t look away. 

_Kazu would probably find this hot_ , a quiet thought came to his mind, but he pushed it away. Kenta didn’t have the same interests as his best friend, nor did he think two drunk girls was particularly sexy as it was utterly terrifying. 

“Awww…” Ayaka laughed, tears in her eyes, as she pointed at the fallen Demon Queen. “Firebrand got so mad she fall down and go boom!” Tossing her head slightly to wipe her bangs out of her eyes, she smirked at Rika. “I guess I won twice today. I beat you at drinking _and_ I got a piece of Gogglehead’s cute butt. I bet you can’t say you did that.” 

“Just...be quiet Ayaka,” Jeri said irritably, heading over to Rika and taking hold of her by the shoulders. She held a pillow beneath her with one hand and tried to get her to lie down. Ayaka raised an eyebrow at the brunette, but shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Not my fault Firebrand’s got such a short fuse,” she said. “Makes her so easy to play with. Kind of like Gogglehead, only he just blushes and gets all fidgety like a lost puppy.” 

She grinned at Takato playfully. “Don’t worry. It _is_ a nice butt you’ve got there.” She winked at him. “Very hot.” 

“Somebody shoot me,” Takato groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Or bury me alive. I don’t care which.” 

Henry sighed, wondering if he would actually get his work done here or if he should take his chances at home. Casting a glance at Rika, his brow furrowed in confusion at the lack of animalistic rage which marred her face seconds ago. Instead, her eyes had become glazed, and Rika’s hands were digging into her hair, as if something was wrong with her head. 

“Rika?” Renamon asked, suddenly very worried, moving over to her Tamer. “Rika, what’s wrong?” 

Instead of answer, Rika’s breathing became suddenly very shallow, almost like she was having a panic attack. In all the years Renamon watched Rika, she only saw this behavior once before - when Gargomon pointed his gun at her. 

“Is she OK?” Kenta asked, suddenly recognizing an anxiety attack for what it was. He went through so many of them himself, it would be impossible not to recognize the symptoms. Placing the beer down, he tentatively walked over to where she was. He knew the only thing to do was wait it out, but seeing it happen to someone else … he suddenly realized the helpless feeling his mother and father must have felt when he would go through them. 

“Rika?” Jeri asked worriedly, seeing this as well, and both Takato and Ayaka looked at the redhead with concern, forgetting the situation for the moment. Takato quickly got down next to her, his hand reaching for hers instinctively and pulling it away from her head. His touch was gentle, though full of worry. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said as Jeri placed a hand on her shoulder. “Talk to us. What’s going on?” 

As if called by their voices, Rika’s eyes focused, however slightly. However, upon seeing Takato and Jeri staring at her, her breath caught in her throat in an unmistakable _sob_. 

“Oh god …” she whispered. “Am I dead? Is this what they mean by seeing people waiting for you on the other side?” 

At once, Takato and Jeri looked at her with alarm, and Ayaka’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Henry and Kenta shared concerned looks, and Renamon reached out to place a claw on Rika’s shoulders, unsure where the thought even _came_ from. 

“D-Dead?” Takato stammered. “No! Rika, you’re not dead! You’re… Ah…” 

“You’re just drunk a little,” Jeri finished for him quickly. “Kami, lie down. I’ll get you some water.” 

With that, she began to get up, indicating to Takato to help her set her head down on the pillow behind her. However, Rika’s hand shot out and grabbed Jeri’s hand and grasped it tightly, panic and fear in her eyes. Almost like if Jeri left, she would never see her again. 

“I tried,” she began, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry … I really did. We all did. Please … don’t go.” 

“Rika, what are you talking about?” Henry asked, taking a step forward, causing Rika to turn her attention toward him. Upon seeing him, the tears began to well up now, her violet eyes wide with what could only be described as _guilt_. 

“Your arm…” she whispered. “It’s … back.” She choked back a sob and failed. “Oh god it really did fail didn’t it? You thought we should have just left it and trusted him to fix it … make it right. Yet … I …” at this, her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably as her body trembled with anguish. 

Jeri’s alarm increased in intensity and she quickly took hold of Rika, pulling her in close for a hug. She made soft _shushing_ sounds as she ran a hand through her hair, trying desperately to get her to calm down. Rika clung to the brunette like a lifeline, repeating apologies for some unknown sin. The atmosphere in the room quickly sobered, and it no longer seemed as welcoming as before. 

Ayaka turned a fearsome glare on Takato. “What are you _doing?”_ she hissed, causing the boy to jump, startled. 

“Huh? Wha…?” 

_“Gogglehead!_ She’s _crying!_ When a girl is crying you freaking _hold her!_ Kami! It’s no wonder you don’t have a girlfriend or anything! Nice butt or no, if you don’t do anything…” 

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how this sort of thing is supposed to…” 

“Hold. Her. _Now.”_

Takato gave Ayaka an odd look before, awkwardly, putting his arms around Rika and Jeri, making sure that he wasn’t in the brown-haired girl’s way. Jeri didn’t mind, save for Ayaka’s interference, as the extra set of arms gave her a sense of being wrapped up in a blanket. She smiled softly as she picked up the scent of baking bread from the boy, remembering how much he had made her feel comfortable in the past, before...well, before everything happened following Mnemosyne’s arrival in the real world. 

It was awkward, watching Rika cry. Henry could only recall the last time she cried this hard he knew of was when Renamon left. Kenta - and Renamon too - didn’t even know the red-haired girl _knew_ how to cry. It suddenly made the normally fierce girl very fragile. 

Slowly her shaking subsided as her breathing got more under control. Her eyes seemed to glaze again as this happened, and when they finally came back into focus, Rika was sitting wrapped in two hugs, her own arms still wrapped around Jeri, looking unusually _confused_. 

“What…” she stopped and removed her arms gently from Jeri, one hand slowly reached up and gingerly touched her face. Upon finding the tears, her eyes widened as she pulled her hand back in shock. “Am I _crying_?!” She looked at Jeri and Takato helplessly, before looking at the others for some sort of explanation of what just happened. 

“Uh… Yeah,” Takato began, pulling away, looking at her uncertainly. “All of a sudden you started to cry and say some weird stuff…” 

“Big, sloppy tears,” Ayaka chimed in, though she wasn’t teasing anymore. She looked genuinely concerned at Rika. “I mean it. You looked like someone just walked over your grave or something. Or you walked over someone else’s. You took one look at those two and acted like they were dead. Said something about someone getting their arm back too…” 

“Some people get weird like that when they’ve had a little too much to drink,” Jeri said,  letting go of Rika, her expression uncertain. “Maybe you’re a bit like that, huh? I mean, you’ve never drank before after all. No one here knows how the wine would affect you.” 

“Except … judging by her state of impairment, Rika should still be inebriated,” Henry frowned as Renamon knelt down next to Rika, also unsure how to react that she had a sudden memory loss. She supposed what Jeri said could be true, but it didn’t seem like the brunette believed her words either. 

“You don’t remember anything?” Renamon asked, stroking Rika’s head. Rika shook her head. 

“Last thing I remember was trying to strangle Ayaka,” Rika admitted. 

Ayaka snorted while Takato gave a light laugh. 

“Well...you definitely were trying right before you fell over.” He looked at Jeri questioningly. “Maybe she blacked out a little?” 

“Maybe.” Jeri shrugged. It was hard to predict these sort of things. “I’d better go get you some water, okay? If nothing else, it’ll keep you hydrated.” 

“You know where the glasses are, right?” She asked, her words slurring together in a run-on sentence, suddenly feeling nauseous. “Also can you get me something to eat? Or nibble on? I’m not feeling well…” 

“I think I can figure out where things are,” Jeri smiled, tapping the side of her head. “From memory.” 

With that, she got up from her spot and reluctantly pulled her arm free from Rika’s grasp before heading out in the direction of the kitchen. Takato watched her go for a moment before returning his attention to Rika. 

“Are you sure you don’t remember anything about what you said?” He asked. “That sounded like something was upsetting you pretty bad.” 

“Not remembering things seems to be my thing, remember?” Rika noted wryly, leaning against Renamon for support. Opening and closing her hand, she wondered when she grabbed Jeri’s arm or even hugged her. “... Maybe I’m not getting better.” 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Henry said thoughtfully, sitting down next to her. “We really don’t know how alcohol mixes with data. Your low tolerance for it might just give us an insight.” 

“Uhm … what?” Kenta asked as he sat down on the coach, relieved that the issue had passed. “What do you mean by that?” 

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t remember,” Henry mused before turning to Kenta. “Well during the battle with the D-Reaper, we needed to access our mega forms. Except we weren’t data anymore, so we couldn’t biomerge with our partners like we could in the Digital World. The sovereigns gave Takato, Rika and myself a gift which essentially changed our make-up to be at _least_ part data. It’s very possible that the alcohol interfered with it, resulting in what we just saw.” 

“That...sounds just like regular getting drunk,” Ayaka groaned, massaging her forehead before looking back and forth between Rika and Takato. Sighing heavily, she sat up on her knees and knee-walked over to Rika, gently pushing Takato to the side. “Gimme some space,” she grunted. “I want to hug Firebrand too. Besides, you look like you need to actually be taught _how_ to do it.” 

Without waiting for so much as a protest from the redhead, Ayaka wrapped Rika up in her arms and pulled her close. 

“Jeez… Don’t scare people like that just to prove a point, okay? I’m sorry I even put you up to it.” 

Rika honestly didn’t know what Ayaka was talking about, nor how to react to the sudden hug. 

She didn’t mind hugs. She usually liked them - on her own terms. However, in her drunken state and clash of emotions and lack of understanding what was going on, she sat dumbly in shock and surprise. Ayaka was the last person as far as she was concerned to give her a hug. 

Henry for his part smirked slightly. Perhaps now the two would finally stop going at each other - or at least not as much. It got old after a while.

_Hopefully this was good for something after all_ , he thought. 

Ayaka tightened her grip on Rika and sighed, her eyes tracing down Rika’s back. After a moment, she gave a light chuckle. 

“Sorry Takato,” she said after a moment. “Rika’s got a nicer butt than you do.” 

_Well… That didn’t take long to ruin the mood,_ Takato thought, rolling his eyes as Jeri entered the room with a glass of water and a piece of bread Rika had bought from Takato’s bakery some time before. 

“Uh… Do I want to ask what’s going on here?” The brunette cast her gaze on the odd scene as Ayaka pulled back, grinning. 

“Probably not,” the copper-haired girl chirped. 

“I think they finally made up,” Henry smirked as Rika still seemed genuinely perplexed. “Or at the very least are going to stop trying to go at each other on a constant basis.” He winked at Jeri. “You may not have to keep them in line as often.” 

“Don’t count on it,” Ayaka snorted, crooking a finger at Takato to help her up. “I just have a soft spot for people when they’re down, that’s all.” 

She scowled at the redhead. “I still don’t think you’re good for Jeri _or_ Gogglehead. Henry can at least handle you, but those two are like helpless lambs. They need me to protect them.” She glanced at Takato as he reluctantly helped her up and then leaned against him heavily. “Especially this dork. I don’t think he’d know how to tie his own shoelaces without me around. I have to get after him every damn day about him and his stupid uniform. Stupid… Stupid person.” 

“I think we get it by now,” Takato sighed, looking at her with worry. “Um...I kind of think you’re the one who needs to lie down for a bit.” 

“Best idea you’ve had yet. Maybe you’re not so dumb after all.” A pause. “Stupid Gogglehead.” 

Takato shook his head as Jeri took up the pillow from earlier after passing Rika her water and bread, indicating to Takato to bring Ayaka over to her. Doing just that, the pair helped her down, where she promptly rolled up into a ball and passed out, muttering _stupid Gogglehead_ once more. 

If Rika wasn’t confused before, she certainly was now. The way Ayaka talked, it was like she dated Jeri before - or at least that’s how her drunk mind took it with the memory of overhearing Ayaka not liking the idea of her and Takato together. Renamon didn’t tell her anything about that though. 

Taking a sip from the water, she waited for Jeri to sit down near her - Takato keeping an eye on Ayaka - before deciding to just ask her. 

“What does she mean by that?” She asked. “Did something happen in the past?” 

Jeri looked at Rika with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean?” she asked. 

“Ya know,” Rika slurred slightly, waving her hand slightly as she felt slightly light-headed from the sudden movement. Putting her hand on the floor to steady herself, she continued. “Me not being good ‘nough for you and Takato. Both of you can handle me fine.” 

“You mean besides how she seems to take issue with our being friends because you’re the ‘Demon Queen’ and how she thinks you bully Takato?” Jeri asked. 

“... Yes?” 

Jeri shook her head. “No, nothing happened in the past. She didn’t always get to know you and, well, she wouldn’t remember any of those times anyway.” 

Rika hummed before shrugging. Her head felt light, and it was hard for her to think clearly. Still she felt pleasantly warm, and could see - somewhat - why her mother would drink before blurting out her thoughts. 

“You know … I can understand a bit why mama drinks from time to time,” she said quietly, Henry glancing over from fetching his laptop feeling he would be able to start working in peace now. “I always thought … ya know … she did when she was lonely or stressed.” 

“What do you mean?” Jeri asked, tilting her head to one side in confusion. 

“Sometimes … she’d come home from the bar with some guys I never saw before or saw again,” Rika explained before a somber expression crossed her face. “... She never got over papa.” 

“Oh Rika…” Jeri said, her eyes softening. “I’ve seen that so many times at the tavern, I can’t even begin to tell you…” She closed her eyes and took hold of one of Rika’s hands, giving it a soft squeeze. At the feeling of Jeri’s smaller fingers wrapping around her own, Rika adjusted her hand so their fingers were interlocked, a brief smile crossing her face at the contact. “Some people never get over someone or something they’ve lost and they just...desperately want to fill that hole in their heart where that person or thing had been. Sometimes...they just want to forget and be held...without thinking about it.” 

“If it wasn’t for me, she never would have lost him though,” she whispered. 

Kenta didn’t know much about Rika or her family life, but just from the conversation at hand he could infer her parents were divorced, and like typical divorce children, Rika blamed herself. It seemed the more he got to know her, the more _human_ she became and less like an enigma. 

“A lot of kids of divorce think that,” he offered. “But it’s not true. I’m sure your mother would say the same thing.” 

Rika however just shook her head miserably. While part of her understood - somewhat and some _how_ \- what Kenta was saying, as far as she was concerned, her parents would never have divorced if they weren’t fighting about _her_. It wasn’t like other divorces where they just fell out of love. 

“It’s _different_ ,” she insisted. 

“Of course it’s different,” Takato said from his spot next to Ayaka. “But that’s because of who your parents are. Most kids aren’t born into wealthy families, or...families like yours. Except for that, it’s not all that different. Besides.” Takato looked at Rika sympathetically. “Your mom isn’t all that different from any of our moms. She’s...human, just like them. Just like us.” 

“What families _is_ she from?” Kenta whispered to Henry quietly, feeling like he was missing something important here. 

“Hata on her mother’s side. Makino on her father’s,” Henry answered promptly causing Kenta’s eyes to widen in shock. He didn’t know how to react to that information - he never would have guessed Rika was from not one but _two_ wealthy families when he first met her. She certainly never acted like someone who was … not to mention, well, her _hair_. 

Kenta felt a wave of shame wash over him at thinking that just because she was a half - no, at the most a quarter - she couldn’t be completely Japanese. Still the thought she was from _two_ established families was going to take some getting used to. 

“I _know_ she’s human,” Rika groaned. “I just feel guilty is all.” Her shoulders dropped, and her eyes stared at the carpet, her voice becoming barely louder than a whisper. “I did try … to be what they wanted. Too little too late.” 

“Rika…” Takato began, getting up and approaching her. “Trust me. It’s not your fault.” He scratched the back of his head uncertainly before continuing. “I...don’t want to sound preachy or anything, but...from what I remember, this is stuff that was really outside your control. And they couldn’t see past that. Couldn’t see past you and how amazing you were because you were...well, _you.”_

He took a seat across from her, his eyes meeting hers. 

“You’ve been through this before. You always came out stronger. Just be you no matter what happens.” 

Takato pressed his lips together and looked away. “I’m probably not making any sense. I’m not very good at this. It’s just…” He fought for the words as Jeri gave Rika’s hand another comforting squeeze, attracting Rika’s attention again. 

“What Takato is trying to say is sometimes … you just can’t control your fate, no matter how hard you try,” Henry said, glancing at Jeri when he said this, the echoes of the singular word and how it drove her to despair still heavy in his memory. “Still … you were the one who took the initial gamble to prove you can change it, which shows despite the fact you are very … analytical and do everything to make sure probability weighs heavily in your favor. 

“You aren’t a boy. You don’t have a pure Japanese lineage. No matter what you do, your parents won’t get back together. That’s fine though, isn’t it? Those who decried your fate as not being worth the gamble ... you can prove them wrong.” 

“Yeah! Exactly!” Takato beamed, grateful that Henry had come to his rescue. “You don’t even have to prove them wrong. Just be you. I know it sounds weird and...kind of hard, but...you don’t need people who don’t love you to be happy. So...I guess what I’m trying to say is...be happy?” He coughed before amending himself. “Find something that makes you happy. Something that’s right for you.” 

“Proving them wrong!” Rika declared, suddenly getting excited about the idea, a mental image of her as the prime minister of Japan, no, _the world_ and everyone who looked down on her being forced to publicly admit they were wrong appealed to her. 

_A lot._

To the point she literally started to cackle. 

Henry smirked slightly, as Renamon sighed, but a small smile playing on her lips grateful her Tamer was feeling better. It seemed to the kitsune with her inebriated state, her emotional defenses - which were normally near impossible to bypass - had become crumbled walls of what they once were. 

_I suppose this is what humans mean when they talk about silver linings,_ she mused. 

“Could you guys keep it down?” mumbled Ayaka, rolling over and blinking blearily at them. “Some of us are trying to sleep this off.” 

She heaved a sigh and then pawed at Takato’s shirt.

“Gogglehead…? Can you tell the world to stop spinning? I want to get off.” 

“Are you feeling okay, Ayaka?” 

“Fine as long as no one shouts at me,” Ayaka smiled, continuing to tug at the hem of his shirt. Reaching up with her other arm, she pulled him close and sighed. “A big old, Goggleheaded Teddy Bear in shining armor…” she muttered. “Too bad you’re not my type.” 

Renamon didn't believe that for a minute - snorting slightly despite only three people present could see her. Rika, almost as if she agreed with the kitsune, began to giggle. Despite Takato telling her Ayaka wasn’t into him, she felt like he was missing a _lot_ of signs. 

Rika struggled when it came to relationships, but there were some things even she understood as far as she was concerned. 

“Um… Can...somebody help me?” Takato asked worriedly. “She’s...got quite the grip…” 

He winced as Ayaka’s arms tightened around his waist, and she sighed again contently. Jeri smiled a little at the scene, but a part of her felt a strange sense of relief and, at the same time, hating herself for it. 

_It probably doesn’t mean anything,_ she thought to herself. _Just the wine talking. Ayaka doesn’t really care about him in that way…_

"You're finnnneee," Rika snickered, Henry's typing substituting for his answer. He wanted to work in peace, and didn’t feel like becoming the new sacrifice to Ayaka’s strong grip. 

Plus, he wasn’t sure if his butt would be up to Ayaka’s approval or not. 

Renamon wondered if she should separate them on Takato's request, but the scene _was_ amusing. 

That and Rika was using her as support, and her Tamer took precedent. Takato wasn't in danger, and this was just a battle he needed to fight himself. 

"Uhm…" Kenta said, looking between Rika and Henry, the two strongest ones here before smiling apologetically at Takato, shrugging. "Guess you are just a ladies man after all. Sorry." 

“I’m...really not,” Takato blushed, attempting to disentangle himself from Ayaka, only to be met with a tightening of her grasp on him. 

“Cute tush…” she mumbled, causing Takato to blush even harder than before and look at his friend’s helplessly. 

“It’s just the wine!” He exclaimed. “H-Henry! Could you give me a hand here? Kenta?” 

"What should I do?" Kenta asked, as Rika began to laugh heartily, very amused at the scene, needing to steady herself on Jeri, tears once more running down her face. Resting her forehead on Jeri’s shoulder, her own shook up and down as she tried - and failed miserably - to control herself so she could at least breathe. 

"This just seems to be a battle you need to fight yourself," Renamon told him, her tail swishing slightly in amusement. 

“Um… Do...something at least,” Takato said to Kenta, still trying to pull Ayaka’s arms away. “Give her someone else to latch onto at least? I don’t know. Give her a pillow or…” 

There came the sound of footsteps as Himiko appeared in the hallway, a slight frown on her face. The first thing that came to Takato’s mind as he froze up was that she looked ill. Her hair was disheveled and her face was flushed. She was hanging onto the doorframe for support, swaying slightly. Takato reflexively sniffed the air and caught a wiff of something similar to the wine Rika and Ayaka had downed. Similar, but different. 

“I thought I heard voices. It figures that it was you.” 

Rika's mirth slowly stopped, and turning her head - still resting on Jeri’s shoulder - and upon seeing her cousin, her lips pulling into a frown. 

"You're home early," she noted, and Kenta looked to one of the others for some content who she was. She didn't sound like Rika's mother - she looked the correct age though. 

“Yes I am,” Himiko nodded before glancing over at a half-terrified Takato, currently trapped by Ayaka. “Is she all right?” 

Jeri looked at the others with concern. She knew Ayaka would be fine once she slept it off, but she wasn’t sure what to say in this situation. Somehow she didn’t feel that Himiko would approve. 

Her gaze trailing from Ayaka to the table, Jeri’s suspicions were proven right as the woman’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the shot glasses. 

“What...is this?” She asked quietly, approaching the table and picking up one of the shot glasses. She sniffed it tentatively before jerking back in surprise. _“Sake?!_ Were you drinking _sake?”_

It didn’t take her long to note the bag of beer beside Kenta. She turned toward Rika. 

“Explanations. _Now.”_

Rika scowled. Now she remembered the other reason she didn't want to do this, but instead of being cowered, she became obstinate.

"We just had a few drinks since Kenta got out of an abusive relationship, and we wanted to celebrate," she said. "Mom already said it was OK. Not that's any of your business. We're not hurting anyone or getting into trouble, so I don't know why you are complaining."

“Not hurting anyone or getting into trouble?” Himiko sputtered before turning a baleful glare at each of her friends, finally settling for a moment on Takato. “You listen here,” she began, returning her attention to Rika. “Your _mother_ is hardly fit for the role and you most certainly should _not_ have asked her for permission. You _wouldn’t_ have if you weren’t thinking about getting in trouble!”

“Hang on,” Takato began, finally squirming his way out of Ayaka’s arms and getting to his feet. “That’s not…”

_“You_ stay out of this!” Himiko snapped at Takato before turning back to Rika. “For goodness sake, Rika Nonaka, what on _Earth_ possessed you to do this? With _boys_ in the same room! Do you _want_ to end up like your mother?” 

"There is nothing wrong with mama!" Rika yelled staggering to her feet, glowering, instantly becoming defensive of her mother even if she agreed, however slightly, her mother wasn’t perhaps best suited to raise a child at times. "What is your _problem!"_

“The _problem_ is how irresponsible you are!” Himiko said sternly. “You do whatever you want without care for how it impacts other people! Impulsive little…” She glanced at Ayaka and her eyes widened with horror. “Only _you two_ were drinking?” 

She shot a look at Henry’s computer and a picture began to emerge in her mind as to just what was going on here. 

“Let me see that!” Himiko yelled at Henry, starting toward him. As she did so, her foot caught on the floor and she stumbled slightly. The world swam in her eyes and she swore loudly, causing Ayaka to lift her head in annoyance. 

“Gogglehead…? What’s all the yelling about?” 

"Who is she?" Kenta whispered to someone who would answer as Henry moved the computer out of the way before bending down to help Himiko. 

"You alright?" he asked, his nose wrinkling slightly when he noticed the unmistakable scent of alcohol on the older woman. His brow furrowed in confusion, but pushed it to the side to help Himiko to her feet. 

“That’s Rika’s cousin,” Jeri said to Kenta, getting up from her seat and grabbing hold of her arm. Himiko pushed Henry out of the way and went over to his computer. 

“Not...Not letting you record them you f-fucking perverts…” Himiko stammered. “You boys are all the same. All you want is sex. Get girls drunk, have a good laugh and...and…” 

She blinked in confusion as she spun the computer around and tilted her head to one side. All she saw was computer code. Computer code that looked...familiar. 

“...what...is...this…?” 

"An algorithm to find echoes," he explained, smiling wryly. He wasn't sure how to feel about Himiko thinking he was recording the girls, but she was not in her right mind herself it seemed. Bending down, he gestured at the screen. "The code is still incomplete, but the general idea is to mathematically predict when and where they appear." 

"Henry isn't like that anyway. Neither is Takato or Kenta!" Rika snapped irritability, wondering why Himiko even _cared_. 

_No doubt some honor bullshit. Probably keeps forgetting I’m a black sheep already._

Himiko stared at the computer screen for a moment longer before finally looking away. 

“I want them out of here,” she said. “And I want the number of that girl’s parents so they can pick her up. I’m not…” She staggered backward and shook her head, trying to clear it. “I’m not leaving her alone with them. Do you hear me? I’m not…!” 

“Too noisy here,” Ayaka grumbled, climbing to her feet. Sauntering over to Takato, she latched onto the boy and brought her chin to rest on his shoulder. “Knighty-knight?” she purred. “Walk me home?” 

“Ahhh…” began Takato as Himiko suddenly looked livid. 

_This is going well,_ he thought despairingly. 

_“No!”_ Himiko shouted, storming toward them. 

Henry took a step in front of her, Renamon standing up to assist him. Putting his hands up in a placating manner, he wondered how he suddenly got stuck looking after the two most argumentative Hata women. 

"Ms. Hata, you aren't thinking clearly," he said calmly. "Takato won't do anything to Ayaka - none of us will with any of the girls. You're upset, please sit down." 

Still, he felt perhaps the best way to diffuse the situation was for Jeri or Renamon to walk her home. He felt out of the two, Jeri was the most obvious choice; besides the brunette being Ayaka’s childhood friend, he would need Renamon around to help with these two. 

"Jeri, can you look after Ayaka instead?" he asked before turning back to Himiko. "That's fine with you right?" 

“Only… Only if they leave first,” Himiko slurred, swaying on her feet. 

“That’s fine!” Rather than waste time arguing, Jeri quickly went over to Ayaka and pulled her away from Takato with an apologetic look at the two of them. “Come on, Ayaka. Let’s get you home.” 

“Huh? Why’re you doing it? It’s the knight’s job!” 

“Ayaka, now’s not the time…” 

“Ohhh…” Ayaka groaned. “It’s just not the same.” 

Turning, the copper-haired girl stuck her tongue out at Himiko, but otherwise let Jeri lead her out without further protest. Takato watched them go for a moment before turning back to Himiko. 

“Sorry about this…” he began, only for Himiko to fix him with a dark look. 

“Don’t you apologize to _me!”_ She suddenly thrust a finger at Rika. “Apologize to _her!_ Trying to cheat on her when she’s in the same room as you? Dis…” She swayed on her feet again. “Disgrace...ful… Can’t believe…Rika has you...on her phone…” 

"Chea- we're not dating!" Rika spluttered, taking a step forward as Renamon quickly steadied her. "And … and even then if we were … helping Ayaka isn't cheating! It's being a good person!" Grasping Renamon's paw, using her to keep upright, she glowered. "And … I trust him. He isn't that kinda guy!" 

“You...don’t know anything about boys,” Himiko replied, narrowing her eyes at Rika before turning to Takato. “I’m keeping an eye on you… Just you watch.” 

Takato sighed despondently before glancing at Rika. 

“Okay… She’s...more than kinda drunk. Is there anything I can do or…?” 

“What you can do is _leave!”_ Himiko exclaimed loudly before her legs gave out from under her. 

"I'll look after them with Renamon until Rumiko gets home," Henry assured him, nodding to Kenta and Takato. "You two can leave. I'll text you later." 

"Renamon, can you get Himiko some water and something to eat?" he asked, turning to the vulpine, the echo nodding her head. Helping Rika to the couch furthest from her cousin, she went into the kitchen to do as Henry asked. 

Henry approached Himiko again and helped her to the couch. 

"Rumiko should be home soon, so I'll stick around to help Renamon until she can take over," he told her. "I'll stay in your sight so you know I'm not doing anything, OK?" 

Her eyes fluttering, Himiko could only grumble. She felt sick now. _Very_ sick. How could this have happened? 

_Rumiko… It’s all Rumiko’s fault. She’s not a good role model… Rika would not be behaving this way if she didn’t have Rumi for a mother._

Henry got a blanket and pulled it over Himiko as the other two boys left, Renamon coming back with what he asked for. 

"Little sips," he told Himiko as Renamon handed her the glass. "If you need anything, just ask Renamon or myself. Rika is resting over there, so she's fine, OK?" 

Himiko glowered in the direction of Takato and Kenta as they made their way out of the house before turning back to Henry.

“That code you were working on…” she began. “I want…to see it…when I’m…sober.”

She gripped Henry’s arm hard; or at least tried to. Her motor reflexes were off she had gotten herself so smashed.

_Stupid echoes…_ she thought.

"Of course," he smiled at her. "I was planning on giving it to you once I finished anyway. I wasn't sure if you guys were working on something similar, but there is no harm in covering all our bases, right?" 

Himiko regarded Henry with a suspicious look before finally nodding in agreement.

A part of her wondered, with the code he was writing, and independent of Hypnos, just how far could she trust him, or any of the Tamers?


	32. Red Dawn

Birds chirped in the air before a low groan cut across them. A lithe, copper-haired girl wearing twin-tails clutched the sides of her head as she attempted to bury her face in her knees. The weather was warm and quite pleasant, but it little to nothing to do with the hot blush that burned the girl’s face.

No. No warm weather could possibly have anywhere near the effect on her as the actions she had made the previous day.

“That was the worst idea ever,” she grumbled against her jeans. “Challenging the Demon Queen to a  _ drinking game? _ And grabbing Takato’s butt like that? What was I  _ thinking?!” _

She shook her head in fierce negation, hoping beyond hope that, by doing so, she could make it all go away. A bad dream that she had and nothing more.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Jeri admitted, nibbling on some chocolate pocky sticks she had picked up on the way to the park. Offering one to Ayaka, an impish smile crossed her face. “Although it is great blackmail material…”

“Yay for you,” Ayaka groaned, craning her head just enough so that a single, fierce glare zeroed in on the brunette. “I hoped for some kind of sympathy, and instead I walk away with a threat. Glad to know I can count on you.”

Jeri giggled in response and reached over to rub her friend’s back.

“Well at least you won the drinking game,” Jeri offered, less than helpfully. She wasn’t sure what to say to Ayaka which would help her embarrassment - especially since looking back at the day’s events, it  _ was _ kind of funny in it’s own way. There were moments, yes, which were awkward, but that was bound to happen when alcohol was ingested.

“Sure doesn’t  _ feel _ like I’ve won.” Ayaka turned her head back into her knees and groaned again, her voice muffled. “My head hurts a little and I got fresh with Gogglehead.” She tightened her grip around her legs before continuing in a quieter tone. “Sure feels like I lost…”

Jeri didn’t say anything for a moment, rooting through her purse and coming across an aspirin. If she knew Ayaka had a headache prior to coming, she would have picked up some water before coming to the park for the girl.

“Well, if you feel like moving, I have an aspirin and there is a water fountain just over the hill,” Jeri offered.”As for Takato … I’m sure he didn’t think anything of it.” A slight wry smile crossed her face. “You can trust me on that. You were drunk, and not thinking straight. No reason to be embarrassed.”

Ayaka peeked out at Jeri, not feeling convinced by this before turning away again.

“Would I sound like a creep if I told you that I...liked doing it? And that Gogglehead has a…very…” She blushed harder. “...cute butt?” she finished in a smaller voice.  _ Gods, I can’t believe I just said that! _

Jeri couldn’t help it. Despite trying to hold back an amused snort, it still escaped.

“I don’t think so,” she giggled. “He does, doesn’t he?”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me,” Ayaka grumbled in embarrassment. “You’re supposed to shame me for it or something like that.”

“I don’t think there is anything to be ashamed of,” Jeri told her, smiling gently. “There is nothing wrong with being attracted to someone else, even if it’s their butt. Plus we’re teenagers aren’t we?”

“Like  _ that’s _ an excuse,” Ayaka snorted in response. Pulling away from her knees, she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m going to have to apologize or something later. I  _ really  _ hope he isn’t mad or anything.” She glanced at Jeri worriedly. “He wasn’t mad...was he? Oh no… What if he gets the wrong idea?” A look of horror dawned on her face as she looked away. “Stupid Gogglehead… He’s not even my  _ type!” _

_ “Tsundere _ ,” Jeri breathed under her breath before deciding to answer Ayaka’s  _ other _ question. “Takato wasn’t mad. Flustered, yeah, but he gets that way easily. Also you know he’s dense as a brick wall, so I don’t think he’d get the ‘wrong idea.’” The last two words were made with air quotes, as if the wrong idea was Ayaka liked him … she burned that bridge long ago as far as Jeri was concerned.

“That’s a relief,” Ayaka sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging. She sunk her head into her hands. “The last thing I need right now is stupid Gogglehead asking me out or suddenly trying to be ‘perfect’ or something because he got the wrong idea. Kami… Can you imagine him showing up at school with actually neat hair? Or a uniform that didn’t look like he picked a fight with it and lost?”

She shuddered, remembering all the times she had to fix his tie. It was annoying, but for some reason there was something comforting about how normal it was for him to show up a bit disheveled. It helped ground the world a little knowing a dork like him could always look like a dork.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” Jeri assured her, grinning slightly. For better or worse, Takato wasn’t the type to make the first move. Even when he and Rika dated, it was always Rika who made the first move.

_ Too bad I didn’t remember that … or have her initiative _ , Jeri thought.  _ Well … that’s water under the bridge now _ .

Sitting back up, Ayaka was about to say more when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she scrunched her face up in curiosity and then confusion.

“Jeri? Am I...seeing a weird beam of red light shooting up from the treeline or something, or am I going crazy?”

From her perspective, there was such a beam, though it was ghostly in appearance, but growing less so and more brighter with every passing second. It emerged from the interior of the park… She judged to be coming from the area where the concrete bunker was located, though she couldn’t say for certain if that was the case.

“No … I see it too,” Jeri said, standing up as her brow furrowed. Something about it seemed … familiar. Not in a good way, but in a way which made her stomach clench uncomfortably as nausea overtook her. Swallowing, she tried to steady her steady heart and push down the rising bile.

_ What … is that? _

“We’d better get a hold of the others,” Ayaka said, pulling out her cell phone and flipping through her address book. A quick ring and an answer later caused her to scowl.

“Yes, Gogglehead. I  _ know _ what time it is. Get your butt out of bed and look out the window! I don’t care  _ how _ cute it is!”

A dark red stain bloomed across her features and she hastily handed her cell phone to Jeri.

“You take it before I say something even dumber,” she whispered, hanging her head in embarrassment. “I just know I’m going to burn in Hell for this.”

“Hey Takato, it’s me,” Jeri took the phone, giving Ayaka a devilish smile. Ayaka always teased her - now it was time to get her revenge. “Ayaka’s acting like an embarrassed school girl.”

“I  _ am _ an embarrassed school girl!” Ayaka exclaimed heatedly, while on the other end of the phone, Takato rambled a series of incoherent questions about what was going on with the girl now, obviously still caught up in the haze of sleep. Scowling angrily at her friend, Ayaka placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward.

“Jeri, don’t be a troll! Get him to look out his window and…”

There was a loud, heavy  _ thumping  _ noise from the phone followed by a squawk of surprise. Ayaka hung her head.

“He fell out of bed, didn’t he?”

“Probably,” Jeri giggled before returning her attention to the phone. “Takato, when you get a minute, look out the window will you? There’s something weird going on.”

_ “Weird in what way?” _ Ayaka heard Takato ask before a second later answering his own question.  _ “Oh… Uh… That’s...new.” _

Ayaka turned back to the beam of light as it shot skyward, skewering the sky. “Never a dull moment around here.”

**###**

Himiko gazed at her computer screen, threading her hands together as she analyzed Henry’s program.

_ It’s good, _ she thought quietly to herself.  _ Almost too good. He’s definitely his father’s son. He’s a bit further along than we are when it comes to accuracy. How long has he been working on this? He’s accounted for several drift variables and minute fluctuations in Earth’s electromagnetic field. This is… _

She blinked as she spied a column of red light shooting up toward in the reflection of her computer screen. Quickly turning around, Himiko’s eyes grew wide and she slowly got to her feet. Approaching the window, she set her hand upon its cold surface.

“What…is going on here?” she breathed.

“Trouble,” came a voice from behind her, a being which wasn’t there nary five seconds ago but somehow managed to appear and disappear almost like it was a ghost.

Spinning around in surprise, Himiko narrowed her eyes at the dark-haired youth that stood before her.

“Mnemosyne…” she grated before indicating the column of light with a nod of her head. “You know what that thing is.” A statement and not a question.

“Of course,” Mnemosyne stated, walking over to the window as well, looking out with emotionless obsidian eyes. The red light was bright, and foreboding. “Like I said, trouble.”

“That’s  _ very _ unhelpful,” Himiko said, stepping away unconsciously, as though distance would somehow impart some special protection against the digital lifeform. “What kind of trouble are we ta-?”

Her words tumbled off into silence as she noticed a strange sight on her computer screen. A series of Hazard signs, glowing hot red like a branding iron and multiplying like a virus, pulsated. Himiko felt a terrifying foreboding, and she remembered a similar event happening years before. An event that, through no coincidence she was certain, occurred during a time when the Tamers were in the digital world.

She shot a look at Mnemosyne as a thought occurred to her. “Takato’s partner, Guilmon, has this sign on his chest. Does that have anything to do with this?”

Mnemosyne nodded it’s head.

“In the Digital World, at the death of Leomon, Takato forced his partner to digivolve. Unfortunately, the Digital Hazard, which laid dormant up until that moment …” Mnemosyne paused for a moment, pressing it’s lips together. “Megidramon. The very existence of it threatens the Digital World … and the Real World. When Guilmon was forced to digivolve into this  _ creature _ , the state of the Digital World and the Real World was in peril. It was only the gods good grace it didn’t last long enough to do any permanent damage, otherwise the D-Reaper would have nothing left to destroy.”

_ That boy continues to prove that he’s nothing but a danger to my cousin, _ Himiko thought, her scowl only deepening as she tightened one hand into a fist. Still, the very idea that there was a force out there that could destroy the digital world and thus end the misery between it and the human world was...intriguing to say the least.

“I...see,” she said finally. “Well...lucky for you I guess.”

“There is nothing lucky about it,” Mnemosyne said, frowning as it turned its attention to Himiko. Was she being … sarcastic? Did she really not understand the gravity of the situation. “This is an  _ echo _ . The fact you can see it means  _ anyone _ can see it. The ramifications of this … even I’m not sure the extent.”

Pressing its lips together, it tore its attention from the window and looked at her computer. The hazard pulsed brightly on it, like the virus it was. Running a finger over the keys, feeling the connection to the Digital World as it did so. It was a warm, pleasant hum, and it called to it like a siren’s song. For it to return.

Yet it’s work wasn’t done yet.

_ The boy is here,  _ it thought.  _ Without him … all it can do is struggle in it’s cage. And when I clean up its mess … I’ll clean up mine. _

“No matter,” it said finally. “I’ll take care of it. While I do, take care of any other echoes. Some other Digimon may become visible to  _ everyone _ , so I suggest you get some excuses ready.”

_ Excuses I have plenty, _ Himiko thought with irritation.  _ But I’d rather not give them to begin with. _

“I’ll deal with them,” she nodded, “as they come up.” She tilted her head to one side at Mnemosyne. “You’re not a very good janitor for the digital world, are you?”

“The D-Reaper was supposed to be the Digital World’s janitor,” Mnemosyne said darkly. “Yet it expanded beyond its programming. So had I.” It looked at Himiko. “Humans are fascinating creatures. They can do a multiple of tasks. Jack of all trades, master of none, yet better than one. Isn’t that how the saying goes?’

“And here I thought you were going to clean up your mess,” Himiko sniped. A part of her knew how ludicrous it was to do so toward a digital life form that was capable of wiping her memories - possibly far back enough and thorough enough to leave her a drooling idiot - but she couldn’t help it. She hated being the toady to this entity, and knew full well that she was just a means of convenience for it for as long as it deemed her useful. As long as this was their relationship, such as it was, she intended to push the envelope as much as she could.

“I suggest you don’t push your luck,” Mnemosyne warned. “You were chosen initially because of your relation to the Tamers and the fact you are head of this organization. However, with the Monster Makers now in play by your own design … you are now hardly the most optimal human to take care of things. Mitsuo Yamaki … Janyu Wong … they’re all just as good choices, if not better. You want to protect your little cousin, don’t you?”

Himiko stiffened at the mention of Rika and the implied threat within. Nonetheless, her eyes narrowed.

_ You do like to play dirty, don’t you?  _ “How...human of you,” she said. “Fine. Go clean up your mess, and I’ll see what I can do with my part of it and hopefully... _ hopefully... _ stay out of each other’s hair.”

“So long as you understand,” it said simply and like a breeze in the wind and a glimmer of light, it was gone.

Himiko stood there for a moment longer, basking in the red glow of the column of light behind her before taking hold of her chair and slowly, carefully, setting herself down. Taking out her cell phone, she quickly scrolled through her address book until she found the person she was looking for and hit the call button.

“Janyu?” she asked after only a moment. “Do you see what’s on your computer and what happens to be outside? If not, you might want to take a look.”

**###**

Kazu took a drag of his cigarette, his dark blue eyes watching the white clouds drift lazily across the blue sky. It was a beautiful day, and the laughter of children occasionally breaking him from his thoughts as ghosts appeared in his mind’s eye appeared, four children running through the park before disappearing leaving him behind.

The event of yesterday still left him in a daze, and part of him wondered if it really happened. That despite years of friendship, years of Kazu looking out for the hopeless loser, the boy  _ still _ left him like everyone else.

_ Even if it meant apologizing to Takato, befriending Rika and possibly saying that maybe, just maybe, you were at fault for some things? _

Kenta’s voice echoed in his mind, and the cigarette dropped from his lips on to the concrete below. His head followed it downward, and he watched the embers burn brightly before he lifted his foot and ground it to ash.

_ I wasn’t at fault _ , he thought but now … the words sounded empty in his head.  _ I apologized _ , he repeated to himself.  _ Rika’s crazy anyway. Who would want to befriend her? Sure she’s hot and smart … so I guess I can’t fault Chumley there. Henry’s probably the same way. And Jeri … Jeri always saw the best in people even when there was none. _

He pressed his lips together, and he rested his head against his knees, pawing in his pocket for another cigarette. Finding his box, he pushed it open only to see the void staring back at him. Tears prickled at his eyes as he crumpled it in his fist.

“Damn it,” he choked, wiping away any and all evidence he was crying from his eyes. Taking a steadying breath, he looked up just in time to see a bright red light coming from nearby.

It was bright, rivaling the sun in it’s intensity. Squinting his eyes, a sudden feeling of nausea overcame him.

_ “I ORDER YOU TO DIGIVOLVE INTO MEGA!” _

Hateful, vile yellow eyes stabbed at his brain, and Kazu covered his mouth instinctively, pushing back bile which threatened to come out. He didn’t know  _ why _ but something about the red light seemed …  _ evil _ .

_ It’s going to destroy us all _ , he thought distractedly, not quite knowing where the thought came from yet it seemed right. Flashes of Kenta … Takato …  _ Jeri _ came to mind, and all of a sudden he felt they - all of them - were in danger.  _ I need to protect them… _

Even if they forsake him, even if they turned their back on him, they were still his friends. Fair weather friends, but they were the ones who stayed the longest. Who cared the most. He didn’t want to see them get hurt - he didn’t want to see them  _ die _ .

Taking a steadying breath, he pushed himself upright, wobbling slightly from the sudden movement.

“Ri-right,” he assured himself, hoping to give himself courage where there was none. “Let’s go.”

**###**

Ryo Akiyama barely paid any attention to the TV as it played some random game show that he didn’t have much interest in; or at least no interest until the hazard signs began to spread across its screen like an infection. A bright column of red light became reflected on its surface from behind him, and Ryo sat up from the couch – Yamaki and Reilly’s couch – and spun around.

“What…?” he began, only to drop down to his knees as he suddenly felt pain slam through his skull, causing white spots of light to pop and sparkle across his vision. An image flashed across his mind, and he saw a desolate wasteland of dark rock…and a rising forest of red beams of light stabbing at the alien, crimson sky. He saw something beside him, a towering, man-like figure with armor, claws, and dragon-like wings. A metal mask covered its face, but it bore no eyes.

_ Blind… Just like Milleniummon always was, _ some voice whispered inside him. It sounded almost like him, and yet…

“Ryo? Are you all right?” came a new voice – this one decidedly  _ not _ his own – and the boy looked up at Akane Komagata, one of Hypnos’ agents assigned to watch over him when his regular caretakers, Reilly and Yamaki, were at their jobs. She was nice enough, allowing him the run of the apartment so long as he stayed within earshot and didn’t leave any doors save that of the bathroom closed. She had an honest, easy going smile, yet carried herself with a professional air that suggested putting one over her would be difficult…

_ That _ thought almost caused him to blink in surprise, but something – an instinct long ingrained into him through the rawness of experience – kept his face neutral.

“Yeah,” he smiled with false reassurance, noting that he was engaging in duplicitous behavior and working out the best way that he could slip away from his bodyguard  so as to investigate the disturbance…and he was going to.  _ Needed _ to. Something about that tower of light… He couldn’t explain why, but it called to him. He absolutely  _ had _ to get there.

_ I can’t get away from her by lying, _ he thought.  _ Maybe… Just maybe I can do it if I bend the truth a little. _

He purposefully relaxed his emotional mask, allowing some of his anxiety show and he dropped his face a little.

“Actually,” he began, running a hand through his hair. “I think…I just remembered something. I need to go see Reilly or Yamaki. Let them know what happened. What I saw.”

Akane regarded Ryo for a moment before finally nodding, her expression worried. He suddenly felt bad for what he was about to do.

“All right,” she said, pulling out her cell phone. “I’ll give them a call and…”

“I need to  _ see _ them,” Ryo insisted, causing her to look up at him with a raised eyebrow. Ryo shrugged and scratched at his cheek before giving Akane a small, yet award winning smile.

_ “Typical Mr. Perfect Teeth,” _ came the voice of a girl from some distant memory, but it danced out of the way before he could even focus on it and he soon shrugged it off.

_ One thing at a time… _

“Sorry,” he said apologetically. “It’s just a quirk I have.”

“I still have to let them know that we’re…coming…” Akane trailed off as she looked at her phone, seeing the hazard sign glaring angrily at her with its pulsing red light; the heartbeat of an angry animal finally let loose. Akane pressed the screen to unlock it, yet nothing happened.

“That’s…weird…” she muttered. Ryo chanced a look over his shoulder at the red beam of light emanating from the park. It was far enough that she might not see it, particularly from her position where she had a chunk of building blocking some of it out. Which was good as far as tactics went. He didn’t need her to have a reason to not take him to Hypnos.

“Okay, I guess I’m not getting any signal, so we’d better drive there,” Akane said, pocketing the phone, giving it a lingering look. Heading over to the table, she grabbed her keys and indicated for him to follow. “Let’s go.”

Ryo nodded and quickly fell in behind her. His plan was forming together now, though there was a chance it might fail. Akane was an adult and trained to chase someone down and give them a severe beating. Ryo was just a kid.

_ Ditching her is going to be fun, _ he thought, not looking forward to the chase that was likely to follow.

**###**

Mnemosyne materialized out of thin air, flanked by a flock of glowing birds.  _ Just as I thought… The Hazard Tamer is nothing but trouble. _

The light that continued to thrum angrily, spewing its source toward the sky, was emanating from the concrete bunker that had once served as the home to the bread-devouring digimon known as Guilmon. It made sense in a way, given that this place once served as not only Guilmon’ shelter, but also as a portal to the digital world.

A portal that had long been buried beneath its concrete floor.

_ Not that it stops the Tamers or anything, _ Mnemosyne thought glumly before turning to his escort.

“I want this gone,” Mnemosyne said to his flock of birds, and at once they rose into the air, bee-lining their way toward the distortion. Lightning crackled around the column, as though sensing his plan, and wind played across Mnemosyne’s hair. Undeterred, he made a gesture and the birds began to swirl around the beam. More lightning crackled, this time between the birds and between the red light, the two engaging in battle.

Mnemosyne regarded the scene impassively. Victory was assured for the flock. No echo could withstand them…

Mnemosyne heard the sound of a shoe scuffing on stone, and upon turning, found Ryo Akiyama climbing the steps, one hand over his eyes to shield them from the blinding red light.

Mnemosyne’s eyebrows rose in first surprise, and then in horror in realization that  _ he _ was here. Ryo Akiyama…

“The Millenium Child…”

“Who are you?” Ryo demanded, his bright blue eyes staring at the dark abyss of the being in front of him. Looking up, he noticed some sort of  _ bird _ like creatures circling the beam, waging war against the virus which infected the sky.

Mnemosyne frowned at the teenager. “A being pulled away from his duties to clean up a number of messes… Some of which were  _ your _ cause. Not that you remember though…”

Mnemosyne shrugged, not sure if there was a point in telling the Legendary Tamer any of these things. Raising a hand, he opened it and a small, glowing bird materialized into view. It rose into the air and then divebombed at Ryo as though it were shot from a gun.

Mnemosyne didn’t care for loose ends, and this was one that should have been dealt with sooner.

_ I’m depending on humans too much to handle these things, _ he berated himself.

Ryo’s eyes widened in shock as the creature socked him right in the stomach, and electricity ran through him. Gasping for breath, and reaching forward, not at all understanding what was going on, his vision swam going black as he collapsed to the ground … revealing a horrified brunette boy with dark blue eyes standing behind him.

“What the  _ fuck _ ,” Kazu gasped.

“This is unfortunate,” Mnemosyne grumbled at the second newcomer.  _ This _ one he couldn’t deal with the same way he intended to with Ryo.  _ Oh well… Soon enough, his memories of this will be a thing of the past. _

“This is nothing that you need to concern yourself with,” Mnemosyne said, revealing a new glowing bird in one hand before launching it at Kazu. “I’m sorry that it came to this. I’ll try to keep the edits to a minimum.”

Kazu didn’t know what this bastard - was it a man or a woman, Kazu didn’t know or care - was talking about. All he saw was this dude straight up assault this kid, and if it wasn’t for the steady rise and fall of his chest, Kazu feared he would have witnessed murder.

“Like hell!” Kazu roared, something dark, something  _ animistic _ in him screaming this  _ being _ in front of him was to blame for  _ everything _ . That it was the center of this awful feeling which only had been growing worse since he saw the beam of light, which was now pulsing so brightly it was hard to see.

Kazu was stupid. He knew this. Yet they say there was a fine line between stupidity and bravery, and Kazu blended that line together as he charged the mother fucker in front of him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do - this guy was either magic or Kazu was tripping - but punching him seemed like a good start.

The bird sailed harmlessly past Kazu as he deftly dodged it with a grace that would have left Rika surprised that someone like him could pull it off. It didn’t leave Mnemosyne impressed however, having seen numerous wars and many combattants. A single human teenager, though brave, was hardly a threat to it.

With almost contemptuous ease, it snatched hold of Kazu’s fist and threw him to the side and into some thorn bushes, eliciting a cry of pain as its needle-sharp points clawed at his exposed skin. Wincing at the damage it inadvertently caused, Mnemosyne started toward him, intent on finishing this battle and move on.

It didn’t get the chance.

The storming Hazard light pulsed once and, as though it had found an opening, shot a bolt of lightning that struck Mnemosyne full in the back, sending it careening down the steps with a heavy series of thuds before coming to a complete halt. Static crawled across Mnemosyne’s shaking body. Slowly, carefully, standing, the digital entity shot a dark glare at the red light as it began to vanish, having either spent all its energy in that attack or the flock finally dissolving it. Mnemosyne didn’t know which, nor did it care.

“Damnation…” A spark flew from it arm and it looked first at itself and then at Ryo. It faded ever so briefly before becoming solid again.

_ I can’t fight like this… I’ve lost too much energy. Best to retreat for now and repair myself. But beware Legendary Tamer… This isn’t over yet. Not until you and yours are back where you belong. _

This time, Mnemosyne did fade, but back to the world between worlds, and a digital field bloomed into view. The thick fog settled over the concrete bunker before a powerful gust of wind blew it away.

Where Mnemosyne had stood, there now lay nothing but a leaf blowing in the wind.

Kazu breathed heavily, wondering if he somehow got a bad batch of smokes and was somehow drugged. He had taken drugs in the past before - once, just to see what it was like. His mom found out though and gave him a proper asswhooping, and Kazu vowed that there was no high on earth which would be worth going through  _ that _ again.

Still the thorns stabbing into his exposed skin and the unconscious boy still on the ground made him wonder if this was all in his head after all.

A sudden memory - one which he attempted to bury since it happened to no avail - of an angry Takato holding his phone,  _ insisting  _ something had been there despite nothing showing on the screen.

“ _ They were there! In the photo! On the train! Even Henry saw them!” _

Takato’s desperation, his horror, his  _ angst _ at his ‘proof’ disappearing into the wind, spirited away like the ghosts he claimed he saw. Kazu didn’t believe him at the time - or even after that, feeling like Rika was just stringing Takato along.

Yet now-

_ What’s going on? _

**###**

“Come  _ on _ ,” Jeri insisted, pausing for a moment at the bottom of the steps which lead to Guilmon’s hideout, waiting for Ayaka to catch up with her. The three of them - well, the two girls decided and more or less forced Takato to agree - Jeri and Ayaka would check out the red light since they were already at the scene while Takato went to work alerting the others.

Despite having a horrible sense of foreboding the closer they approached the pillar, Jeri was determined to push forward. She couldn’t afford to be a coward now, especially with how dangerous things were getting in regards to Mnemosyne. The mere  _ idea _ the digital being could be behind it warranted an investigation.

Still, she wished Rika was here, or even Henry. It wasn’t like Ayaka didn’t know how to throw a good punch - Kazu could surely attest to her childhood friend’s strength - and she had pepper spray which she carried around with her, but if it came down to a brawl … the brunette felt most comfortable with the two heavy hitters nearby.

_ I hope we don’t need to fight though … _ she thought.

“I’m  _ coming!” _ Ayaka snapped, suddenly darting ahead of Jeri as she took the steps two at a time. “How about  _ you _ hurry it up?”

Ayaka flashed Jeri an annoyed look, continuing her climb, only pausing a second as her foot caught on the edge of one of the steps, but she quickly caught her balance again. The light was gone, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t  _ something _ going on at the bunker. She hoped there was, otherwise the two of them were killing their lungs for…

_ Oh shit. _

Ayaka abruptly ground to a halt upon reaching the top of the stairs, finding one person she could honestly say she absolutely and without reservation  _ loathed _ with every fiber of her being.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” She said angrily to one Kazu Shioda as he knelt over an unconscious boy she had never seen before, looking as though he were trying to wake him up.

Kazu’s head shot up at the sound of the grating voice of the  _ one _ person (well top three) he didn’t want to see today. His hands still on the fallen boy’s shoulders, the blood drawn from the thorns already beginning to clot on his arms, he could only imagine what this looked like to the copper-haired girl.

The only way this situation could get any worse was if-

“ _ Kazu?! _ ”

-Jeri appeared right on cue.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Kazu said automatically, the irony not at all lost on him. “There was this guy - girl - I don’t know! Either way this dude just summoned a bird and it  _ divebombed _ this guy and knocked him right out! I thought he was dead for like a minute honestly.” The more he talked, the more he realized he was digging himself into a hole. Suddenly, he had an appreciation of what Takato must have felt like it was that day. Looking over to Jeri, into her amber eyes, he begged silently for her to believe him.

“It  _ wasn’t _ me,” he begged quietly. “Please. Believe me.”

Ayaka frowned at Kazu before glancing at Jeri thoughtfully. This looked to be her play as far as she was concerned. She hated Kazu, but he obviously saw Mnemosyne in addition to the light show. As much as she hated to admit it, if Kazu knew something - and the gods would consider it a miracle if he actually did - they  _ needed _ to know what happened here.

Still…  _ Kazu… _

Jeri gazed at Kazu’s dark-blue eyes for one, long moment before approaching him. Getting down on her knees so that they were more at eye level, she swallowed carefully, her heart beating a mile a minute.

_ We haven’t talked since...since our fight, _ she thought with quiet realization.  _ How are we going to talk now? _

Yet, she knew there was only one answer, and she couldn’t afford to beat around the bush for much longer. Looking down at his scratched hands, she took them into hers and gave him a comforting smile. It didn’t touch her eyes, but it was a smile nonetheless.

“I believe you,” she said quietly.

Tears began to well up in Kazu’s eyes at the mere touch of her soft skin, and those words - it was like she lifted a weight off his shoulders. Once more, he regretted more than anything leaving her behind, yet what was he supposed to do?

Now though … now that he heard her angelic voice again, he wondered if going without her was really worth it.

“Jeri, I-” Kazu stammered, not knowing what words to say.

That’s when the boy beside them groaned and cracked open brilliant blue eyes. If there was going to be a romantic moment between the two former lovers, the moment passed as Kazu turned his attention to the injured boy, slipping his hands out of Jeri’s to help the boy sit up.

“Hey man, you OK?” He asked.

“Shit,” the boy grimaced, putting a hand to his head. “What the hell happened?”

Kazu wondered if he should tell the boy the truth - even if Jeri believed him, he doubted a complete stranger would. He wouldn’t either in his shoes - as he demonstrated in the past. Looking to Jeri for help or some sort of guidance, his brain was already trying to formulate a plausible lie.

“I think I know,” Jeri said before Kazu could even start. “Because it’s the same reason why I know you...Ryo Akiyama.”

She glanced anxiously between the two boys, her lips rubbing against each other before she continued.

“It’s going to sound crazy, so...sorry in advance for that, but...we have a lot of things to talk about.”


	33. Resounding Echo

Renamon vaulted through the city, the wind blowing through her golden fur. In her mind’s eye, she saw the hazard sign on the computer screen of Rika’s grandmother, blinking on and off with an eerie, angry red light – the same light that shot skyward as well before the two disappeared together.

_The two are connected,_ she thought. _They appeared at the same time after all. I wonder…is it connected with Guilmon somehow? He has the same hazard sign on his body after all…_

She furrowed her brow, landing atop a tree branch just outside the border of the park. Black vans surrounded the main entrances and men and women wearing dark suits and glasses stood at guard, preventing people from entering. Cameras, both from the average citizen to the journalists, flashed, recording the moment as best they could to document. Renamon chuckled inwardly.

_No doubt Mnemosyne will be cleaning the Internet of all of that,_ she thought before dropping out of the tree. Doing so startled a child, standing just beneath her tree, causing him to scream and stagger backward before collapsing on his rear. Renamon’s eyes widened with surprise at this unexpected event before fading from view, just barely dodging the flash of cameras and shouts from the agents before reappearing further off, atop a building overlooking the park.

_I can be seen,_ she thought with quiet realization. _I can be seen by humans that aren’t Tamers._

The wind blew over her again, ruffling her fur.

_What was it that happened?_ she wondered.

No answers came. She doubted any would as long as she stayed here. With that in mind, she pulled out a cell phone from her arm guard and tapped a message out to Rika with her claw, informing her of the current situation. With that done, she faded from view to find another way in. One where she would not be so easily seen.

**###**

“…and that’s the story,” Jeri finished. She looked at Kazu and Ryo, her expression full of worry and concern, though who she felt worried about the most she couldn’t say for certain. Ryo was a giant X factor in the grand scheme of things – his lack of memories in general was of great concern – but Kazu…

Well… Kazu was her ex, and even though he was more disposed to listening to her story, there was their history to take into account as well.

Next to her, in the small booth at the café that they found tucked away outside the park, Ayaka picked up her soda and took a sip, letting the silence, and Jeri do all of her talking, if only because it prevented her from strangling Kazu.

Ryo nibbled on a french fry thoughtfully, weighing the girl’s - Jeri, he believed she introduced herself as - story. While it indeed was amazing, there were certain things, like the fact she knew who he was and could accurately account for the invisible things only he could see. She even managed to describe the monstrosity lumbering across the highway in perfect detail despite never seeing it, and answered all his questions to satisfactory means.

He didn’t have any memories, but to him, what she said felt _right_ somehow. The only thing which felt _off_ was that he hadn’t aged in six years. When he asked how that could be, the only response he got in return was a helpless shrug.

_At least that explains why the government was interested in me_ , he thought, sharp blue eyes on a lookout for Akane. He still couldn’t believe he managed to not only get away, but keep out of her watchful eye for as long as he did. _...Riley and Yamaki are going to chew me out when they get home though. I’ll be lucky if they let me out of the house after this._

“I believe it,” he said finally, swallowing his food before reaching for another fried slice of potato. “Not that I have any memories to say otherwise.” 

“Really?” Kazu asked, turning to the other boy and frowning a bit. “You believe all of _this_?” 

While he was willing to hear Jeri out - especially after seeing some random dude summon birds to attack Ryo - Jeri’s tale still seemed a bit too farfetched to him. Digimon being real? Memories of the past appearing, some of which becoming sentient? A being which could rewrite an entire world’s _memories_?

It was the stuff of conspiracies, and this one was right up there with the Holocaust wasn’t real and the moon landing was faked. Jeri was always interested in this sort of thing - he didn’t think she would actually _believe_ in any of it though. Chumley, yeah, he was always the gullible sort. Jeri, he thought, would have more, well, common sense. 

“Well, why not?” Ryo shrugged. “From what little experiences I had, it seems to line up perfectly. How else would she know things I haven’t told anyone about?” 

“Please Kazu,” Jeri pleaded desperately. “Remember I came to _you_ for help with Takato and I’ve...I’ve seen things that I wouldn’t have been able to explain before appearing right in front of me and…” Grimacing, she pressed her lithe hands against her forehead, trying to contain her mounting frustration. Memories of their gentle times together played through her mind, as did their end to their relationship, but she pushed it all to the side. _Forced_ it to. 

The memories, stubbornly, insisted on sharing a place at the table however, and maintained their presence. 

“Kazu…” she began, taking a deep breath, lowering her hands. Opening her eyes, she met his gaze. “I can prove it to you. Just..” Her lips twitched, forcing a tired smile on her face. “Just...promise that you won’t run away or anything, please?” 

“Sounds like someone’s expecting a lot,” Ayaka snorted between sips. 

Kazu bristled at Ayaka’s words. He wasn’t some fucking _coward_. He didn’t just turn tail and run. Didn’t he just run toward a menacing red light? Didn’t he just try to fight this “digital entity” which they said was allegedly erasing everyone’s memories, and get his ass kicked for the trouble? 

“I won’t run,” he declared, directing it more at Ayaka before turning back to Jeri, his expression softening. “I promise.” 

Ayaka contented herself with another sip from her soda, so as to quiet her replying quip while Jeri breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Thank you…” she whispered, taking out her cell phone. She put together a quick message to Rika, seeing how much longer she was going to take getting here, when a tap on the window caught their attention. Looking up, Jeri gasped in surprise to find Renamon standing outside, lowering her paw.

Ayaka choked on her soda in surprise, nearly spraying it out through her nose in the process. Coughing violently, she set her soda down - nearly causing it to topple - and grabbed some napkins. Pressing them to her flushed face, she glared at Kazu, just daring him to say something while Renamon faded from view like a ghost. 

“She’s… I can see her,” Jeri whispered, grabbing hold of Ayaka’s arm and pointing out the window. 

“Without a cell phone or camera,” Ayaka noted, wiping her face down and cleaning up her side of the table. “That’s...never happened before.” 

Jeri’s phone buzzed, a message from Rika appearing on the screen: _When the sun goes down or my pounding headache stops_ . A second message. _I hope Ayaka is happy._ A third message. _By the way people can see Renamon now, so FYI._

“So … that … wasn’t just a stress hallucination I just saw?” Kazu asked, staring out the window, wisely deciding not to comment on Ayaka’s reaction if only because he didn’t want to get a black eye. He learned that women - Ayaka and Rika in particular - were hormonal creatures which should not be messed with when agitated for his own safety. 

“Hm. I guess that what they’re saying is true after all,” Ryo noted cheerfully before resuming eating as if nothing odd hadn’t happened before. “Do you think that red light had anything to do with this?” 

“Maybe…” Jeri frowned at Rika’s message and began typing out a reply. If nothing else, it kept her distracted from her issue with Kazu. “No… It probably is.” She sighed, her finger hesitating on the send button before pressing it. “Earlier, when that beam was still visible, there were hazard signs on the screen of my cell phone. The last time I saw that symbol I was in the digital world. I remember reading about a ‘Hazard Event’ in the newspapers after I was rescued, and...well, there’s only one digimon I know of who’s connected to a hazard sign. What happened when that sign was activated was...scary.” 

She shuddered, remembering that day in the digital world all too well. It had been so unusual, seeing Takato and Guilmon like that. Angry. So full of anger that they were willing to _kill,_ and that bloodlust had transformed Guilmon - fortunately only for a short time. 

_Why?_ Rika’s message came a minute later. 

“Megidramon … right?” Ryo supplied helpfully, frowning slightly. He recalled Jeri talking about it when she was telling them the past. It had caught his attention in particular because she mentioned a red light, similar to the one they just saw. Kazu pressed his lips together, not sure what to make of it. Something about the word Megidramon sent shivers down his spine, almost like his body refused to forget what his mind clearly did. 

_Did you just send Henry and Takato to pick me up? Because they’re here now._ Came a second message two minutes later. 

Jeri’s eyes flashed up to Ryo’s at the name before glancing back down to Rika’s response. 

_No, I didn’t send them. They probably just know you too well,_ she sent back as she continued the conversation with Ryo and Kazu. 

“Yes,” she nodded reluctantly. “When Guilmon dark-digivolved to Megidramon, the hazard on his chest activated. I...don’t know what it would have done though. Before we lost our memories, I ended up looking it up once… I was...just reading up more on digimon, and I saw it and...well…” She shrugged helplessly. “There’s not much there about it. But Megidramon nearly destroyed the digital world on his own. Who knows what it could do. There were all kinds of reports about it in the news, but I never got around to reading many of those since I…” 

She hesitated, finding her hand had crept over to her arm. Untangling her fingers, she set it aside, mentally scolding the offending limb before looking back at the others. 

“Well… Never mind. I just never got all the information about it.” 

“Well hazard signs usually mean death don’t they?” Kazu added, wanting to be part of this conversation and contributing, but having no idea how else to. Maybe once upon a time he might have been able to contribute - especially with the Digimon aspect - but he had stopped playing the card game as he got older. It no longer really appealed to him the same way, although he would keep up somewhat with the shows. 

_Yet nothing in the shows ever really talked about the Digital Hazard before_ , he noted glumly. He remember seeing it on Lucemon and MirageGaogamon in the show, but it was never acknowledged or even talked about. So he thought it was some sort of artistic choice or whatever. 

“Either way, it’s pretty bad,” Ryo agreed as Jeri’s phone buzzed one more time. 

_I hate you all._ (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ 

**###**  

Mako worriedly rebooted his computer, once again looking out his window where a column of red light was moments ago. There had been something foreboding about the light, but if he was being honest, it didn’t worry him _nearly_ as much as his computer suddenly freezing and weird hazard symbols flashing in red on it. 

Mako wasn’t a computer expert by any means, but as far as he was concerned, this had to be worse than the blue screen of death. 

_If this thing is fried, mom’s going to kill me_ , he thought. _… Once Ai gets through with me first, of course._

With the logo appearing, and seeming OK, he let out a little sigh of relief. At least it seemed to be working. All he had to do was make sure the files were still there and not corrupted. While he didn’t do anything to break the computer, he was sure nobody would see it that way. 

While Mako waited, a cloud of fine mist slowly, but steadily began to rise beneath his feet, and with it, a tall, lithe figure clad in frozen white emerged. Upon his feet exiting the mist, he dismissed the fog with massive, clawed hand before reaching out and clamping one over Mako’s mouth. 

“It’s just me,” he said in an amused voice as Mako squawked in surprise. “It seems that something fortunate has come out of this...Hazard Event. I am visible to you now, and we can talk.” He paused, before adding, as if as an afterthought, “Once again.” 

“Impmon!” Mako greeted in surprise before remembering the rookie had digivolved to champion, and blushed sheepishly. “Wait, IceDevimon now, right?” He wasn’t quite sure what IceDevimon was talking about, but he was excited to see his partner face to face after all this time … or for the first time. He didn’t quite understand it. Tilting his head, his brow furrowed remembering IceDevimon’s words. “Hazard Event?” 

“The hazard signs on your computer… The red light from the park…” IceDevimon extended a claw in the direction of the window. “A Hazard Event has occurred. In the digital world they are signs of extreme danger, and certain digimon bear such marks as a warning about the instability of the power they have and the vast amounts of it.” 

He lowered his claw to his side. “Takato’s...partner…” He caught himself before saying ‘runt’, “...Guilmon has such a mark on his chest. This event can only mean that something has happened to Guilmon. Or, perhaps as is more likely, Takato is pointing his partner’s power and using it without care for how it affects the digital world.” 

“Guilmon?” Mako repeated, not quite remembering a Digimon like that before pushing it to the side. “Are you saying Takato has a partner too? And he’s here? Also if it affects the digital world … why is my computer acting up? And the red light in the sky?” 

Turning his attention back to his computer, he saw that it had loaded and the login screen appeared. Quickly typing in the password, the computer logged on and began to slowly start the programs and apps designated to start at launch. 

“I don’t know if Takato’s partner is here,” IceDevimon admitted. “But his effect is being felt across our worlds.” He flapped his wings slightly, causing ice to fall to the floor, shimmering slightly in the light. “You have to remember, the digital world comes from your computer, and our worlds are linked. What happens to one, impacts the other.” 

“I see,” Mako said slowly, glancing at the ice particles on the floor, frowning slightly. 

_Hope that doesn’t leave a mess._  

“So … what does this all mean?” he continued, opening a file at random, relieved to find it all there and not corrupted. “If Guilmon isn’t here, how can Takato use his partner’s power? Is he in the Digital World then?” 

“Those two are...unique,” IceDevimon replied. He too had never heard of a Guilmon in all his travels, and he stalked Takato to gather information on his opponent. What he learned displeased him. “It seems they have a connection… A powerful one. I...saw Takato hunt down a digimon on his own at one point. No doubt borrowing his partner’s power. I suspect it has a great deal to do with what made you unable to see me.” 

“I see,” Mako said, frowning a bit. He thought at first perhaps Takato was just someone who was unlucky to be caught up in all of this. However, now, he wasn’t _as_ sure, but he was still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The need to find a way to talk to the boy though skyrocketed to the top of his ‘to do’ list. 

“So where does that leave us?” he asked, spinning his chair now so he was fully facing IceDevimon, his brow furrowing when he noticed an arm was gone. He waved it off after a second. Digimon fight all the time. He must have lost it defeating a much tougher opponent. “What do we do now? What’s going _on_?” 

IceDevimon turned to face Mako, his red eyes flashing eerily. “I wish I could tell you, Mako,” he said. “All I can say is what I told you before. We are dealing with an extremely powerful enemy, and Takato is at the heart of it all.” A pause before continuing. “He should be dealt with.” 

“I’ll take care of it,” Mako promised eagerly. “Don’t worry, OK? We’re partners. Whatever is going on, we can handle it. Together.” 

IceDevimon’s eyes gleamed, and he held out a claw for Mako to take. 

“Of course,” he said. “Always.” 

**###**  

Rika’s head pounded, and the bright light of her old enemy, the sun, did nothing to alleviate her suffering. While she very rarely wore sunglasses, she couldn’t leave the house without them today to make going outside a little less painful. 

However, as she stood at the end of the table, flanked by Henry and Takato, the others - save Kenta it seemed - already inside (Renamon hiding somewhere), she wished she went with her gut and simply stayed indoors.

 While she recognized Ryo from the television set, she barely spent a second on him before noticing _another_ unwelcome face.

_Kazu_. 

Glowering at him darkly, she toyed with the idea of simply leaving and salvage the rest of her day. However, what he did to both Jeri and Takato still stuck like a thorn fresh in her memory, and instead, she turned to Henry. 

“Remind me why murder is illegal again.” 

“Rika…” Takato sighed, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m sure Jeri has a reason for talking to him. Don’t go nuts on him because...um…” He shook his head. “Man. No matter what I say, it’ll only make him look like a jerk that Rika would only want to beat up. Um…” He tapped his cheek thoughtfully. “Can we just remember that this is all Mnemosyne’s fault and leave it at that?” 

“He doesn’t need your help to look like an ass,” Rika growled, ignoring Kazu’s insulted grunt. “He does that fine on his own. Jeri, I know you’re forgiving to the point of insanity, but _seriously_?” 

“Let’s just sit down,” Henry sighed, pushing Rika into the booth, making sure she was located where it was hardest for her to try to assault him as possible. He didn’t know quite what was going on, but he trusted Jeri’s judgement on bringing Kazu into this. 

_We would need to at some point anyway,_ he noted. 

“So … from what Jeri told me, you three must be Rika, Henry and Takato,” Ryo said, smiling brightly at them, ignoring Rika’s glower in return. “Nice to meet you. Or maybe good to see you again?” 

“Yeah…” Takato nodded, looking at Jeri questioningly before returning his attention to Ryo. “You...don’t remember?” He rubbed the back of his head. “Well...I guess that’s not a surprise. I mean, most of us didn’t remember at the start so...I guess I’m just...repeating what everyone already knew?” 

“Kazu’s still in denial,” Ayaka snarked as she hung her head in her hands, the straw in her mouth bobbing up and down, irritated that she had nothing left to drink now to distract her. 

“Surprise, surprise,” Rika grumbled darkly under her breath. 

“ _Was_ ,” Kazu shot back irritably, shooting his own glare at Rika, wondering why she had to be here. Clearly she didn’t even want to come, and he was sure everybody would be a lot better off without her. “I saw the kitsune - Renamon.”

While he was still … not exactly sold on the whole premise, he didn’t like Ayaka or Rika’s tone. He wanted to be involved in things, to be involved with Jeri again, and if it meant playing along, he supposed there was no harm in that. It wasn’t like they were doing anything _dangerous_ , right? 

“So,” Henry said, deciding to keep the conversation back on track and from a fight breaking out between the two girls and Kazu. “Jeri, you’re the one who seems to be the most up to date on what’s going on. Can you tell us what’s happening?” Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he frowned slightly remembering the Digital Hazard which flashed on his computer screen although it went away when the light disappeared, thankfully leaving all his files intact. 

_It’s clearly an echo from Megidramon … but I wonder what it means. Normally echoes can’t be seen … and Rika said she got a text from Renamon that everyone can see her now too. What changed?_

“Kazu and Ryo met Mnemosyne,” Jeri explained. “They were investigating that weird light from earlier and Mnemosyne was right there.” She glanced up at Takato worriedly before flicking her eyes away, pressing her lips together. “As for the rest…” She trailed off, becoming uncertain as to how to say it. “Well…” 

“It was an echo of Megidramon...wasn’t it?” Takato asked softly. Jeri looked up at him, a bit surprised that he wasn’t beating around the bush this time, but she nodded. 

“Megidramon?” Rika asked, furrowing her brow slightly. 

“Guilmon’s Mega form before the two biomerged into Gallantmon,” Henry said simply. “His existence destabilized the Digital World, remember?” 

“Oh.” 

Turning to Kazu and Ryo, Henry decided to push the two for information since they were at the scene. 

“Did Mnemosyne say anything to you two? Do anything?” he asked. 

“He … it? called me ‘The Millennium Child’ before attacking me with these … bird things?” Ryo answered, looking at Kazu to see if what he saw before the attack was correct. Kazu empathically nodded his head to support Ryo’s story. 

“I just came in to see Ryo hit the ground. When I fought the bastard, it said something about it not wanting to come to this and keeping edits to a minimum?” Kazu added on, causing Henry to nod his head. While the edit comment made sense - the digital being was no doubt talking about Kazu’s memories - what it called Ryo was much more concerning. 

_The Millennium Child … what does that mean?_ He wondered. 

“Mnemosyne likes to play with people’s memories,” Ayaka said, the straw in her mouth bobbing as she spoke. “You’ll probably end up forgetting by the time today’s over, so I wouldn’t worry about it.” 

“Don’t talk like that, Ayaka,” Jeri frowned at her friend. Ayaka shrugged. 

“Not my fault these two weren’t in our ‘not-so-secret club’ from the start. And if Mnemosyne has it in for Ryo…” 

“Why would it though?” Takato asked. “I mean, besides being the Legendary Tamer, there wasn’t too much different about us and him…” He turned to Henry and Jeri for confirmation. “Uh...was he?” 

“Cyberdramon had some kind of problem,” Jeri replied. “I think he was infected by a virus or something, but I think that was it.” 

“A virus?” Rika asked, furrowing her brow. “Cyberdramon is a _vaccine_ type. I mean it’s in the virus busters family … not that much has been released on it … but for it to have a _virus_ …” 

“I remember Ryo needing to control it with a whip,” Henry said, frowning a bit. While he didn’t exactly like seeing the Digimon being hit, the violent nature of Cyberdramon made him nervous at the time. It was so violent and filled with rage … he remembered being thankful that whatever ‘enemy’ it was looking for wasn’t any of them. “... Monodramon didn’t seem to have any problems though, from what little contact I had with him. If I recall correctly, it was looking for some grand enemy it had to fight.” 

“Maybe… Maybe that’s it?” Takato asked, earning him a look from the others. Coughing, embarrassed by suddenly being put on the spot, he continued. “Well, I mean… You know what? It’s a dumb idea.” 

“Your ideas usually are,” Ayaka said dully, shooting her straw at him with a puff of air, where it bounced off his forehead. “Let’s hear it.” 

Takato eyed Ayaka with a slight frown before shrugging. “I guess...I was just thinking that...maybe Mnemosyne’s from a future timeline or something where Ryo’s partner goes nuts? Like...way worse than I did and he came back in time to stop him?” 

He blanched, looking over at Ryo apologetically. “Sorry. I don’t mean to make it sound like you’re the bad guy or anything and...well…” He scratched the side of his face. “Like I said. It’s a stupid idea.” 

“Pretty stupid,” Ayaka agreed with a nod of her head. 

“Normally I don’t agree with Ayaka on principle but…” Kazu sucked in his breath and did his best to shrug apologetically. He could barely take this whole “ _we were once Digimon Tamers and this being has erased our memories more than seven times, also the past is coming back as ghosts_ ” thing going on, but time travel on top of it?

No way. 

“Well, I think any suggestion is a good suggestion,” Ryo smiled at Takato, his perfect teeth glistening. “Anything is possible isn’t it? I mean you _have_ said I haven’t aged in six years.” 

“Anything is possible, but that doesn’t mean we should just pull shit out of our asses without evidence,” Ayaka snorted. “I mean, pretty much the only thing - the _only_ thing - we have is that Ryo doesn’t know us, and that’s not out of the ordinary. Rika and Takato used to not remember that they dated a million times already. That didn’t involve time travel.” 

“You...really don’t do things halfway, do you?” Takato asked, blushing. 

“I don’t do tact, Gogglehead,” Ayaka said. “Tact is what is keeping you and Firebrand over there from actually talking.” 

Jeri could only stare at her friend in wide-eyed amazement. Again, Ayaka displayed a shocking disregard for their situation and… 

_Oh._ A devilish thought bloomed in her mind - the possibility that Ayaka might actually _like-like_ Takato and that yesterday hadn’t just been an alcohol-fueled indulgence - but she caught hold of it before she could let it loose into the wild. This was not the time. Not _yet_ anyway… 

Kazu gaped as he pointed between Takato - who was red as Rika’s hair - and Rika, who seemed _very_ interested in what was going on outside the window before exclaiming, “I FUCKING KNEW IT!” Rounding on Takato, a victorious gleam shone in his eye. “I _knew_ you had the hots for her! I fucking _called_ it!” 

“Kazu… I didn’t even _remember anything_ back then about her…” Takato sighed. “Anyway, can we just...move on already?” 

“Sure,” Ayaka said, a slightly annoyed expression on her face as she glanced at Rika out of the corner of her eye. “Let’s _not_ talk about it. Again. I’m sure you two will _not_ get in that relationship this time around. Well....maybe if you try hard enough at _not_ doing any…” 

_“Ayaka!”_ Jeri snapped angrily, causing the girl to jerk and look at her friend with surprise before turning away, ashamed. 

“Sorry. Next topic.” 

Kazu had a hard time letting go of the topic - especially with the revelation the two somehow _weren’t_ dating - but he didn’t want Jeri to snap at him. Again. So he kept his mouth shut. 

“Well I think the main question is why does Mnemosyne have it out for me, right?” Ryo suggested, rubbing the back of his head. “I don’t remember anything … but I could ask Riley or Yamaki if they could investigate a bit more about my past. Maybe if I give them my real name now, that’ll help until my memories start coming back.” 

“Wait, you know Riley and Yamaki?” Henry asked surprised, turning to the brunette. Ryo nodded his head slowly, surprised for a moment Henry knew his foster parents before remembering they had been an instrumental part in defeating the D-Reaper according to Jeri. “Riley adopted me, kinda. I’ve been living at her and Yamaki’s house ever since.” 

“Whose Rielly and Yamaki?” Kazu asked confused. 

“They’re in charge of a secret government agency called Hypnos,” Jeri answered before wrinkling her nose. “Or they...were? Rika, doesn’t your cousin Himiko run it now?” 

“Mn … yeah,” Rika said, watching a bird flutter outside the window. She hated Ayaka for bringing that up of all things; everything was fine, but now the copper-haired girl just had to make it awkward. 

_If she doesn’t like Takato and I being together that much, she should just ask him out and spare everyone the trouble_ , she thought darkly. Blinking slightly, she thought she could hear the sudden sound of the ocean somewhere in the distance despite the cafe blasting pop. Removing her hand from her ear, her brow furrowed in confusion when it disappeared. 

_Odd._

“So… Maybe we should talk to her,” Takato said, wincing a little mentally, remembering the last time she had spoken to them. She did not appear to like anyone Rika was friends with. “I mean, I know we’re on rocky boats with her, but we should at least try working with her.” 

“What’s she like?” Kazu asked, having a feeling anyone related to Rika was bound to be as pleasant as the girl. 

“She’s the one with the short dark hair and black eyes who chews on cigarettes and drinks coffee all the time, right?” Ryo asked, remembering certain faces from Hypnos from his ‘visits’ there. She just stuck in his memory because of the sheer amount of coffee she seemed to drink. He never saw her once without a coffee cup in her hands. He asked Riley if she slept, and he remembered Riley, with a serious face, telling him she wasn’t sure if she did. 

“Yeah, that’s her,” Rika acknowledged. 

“Oh, well, she’s strict and no-nonsense, but I don’t get a bad feeling from her,” Ryo said, turning to Kazu, giving him an encouraging smile. Just like him, the other boy was suddenly thrown into this world too. “Plus she works with my foster parents and is Rika’s cousin. There isn’t any reason why she wouldn’t help us, right?” 

Takato and Jeri exchanged looks with the others. “Well… Without our partners,” began Takato, “there’s...not a whole lot we can do. I think she looks at us like we’re in the way or something.” 

“Never know until you try,” Ryo said, his smile never wavering for a moment. 

“Ryo’s right. Although it might be easier just to see if we can find any documentation on Ryo in the meantime that’s public record. I doubt Himiko - or even Riley and Yamaki - will tell us if the government has something on file we don’t know about,” Henry said. “Jeri and Takato are right too. We don’t have our partners, and they clearly know _something_ since they brought Ryo here. The biggest part I think is somehow convincing them of our use.” Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he continued slowly. 

“I already gave her my program, so I think I have some rapport with her. Renamon has also been going to Hypnos as well, so she can keep her eyes open. We can still get information. We just have to be smart about it.”

 “I’m pretty sure that’s going to be your biggest problem,” Ayaka grumbled under her breath. Jeri bristled at that, getting frustrated with her friend constantly putting her friends down. 

“We’ll find a way,” Jeri insisted. “We just...have to think of how to go about it, that’s all.” 

Ayaka shrugged nonchalantly before leaning back in her portion of the booth. 

“Didn’t say it was impossible,” she said. “It’s just your biggest challenge. I mean, let’s take a look at who we have here…” 

“How about let’s not!” Jeri said, a dark look on her face. Distantly, she felt something… Like they were trapped in a whirlpool, waiting for the end to drown them, but she kept going, brushing it off. “Ayaka, I am getting tired of how you talk about the others. We wouldn’t even _be_ here talking about this if it weren’t for everyone involved. _You_ wouldn’t be here, so why don’t you contribute something _positive_ for a change instead of...of…” 

Jeri blinked and looked around, having just now realized that she had gotten up from her seat and was glaring down at Ayaka, who, in turn, looked up at her with a baffled expression. One that was matched by Takato as well. Blushing in shame, Jeri plopped herself back down, mumbling an apology. 

“Uh…” Takato blinked. “Okaaay… Maybe we should just...do that instead. Let’s talk ideas. How do we get Hypnos on our side?” 

It took a moment to pull the rest of them - bar Ryo who wasn’t aware of Jeri and Ayaka’s close relationship - out of their shock. Jeri hadn’t snapped _once_ at Ayaka today, but _twice_ . Jeri rarely snapped at _anyone_ , let alone her childhood friend.

_Note to self. Keep remarks to self_ , Kazu thought, perfectly happy to let Ayaka be one to be the barometer for Jeri’s mood. Unknown to him, Rika was thinking along the lines of the same thing. 

“Well … Henry why don’t you talk to your dad?” Rika asked after a minute. “He’s part of the Monster Makers and works with everyone right? Maybe ask him about Ryo or something … and I can have Renamon watch for anyone pulling up any information on him.” She furrowed her brow. “Well she has access anyway due to the tests … even if she is just keeping an ear on them talking. Like you know, a fly on the wall?” 

“That’s a better idea,” Takato nodded. “I kind of remember that he was okay with giving us a hand and…” He paused, the faint tingle of a memory surfacing, hovering just below the waters. He saw Henry talking to his father, but only the back of his head. Henry shook his head, and Janyu collapsed to the ground in distress, bowing profusely, but what he was saying slipped away from him, and the memory tucked itself away. 

“Ugh…” Takato groaned, feeling lightheaded. “I hate it when my brain does that.” 

“Are you alright, Takato?” Jeri asked, concerned. The boy nodded reluctantly. 

“Yeah. Just...remembering something. Nothing useful though. I think…” He tugged at the memory harder now, but it stubbornly vanished into the depths of his mind, refusing to be pulled up. “...never mind.” He lowered his hand and forced a smile. “I think we should go with Rika’s idea. Himiko just...isn’t that approachable.” 

“I’ll talk to Renamon then,” Rika nodded. 

“The next big problem then is how I’m able to sneak out after Riley and Yamaki ground my ass for escaping my … _babysitter_ ,” Ryo grinned, although he was rather serious about that.

“Good luck with that,” Ayaka said. “Anyway, are we done here? There’s not much else to do seeing as how we’ve got a course of action here.” 

“Well _I’m_ done,” Rika said, standing up and pushing herself away from the table. “I have a pounding headache thanks to _someone_.” A glare was levied at Ayaka before glowering at Kazu. While he wasn’t responsible (directly at any rate) for the initial headache, he made it worse than it needed to be. “I’m going to go back home and lie in my room in the darkness, as any sane human being would be doing with my condition.” 

Ayaka picked at the table. “Darkness is where you belong anyway,” she said absently, her eyes becoming dull and lifeless for a moment before she blinked, returning to normal. She frowned at herself and shook her head. She instantly regretted it as her own headache reemerged. 

“Sorry about that. That’s actually the best idea today. Go get some shut eye. I think I’ll do the same. Maybe all of us should...given the circumstances.” 

“You two are the only ones hungover, and it’s the middle of the afternoon,” Henry pointed out dully, standing up as well. He supposed there was no reason to stay here if they were leaving, and he wanted to avoid any potential awkwardness between Jeri and Kazu or Kazu and Takato or all three. 

“Mind if I stop over your place though?” he asked Rika, turning to her. “I have some work to do, and you know how noisy my house gets.” 

It was near impossible sometimes to concentrate on what he wanted to do with either Suzie nosing around or Jaarin getting into yet another argument on the phone with her ex. Rika’s house was always very … quiet, for better or worse. 

“Sure. Don’t expect me to be any company,” Rika grunted. 

**###**  

“Can anyone of you replicate that?” 

Himiko’s question to many may seem blunt and straight to the point. However the Hypnos director had little time for beating around the bush before, and since she got wrapped up in this mess, her patience for social frivolities had all but gone. 

The Monster Makers exchanged looks with each other, much of which was a mixture of uncertainty and concern. Adjusting his glasses, Janyu got up from his chair and furrowed his brow at Himiko. 

“I suppose we could give it a try,” he began carefully. “I don’t think we can make any promises.” He hesitated before continuing. “May I ask why you want us to...replicate this… ‘Hazard’ virus?” 

“We’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Curly. “It didn’t even operate like a virus. It was more like...like a digital force of nature.” 

“If we’re able to control and use it for our own abilities, we might have the key we need to deal with the root cause of all this with no lasting adverse effects to the real world,” Himiko said, chewing on her cigarette. “As you may know with our other programs, it has the tendency to … harm the Real World in some capacity. While you may have seen the Digital Hazard screen on your computer's, I’m sure you all found nothing missing or corrupted when it disappeared.” 

“We’re still doing an analysis on our systems,” Dolphin said, folding her arms together. “So far nothing _appears_ to be broken, and all systems _appear_ to be functioning normally, but we can’t say for sure until, well, we’re sure.” 

“I’m not even sure this Digital Hazard can be controlled,” added Babel across from her. “It was just too much of a big mess. We don’t even know how it started or what made it end.” He turned up toward Himiko. “Lady, this is too much like playing with fire, only the fire is a nuclear reactor going meltdown and the only people who can fix it have only a working knowledge of how to fix the plumbing to a toilet. That’s what this looks like right now. You’re asking us to investigate, study, and, if I’m hearing you right, weaponize a digital hurricane, with no real certainty that we can even do that. Call me crazy for saying this but...this sounds crazy.” 

“So you’re telling me you can create an entire world and inhabitants which go in it with ease, but you can’t do this?” Himiko asked, cocking an eyebrow. She didn’t know much about programming beyond what she learned on the job - as an engineer, her line of thought was “mess with something until it works,” but as far as she was concerned, creating artificial life and the Digital World was _much_ harder than what she was asking. 

“Either way, study it and learn what you can of its programming and how to contain it and fix any … ‘nuclear meltdowns’ it may cause,” she continued. “You can do _that_ much, right?”

“To begin with...we didn’t _create_ the digital world,” began Janyu. “It was already there. We didn’t even know it existed until you told us and we _certainly_ didn’t design anything for it. It seems more like… Well, more like a dimensional warp that interacted with random bits of human-made data. And as for the digimon… They’ve evolved _far_ beyond anything we made back in college. We have no idea what we’re getting into with this new world or the inhabitants that are there.” 

Janyu sighed and shook his head. “We don’t even know if we’ll be able to fix anything that might go wrong. For all we know, we might not even have the time to learn any lesson. We have only _one_ world that isn’t dependent on a network of connected computers. Suppose we unleash this...Hazard and it destroys everything?” 

Himiko opened her mouth to answer, only for her to pause when her phone buzzed loudly in her pocket. Sighing and closing it, she muttered an, _“Excuse me_ ” before taking it out of her pocket to see who it was. 

_Rika,_ she noted, her face becoming unamused at seeing her cousin’s name pop up on the screen. _What could she possibly want…_

Deciding to open it on the off chance it actually might be important, her eyebrows raised higher when she read the text. 

_Himiko, this is Renamon. It appears I have become visible to the general populace since this ‘Hazard Event’ as Rika and the others called it. We’re currently unsure why this happened or how long these side effects will last for, but considering our partnership, we felt it wise to inform you._

_Also Rika wants you to pick up some aspirin on your way home. Apparently we’re all out._

“Well,” Himiko said, typing a reply to Renamon quickly before pocketing her phone. “Updated news. Apparently the echoes can be seen by all thanks to the Hazard Event. Can anyone possibly offer any explanation on why this might be the case?” 

Mnemosyne said something about echoes becoming visible might happen as well when it told her about the Digital Hazard. 

There was a quiet cough amongst the Monster Makers as each of them shifted uncomfortably. 

“We’ll need to look into it,” Janyu said. “If we could analyze the Renamon echo again, perhaps we could find some sort of...digital mark within her data structure. Again, Himiko, you’re asking for a great deal when we know so very little about this development.” 

“I’ll request for her to come down then,” Himiko said simply. “In the meantime, I suggest you all work on your surprised faces if confronted with actual Digimon since this is no doubt going to be ugly. I’ll be handling the echoes as they come up.” She paused and thought for a moment, rubbing her chin. “... On the plus side we might find the demon easier now …” Shaking her head, she continued. “All of you need to be careful though. Make sure your loved ones are as well.” 

At that, Robert McCoy turned away, his hand brushing against a photograph he kept on his desk; that of a young, blond-haired girl with bright blue eyes, smiling while hugging his arm. 

_Alice…_ he thought quietly before leaning back into his chair and thumbing through his computer’s programs.

“All right,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”


	34. Sailing Ships

The room was dark, save the glow of Henry’s computer and the natural light which flitted in from the windows. Grandma was tending to the bushes outside, clicking her tongue about the two of them returning to the safety of indoors instead of enjoying the beautiful weather, but Rika didn’t care how nice the weather was.

Her headache, in truth, was slowly becoming better. It didn’t feel like her head wanted to split apart, and the quietness of the house - save for the typing of Henry’s keyboard - was beginning to once again bother her.

However, the silence she felt was better than the awkwardness which she would have to deal with if she stayed. She had hoped to avoid the topic until she knew how to approach or deal with it of her and Takato’s past relationships - preferably until she remembered them for some sort of insight. Yet Ayaka just had to ruin that.

_ Seriously, what is with her?  _ She thought, turning over on the couch so her back was no longer facing Henry. The long lines of code confused her, but it was better than looking at nothing.

“You’re restless,” Henry noted, pausing in his typing to consider his project before resuming. “You know I can hear you. I don’t think you’ve done any resting at all, and I’d lay pretty good odds that you’re worrying about something unnecessarily.”

Setting his laptop down, he turned toward her. “Do you want to talk about it? It’ll probably help you get to sleep faster, especially once I start talking.”

He gave her a lopsided grin at that. Rika couldn’t help but snort in amusement, as she pushed herself up to a sitting position, wrapping her arms around her legs. She was quiet for a few minutes, mulling over what she wanted to say before finally speaking.

“I’m … just not sure how to handle this whole situation with Takato,” she admitted. “I was hoping to … put it off until I remembered whatever we had between us. Until Ayaka shot that plan straight down.” She wrinkled her nose, scowling darkly. “If she likes Takato, she should ask him out. Stop dragging me into it.”

“I’m not entirely sure she likes Takato,” Henry said. “But...if she does...I’m not surprised. You and her are a lot more alike than you think. That’s probably  _ why  _ she needles you more than anything else. You’re like magnets. Like poles repel each other.” He considered Rika for a moment, leaning forward into his hands.

“You might not have the luxury of putting off talking to Takato about anything you know. Whether you remember or not, things are...different now. Even feelings don’t necessarily survive when you remember the past.”

“Except we dated multiple times,” Rika pointed out, slightly frustrated. Cupping her head with one arm, she tried to find the words to explain her feelings in a way Henry understood. “There must have been something there, right? Yet … I don’t feel any of that.  _ Remember _ any of that. It’s one thing if I don’t feel anything at all after remembering everything … but right now it’s this huge unknown which just is at the tip of my fingertips, but no matter how much I grasp for it, I can’t  _ grab _ it. It’s frustrating!”

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

“I know I can’t put this off any longer … I just … didn’t want to talk about it in the first place until I  _ knew  _ everything,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but I didn’t want to lead him on either, especially when I don’t even know what might happen.” She groaned and rested her forehead on her knees. “I feel like I’m in some teen drama.”

Henry chuckled softly. “You  _ are _ a teenager,” he said. “Creating drama is what we do, remember?”

Rika peeked out to glower at the half-Chinese boy.

“You know exactly what I mean,” she growled.

“I do, but that doesn’t change the truth of it,” Henry grinned before taking on a more serious expression. “Anyway, I get that you don’t want to hurt Takato or lead him on, but...not talking about it, is as bad as leading him on. Either way, it’s going to hurt. I’m not saying start  _ now _ , but it’s going to be better to rip the bandaid off rather than drag it out. Takato’s… Look, I know how he seems now, but Takato’s tougher than he looks. If there’s one thing I know about him it’s that he’ll pick himself up and move on. He cares more about you than he does about himself. If you can’t or don’t want to be with him...he’ll accept that and leave it as is.”

He smiled softly at Rika. “If you’re worried about losing his friendship, don’t. He’ll manage his feelings and still be there for you.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Rika groaned.

She knew she had a bit of a selfish streak, and to be told someone cared more about her than themselves … and she couldn’t even reciprocate those feelings made her feel incredibly guilty.

“Nothing about this is supposed to make you feel good, given your current situation. I’m approaching it from a practical perspective. Takato will be fine, even if he hurts. He’s that kind of person. You’re using his feelings to keep from discussing it and that’s leaving the problem just hanging there...where Ayaka can pick at it.”

He sighed despondently at Rika. “It’s your Achilles heel, Rika. You made it that way because you care. I just think that, if you care about Takato at all, it’ll be better to talk about this with him. Get it out there rather than let it turn into something toxic where you’re afraid to even talk to Takato because you’re afraid he’ll shatter like glass.”

Rika was silent for a moment, weighing Henry’s words before sighing, letting her body fall lengthwise on the couch once more.

“I hate it when you’re right,” she complained. “What do I even say?”

“You mean besides what you already said to me?” Henry asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I should just say that?” she asked confused. She never was in this sort of situation before.

She’s had countless love letters written to her, oh yes. However, turning them down was simple. She didn’t know them, and they didn’t know her. There was nothing to gain or lose. Just … false impressions and people imagining someone she wasn’t.

“What else is there to say?” Henry asked. “You’re not sure about how you feel about him because of your memories. It’s pretty cut and dry, Rika, as much as I hate to say it. Takato no doubt understands that. Imagine his perspective. He regained his memories knowing you didn’t. He already lives with the knowledge that you don’t feel anything for him. Well...as far as he knows, but he usually leans in the direction of the negative just to be on the safe side. I remember the number of times you’ve had to pull him toward you after all. So that’s something else he’s used to. The idea you don’t already like him.”

“Renamon did say I had to literally shake him in the past for him to understand I liked him,” Rika commented wryly.

Henry laughed. “You did. You got pretty frustrated with him too. Maybe that’s why you bit him.”

Rika grabbed the pillow and swung at Henry in response.

Henry deftly caught the pillow and tossed it back with a laugh. “There, see? Avoiding the issue makes you hurt someone. Well...try to anyway.”

“I hate you,” she complained with a scowl even though both knew she didn’t mean it.

“I know,” Henry chuckled. “That’s why we get along so well.”

“You’re pretty twisted then,” she shot back, but a small smile played on her lips.

“I learned from the best, which is to say, all of us. Especially you though.” At that, he winked at Rika before becoming serious again. “But yeah, just think about it. You don’t have to do this now, but...just keep it under your hat. Takato’s strong. Whatever you decide or do, he’ll be okay in the end. Remember, you tried to kill Guilmon. If he can accept you as his friend after that, he’ll accept anything from you.”

“Thanks for bringing that up,” Rika muttered under her breath. She  _ still _ felt guilty for trying to do so. “Want to add any other terrible decisions I made in the past on the list, just to get it over with?”

“Dating Takato in the first place?” Henry asked sarcastically, grinning slightly in jest.

“I said terrible decisions  _ I  _ made, not Takato made,” Rika shot back, although she was smirking as well.

“I thought that was a decision you made,” Henry frowned, scratching the side of his face in false confusion. “Repeatedly. And you’ve expressed frustration often about it every time. Like you’re doing right now.”

He glanced over at Rika, his expression softening. “Sorry. A bit too much?”

“It’s fine,” she assured him before becoming thoughtful. “Well … fine from you. Other people … not so much.” She smirked slightly at that. “You should feel honored.”

The smile slipped as she leaned back on the couch.

“Still … I do kind of wonder what he saw in me. Or sees in me I guess. Like you said, I  _ did _ try to kill Guilmon, and let’s be honest … I’m not the easiest person to get along with. I started my teen rebellion age at 10 and haven’t left it since,” she admitted. “I haven’t exactly done a lot right by him, and I sort of wonder why he chose me over Jeri.”

“You could always ask him you know,” Henry replied, indicating her cell phone. “Either through that or by going over to his home so you can chat face to face...that option is always there. Unless you’re a mind reader…”

He trailed off, looking at Rika expectantly.

“I will once I figure out a way to say it which won’t give him a heart attack,” Rika replied, sticking her tongue out. “Ayaka isn’t the only one who has no tact.”

“He’s used to it from you,” Henry smiled, glancing over at his program again thoughtfully. “Like I said, he accepts you for you. He’ll hear you out even with your problems with tact. Just be honest with him.”

“I think we both know when I’m not avoiding the issue, honesty is something I have in spades,” Rika smirked.

“That you do,” Henry agreed with a nod. “Maybe you need a test dummy version of Takato for you to practice on. Or...I don’t know. An image of him you can yell at anyway…”

After a second of thought, he dug into his pocket and withdrew his wallet. Fanning through it, he pulled out a small picture and handed it to Rika.

“Here. You can borrow this if you’d like. I found it again recently hiding behind my desk while I was unplugging from my power strip.”

Rika reached out and took the photo, somewhat curious to what it was, arching an eyebrow upon seeing it.

“Someone actually managed to get a photo with me in it?” she asked.

Looking at it didn’t bring back any memories, but she could feel something  _ familiar _ about the scene. It was her, Henry and Takato by a bench overlooking the sea. Takato was sitting in front of the bench, wearing a white t-shirt, giving the camera a wild smile and a peace sign, goggles safely nestled in his hair. Henry was standing, leaning into the photo wearing a blue t-shirt and she was sitting on the bench, not smiling, of course but surprisingly posing for the picture.

_ Huh. I even still have that straw hat _ , she thought.

“Takato’s cousin did,” Henry nodded. “You weren’t there by choice. Omnimon dropped you and I off to help Takato fight Mephistomon. He made copies for all three of us.” He glanced around the room. “You should still have yours somewhere around here...somewhere.” He frowned. “Usually people lose things in  _ messy _ rooms. I’m used to Takato not having something like that sitting around because he’s got a pile of papers on top of it. How do you have a clean room and not have something like that where you can see it?”

“It’s probably with my precious other things,” Rika said simply, handing the photo back. Now that she knew she had it, she had a pretty good idea where exactly to look.

“If that’s the case, then you already have something to practice on,” Henry grinned. “Just don’t try to bite it, okay? It’s a photo, not the real thing.”

“Now I know where Terriermon gets his sense of humor from,” Rika grumbled darkly.

“More like he provided the lessons,” replied Henry, tucking the photo back into its spot in his wallet. “I’ve just been keeping his seat warm for him.  _ Somebody _ had to.” He glanced up at Rika. “So you remember Terriermon now?”

“Bits and pieces,” she admitted with a shrug. “Mostly being annoyed at him, and finally understanding why I get irked whenever someone tells me to take it easy.”

“Well, you  _ do _ need to momentai. You worry a lot after all. It doesn’t seem to be very good for you. I know it’s not very good for Takato.”

“There’s a lot to worry about,” she said simply.

“Yeah,” Henry agreed with a nod. “But you still need to momentai every now and then.”

“In a way which doesn’t involve fighting I suppose,” Rika commented dryly. The thrill of the fight and the adrenaline which resulted from it always got her blood pumping, yet during those times it’s like she’s at the eye of the storm.

_ I don’t have to think of anything else then… _

“Actually...fighting might not be a bad idea,” Henry said, thinking it over. “It does help  _ you _ relieve stress. Maybe this is something you can arrange with Takato at some point too. Since, you know, you’re supposed to be teaching him how to fight because of Kazu after all.”

“I can’t believe Jeri just was OK with bringing him into things,” Rika clicked her tongue, rage boiling under the surface at the mere mention of Kazu’s name. “She’s forgiving, but  _ come on _ .”

“Rika,” Henry chuckled. “You almost sound jealous.”

Rika snorted derisively at that.

“I sound  _ sane _ ,” she shot back. “He’s an ass.”

“Kazu was a lot better than he is now, just like Takato was before Mnemosyne got a hold of his memories. Same for you. And for Jeri.” He looked at Rika’s wall thoughtfully, seeing the light spill through from the other side. It felt...appropriate given the topic of Mnemosyne. “Maybe if he remembered too…” He shook his head. “Maybe that’s why Jeri brought him back in. She knows what he’s like at his best, just like Takato and I do. I guess...we’re trying to get him to go back to being who he was before Mnemosyne showed up.”

Rika just grunted - clearly not liking it, but what done was done. She felt Kazu was too easily forgiven - especially since Kenta  _ finally _ managed to separate himself from the boy, only for them to be thrown back together once again.

Between that and the way the boy treated two of her best friends, Rika was fine with letting him suffer on his own for a bit longer.

_ He deserves it _ , she thought darkly.

**###**

Takato glanced at Kazu warily as he, the boy in question and Jeri made their way down the park path. There was a tension in the air, for reasons that were all too obvious. Frowning, he looked away, hating that feeling.

_ This...isn’t how things used to be, _ he thought.  _ And we’re supposed to be working together. We’re all supposed to be friends. _

Takato took a deep breath, realizing that someone here was going to have to break the ice.

_ Guess that someone is me,  _ he thought.  _ Might as well. I’m sick to death of being a coward. I can’t believe how far I’ve gone from what I used to be. _

“So…” he began carefully, coughing politely. “That’s...uh...quite a swing you’ve got there, Kazu.”

_ Way to break the ice, Gogglehead, _ his mind groaned at his mouth as Jeri turned to look at him in shock.

She wasn’t the only one. Kazu could only stare dumbly at Takato’s idea of trying to break the ice - if it was that at all. Maybe it was his way of trying to get Jeri back, despite liking Rika. The  _ Demon Queen _ apparently didn’t seem to have any interest in him - despite the fact they apparently dated in the past - so he was chasing after Jeri now finally. If he showed - or rather, reminded - Jeri of Kazu’s mistakes, she would date him.

_ He doesn’t need to try so hard seeing that she still likes him _ , the boy thought, looking away.

Still … he wasn’t going to give up so easily this time without a fight.

“Sorry,” he said, Kenta’s words, or rather,  _ ultimatum _ , echoing in his mind. Apologize to Takato … Jeri was right here, and if all he needed to do was swallow his pride, he could do that much. For her.

Jeri and Takato both looked at him with surprise before the girl’s face softened a bit, only to become firm once more.

“Uh...thanks?” Takato replied, rubbing the back of his head, not sure where to go with this unexpected apology. “So...I guess bygones are bygones?”

“Well, we  _ are  _ working together now,” Kazu said, forcing a smile to his face. He wasn’t ready to let go of the past just yet, but he decided he could pretend he would.

_ I told Kenta I would do anything to get her back. If it means playing along … it’s not so bad. It was kind of lonely without Chumley. _

Jeri narrowed her eyes slightly at him. Takato could be naive at times, and while she couldn’t say if that was the case here, she was not so easily fooled. Still, she too wanted to bury that part of the past and move on. They all needed each other if they were to somehow defeat Mnemosyne.

“Yeah,” she said coolly. “We are.” She threw on a fake smile and beamed at the two boys. “Now how about we leave that behind us? Let’s be friends again, like we used to be. Only, you know. Less with the punching of each other and everything?”

“Fine by me,” Takato chuckled, though hesitantly. As much as he wanted to be friends with Kazu again, the tension remained between them. He doubted it could ever be dismissed so easily no matter how much sunshine lay within Jeri’s smile.

Kazu smiled back at Jeri, glad to see she was smiling at him again. While he wanted to be more than friends again with Jeri, he supposed he could start with just friends. He was the one who broke up with her after all, and now that he was in the group … he would know how to stave off Takato making him look bad, and make sure he could properly win her heart this time.

“Sure,” he agreed. “Friends.”

“All right,” Jeri said, visibly relaxing for what felt like the first time in forever. “Now that that’s over with, what do you want to do? Or...talk about? We’ve still got plenty of daylight left after all.”

“Um…” Takato scratched the back of his head. “I’m… I don’t know really.” Digging out his cell phone, he checked the time. Too early to take off for his shift at the bakery. “What  _ do  _ you want to do? Either of you.”

_ Date Jeri _ , Kazu thought but he didn’t say that out loud.

“Well I am personally curious about this relationship between you and the fabled  _ Demon Queen _ ,” Kazu smirked. “How did  _ that _ happen?”

“Uh…” Takato blushed and his hand paused on the back of his head. “I...don’t think she’d appreciate me talking about it. It’s...kind of personal after all. And she doesn’t remember it anyway.”

“We won’t tell,” Jeri promised. Although she respected Takato’s desire to keep things between himself and Rika private, she had to admit she was curious as well and...as much as she hated to admit it...a bit jealous as well. “I mean, I remember that you two dated a lot, but I don’t remember how it happened.”

Takato’s face flushed even more. “W-Well…” he began, before hesitating and looking around, half-expecting Rika to just suddenly be there, as she always seemed to be whenever he went and embarrassed himself in some manner.

“Come on, out with it, Chumley,” Kazu insisted, not sure why he was looking around like a sacred rat. “It’s nobody but us, and even if anybody did overhear us, it’s not like they’d know or care.”

Takato scratched his chin anxiously. “Well...let’s just say that the first time, Rika kidnapped me, and leave it at that, okay?”

“Kidnapped?” began Jeri, missing what Takato said about ‘leaving it at that.'

“Dude, you can’t just ‘leave it at that!’” Kazu declared. “Makes it look like you have Stockholm’s Syndrome!”

“He doesn’t,” scowled Jeri. “I know these two and their relationship better than you, you know.”

“Look, I just don’t think I should really go into it without Rika here. And I’m sure she wouldn’t want to talk about it anyway since it’s personal. Besides…” Takato’s expression softened a little, becoming slightly downcast now. “It’s not like it matters now anyway, since she doesn’t remember.”

“Takato…” began Jeri softly.  _ “Of course  _ it matters. You feel something for her.”

Takato shrugged, taking hold of his feelings tightly and thrusting them down mentally, hoping to bury them where no one could ever find them.

“It’s too weird, talking about it now when the feelings aren’t...mutual.”

“You don’t know that,” Kazu said before an idea so genius he couldn’t believe he didn’t think of it earlier popped in his head. Takato was his main competition for Jeri’s heart. If he removed that competition, not only could he make himself look better in Jeri’s eyes for “encouraging” him, but make his path less difficult to navigate this time around.

“Chumley,” Kazu started, stopping in front of him before staring him straight in the eyes. “You don’t know how someone feels unless you ask, OK? I mean yeah, Jeri’s right, I know shit about your relationship. But I  _ do _ know if you like her so much, you ought to talk to her. Normally I agree with Ayaka on … pretty much nothing, but she got the right idea this time around.”

“Jeez Kazu,” began Takato sarcastically. “You still have as much luck with ‘tact’ like Terriermon.”

“I can’t comment on that,” Kazu pointed out. “Anyway, what do you think Jeri?” he asked, turning to the girl who had remained quiet. “You think Takato should talk to Rika about whatever is going on between them, or am I just crazy?”

Jeri looked back and forth between the two boys before turning away and allowing her bangs to drape over her eyes.

“Maybe...Maybe you should,” she admitted finally, almost saying that she _ didn’t  _ think it would change anything between them.

“See?” Kazu said excitedly, glad to have Jeri on board. He noticed she hesitated, but he knew she still had feelings for Chumley. Cheering him on to talk to her rival must be hard.

He couldn't do it, but that's what made her better than him. Than anyone.

Takato closed his eyes, feeling his heartbeat becoming erratic. Kazu was right, after a fashion, but...try as he might, for some reason he didn’t see Rika as feeling that way about him. Not presently at any rate. His instincts, muddled as they were, were quite clear on this.

_ But...how many times did we end up together? She kept coming after me. Chasing me. So...why do I feel like that’s not happening now? What’s different this time? _

It felt as though his heart had been broken in two, much like the infamous T-Shirt she wore when they were children. It hurt. He hated to admit it, but this felt far too strong to just ignore.

_ Maybe though… Maybe that’s the coward I turned into talking. Maybe I’m just thinking too much. Maybe… Damn it! What’s different this time? _

“It’s a bad idea,” Takato said distractedly. “We’ve still got things to do with Mnemosyne, and...I...don’t want to be a distraction or anything right now. I...don’t want to be a liability.”

“Takato…” Jeri began softly before frowning at him. “ _ Liability? _ Takato… You’ve  _ never _ been a  _ liability _ to Rika. If anything, the two of you  _ always  _ helped each other get stronger. Why would you even  _ think _ that?”

Takato looked ashamed and glanced away. “I don’t know. Baggage probably. I don’t… _ feel _ like the me I used to be. And I don’t know how to change that.”

Approaching Takato, she took hold of his hands and squeezed them tightly. “Takato. Some people come into your life that are hard to find again if you lose them. Believe me. Rika’s one of those people. Do you really want to spend all your time convincing yourself of all the reasons you shouldn’t at least try to at least tell her how you feel and end up losing her? She’s had to do this for you before. As someone who…who lost their chance at getting that special someone because she was too stupid to let them know how she felt…don’t make the same mistake.”

“Jeri…” Takato met her gaze and squeezed her back. “You’re not stupid. I don’t think you…”

“Takato?”

“Yeah?”

“Do as I say. Not as I do. Okay?”

Kazu felt jealous of the two as he watched the scene. No matter how much Jeri denied she still loved Takato, Kazu knew she did. It hurt his chest just thinking on it.

_ Yet she is encouraging him to go after Rika. This is what you left behind, Takato, _ he thought.

“You don't want to make the same mistake twice, do ya Chumley?” Kazu asked, raising a challenging eyebrow.

“I don’t...want to make Rika feel that she has to do something she doesn’t want,” Takato replied. “Something’s...different about this time. I don’t know what, but it is.”

Jeri gave him another encouraging squeeze. “Either way, you’ll still have to talk to her. Sooner or later, you will. Maybe...Just maybe...this time you won’t have to go through such a crazy dance and worry yourself constantly.” She paused, pressing her lips together before continuing. “If you don’t talk to each other… If you end up being distracted by this, then... you really will be a liability.”

Takato’s eyes shot open and his hands dropped away from hers as he found himself speechless.

“I…” he stammered out before taking a step backward. “I’d...better go.”

Without waiting to see what either of them would say, he spun around and raced off, leaving Jeri to stare after his retreating back, her eyes softening sorrowfully, feeling as though her heart were splitting in two as well regarding her two friends.

“Good luck, Takato,” she whispered.

“That … was blunt,” Kazu noted, wanting to say ‘harsh,’ but held his tongue. “You OK with this though?”

“I’ll be fine,” Jeri said throatily. “I guess I’m just...used to disappointments.”

It was a harsh thing to say about herself, and Jeri knew she was wallowing in self-pity, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt the sting of anger, jealousy, and a slew of other emotions she couldn’t put a name to yet. She clutched at her wrist out of habit, wishing she didn’t feel this way. Feel the need to  _ lash out _ at herself for things that were beyond her control.

_ It’s how things are meant to be I guess, _ she thought miserably.  _ It’s...It’s destiny after all. Takato and Rika… They’ve always been drawn to each other. _

A dry, humorless smile touched her lips.

_ Rika once said we could choose our own destiny… _

Kazu took a tentative step forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I know how much you love him,” he said quietly. “You're something else, you know?” He tried to offer her a comforting smile. “You really are too kind, I think sometimes. Ah! Not that's a bad thing!”

He took his hand off her shoulder and dug around in his pocket for his cigarettes before remembering he ran out. He made a mental note to buy more … and another lighter.

“I … just think you are prettier when you smile happily. It's like the sun decided to visit earth then…” he mumbled.

Unexpectedly, Jeri spun around and pulled Kazu into a powerful hug, burying her face into his chest to hide the tears that stung the corners of her eyes.

“You...have bad pickup lines…” she whispered hoarsely. “You know that...right?”

“Ah…” Kazu hemmed and hawed before deciding to hug her back. “They're working, so why fix what isn't broken?”

“Funny…” Jeri sniffed, pulling Kazu closer. “I’m the only girl they’ve ever worked on. That sure sounds pretty broken to me.”

“Hey if one cute girl likes them, I consider that a success,” Kazu pointed out, a crooked grin crossing his features.

With great effort, Jeri pushed herself away from Kazu, feeling that it was best to keep the teen at arms length.

“Kazu… If you keep doing that…” she began before blushing heavily. “We might...end up like...before, and…”

She looked away, unable to continue. She could still remember their time together, the way his fingers fit into hers, the smoothness of his skin on hers, and the weight of his body...

_ No! Don’t think about that! _

Jeri brought her arms around herself and turned away, resuming their trek. Takato, it seemed, had the right idea after all.

_ Are any of us really up to this if we act this way around each other? _

“What if I want that?” Kazu asked quietly, but loud enough for his voice to be heard by the other girl. He didn’t follow quite right away, struggling with the words he wanted to say and how he wanted to say them.

This was his chance. He wasn’t going to let it slip through his fingers. He wouldn’t have anyone encourage him, so he needed to do it himself.

“I … know you’re still in love with Takato. I understand that, I really do!” he said slowly, before blushing himself. “But … I’m still in love with you, despite … well, you know.” He rubbed his arm, wishing he was better with words. “I’ll wait for as long as it takes for you to get through these feelings of yours. Kenta told me ... that there wasn’t a magical switch you can flip, and … he was right. There isn’t; for any of us. If you like someone, you just … do. There isn’t any helping it. You like Takato. I like you. Takato likes Rika. It’s … messy. It hurts … but … I just want you to know, if you want to again … I’m here.”

Jeri paused in mid-stride, her arms shaking as she hugged herself. She started to turn toward Kazu, only to stop, feeling that if she did, she would run to him again for comfort.

Yet, she  _ needed _ it, the way a person needed oxygen to breathe.

_ No. It’s not like that. Not quite.  _ She knew where this was coming from. It had the same root as the source of the scar on her wrist. If she gave in…

_ If I do...I’m afraid that I might end up using Kazu. I don’t...I don’t want that. _

She stiffened as she heard something… The sound of waves crashing upon the shore. Turning around in confusion, her gaze fell on Kazu, and then all was quiet again. There had been no waves. Just the two of them and the occasional passerby. She looked away, suddenly  _ very _ aware of how very tired and alone she felt just now.

“Kazu?” she began quietly, her voice quavering a little. “Will you…” She swallowed anxiously. “Will you walk me home?”

“Of course,” Kazu agreed quickly, already mentally planning on how to avoid getting killed by her father in the process. Jogging so he was next to her, he offered her a reassuring smile. He knew all of this must be sudden, but if he could spend time with her again, he would gladly jump through whatever hoops he needed to.

Swallowing again as her nerves buzzed the length of her body, Jeri tightened her grip around herself and resumed walking.

“Thank you,” she said softly, wishing that for once the world would make sense to he...to  _ all  _ of them.

As usual however, the world remained fickle about what wishes it granted.

**###**

Takato ran through the park, but his pace slowed to a walk long before he reached Rika’s home. Doubts clawed at him, threatening to envelop him. More than once he felt that the wiser course of action would be to turn around and save this for another time. In the end though, he found himself standing outside the gate to Rika’s home. Hesitation seized him, but he entered all the same, stepping into the front yard.

“Takato?” came the voice of Renamon. Spinning around, he found the vulpine digimon standing over at the koi pond, a book in one hand, as she gazed at him with her mysterious blue eyes that always looked cold and threatening. He knew more lay behind them however, and had long learned to see further than just the surface of those eyes, but all the same he felt a bit unnerved, perhaps more so, fearing that he might end up hurting Rika if he continued on with this course of action.

“Hey Renamon,” he began, waving at her carefully. “Is...Rika home?”

“She is,” Renamon nodded. “Would you like me to go get her?”

“I…” Takato coughed, feeling the heat of his face increase tenfold. “Yeah. If it’s no trouble I mean.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Renamon replied with a slight bow to her head before vanishing into thin air, leaving the teen to fret over what the next few minutes would bring.

_ Maybe this was a bad idea after all. I...I should leave. _

Yet his feet remained rooted where they were, awaiting their owner’s fate. He felt as though he were placed under a guillotine. The wait was almost as torturous.

It was a couple of minutes before Rika emerged from her house, glaring at the sun as if it had personally wronged her, although the sunglasses she was wearing earlier in the day were nowhere on her face … as were her sandals, instead the girl seemed to have decided to simply come out in her bare feet.

“Hey,” she greeted Takato, the dark look she was shooting the sun vanishing immediately upon seeing the boy, instead an awkward smile taking its place. “Sup?”

Takato’s anxiety shot up even more at the sight of her and his mouth almost clamped shut. With painful effort, he forced himself to speak, swimming through the sudden wave of dizziness that enveloped him.

“I… About…” He coughed.  _ Why’s this have to be so hard?  _ “About what Ayaka said earlier… I…” He ran a hand through his hair, fighting to organize his thoughts. “Are you...okay?”

It was lame sounding, but it was the best he could do with how his brain and body were currently at war with one another. He could barely tell up from down and fear...yes,  _ fear _ coursed through every fiber of his body.

He  _ knew _ the answer she was going to give his question about how she felt about him. Why was he even here to begin with?

“Ah…” Rika hummed, her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach, suddenly unable to meet his eyes.

_ Good thing I talked to Henry … talk about fantastic timing _ , she thought, glancing to the house where no doubt Renamon and the Chinese boy were talking about what was transpiring right now. If she was lucky they were talking about whatever philosophical thing they enjoyed, but she doubted very much that was the case.

“I feel like that’s a question more meant for you than me,” she said after a minute, slipping her hands into pocket as she rocked back and forth on her heels uneasily.

Takato found himself nodding reluctantly, and was surprised that he was even doing so in the first place. After a moment’s consideration, he moved on, the world stabilizing a little for him, but he remained painfully aware of the flush creeping over his whole body.

“I was worried,” he admitted. “Yeah, I know it’s silly but…”

He soon floundered again, and his vision of the world suddenly  _ lurched _ . Panicking, words, dreadful ones, spilled out of his mouth in one mad rush.

“I like you, Rika.”

The world snapped into solid view all at once, and Takato had barely a second to register the shock he felt at their finally becoming known, before quickly joining them with words appropriate for the moment.

“Oh shit.” He hadn’t meant for  _ that  _ to come out.

A small chuckle escaped Rika’s lips at that. She didn’t mean it to, but the scene was cute and amusing in its own way. However, her mirth died as quickly as it came and she looked away, her smile slipping off her face, her hands escaping her pockets as she wrapped them around herself.

“I know,” she admitted. “I’ve known for a while. I … just didn’t want to say anything since you know.” She paused and gave a wry laugh, the words  _ I’m broken _ came to mind, but they didn’t escape her mouth. Somehow she knew Takato would disagree, and she didn’t want to get into a pointless argument about something she knew to be true about herself but the boy would refuse to accept. “Man … I don’t know how to do this. I like you too, but not in the way you mean it. I _ ’ _ ve  _ known _ about our past relationships ever since we saw the cherry blossoms … but … I haven’t remembered them.”

Pausing again, she kicked the dirt up with her heel, finding it suddenly more interesting than looking at Takato. She didn’t want to see the hurt on his face. If she did, there was a chance she might change her mind. The temptation to lie, for the first time ever, was strong.

_ I hate this _ , she thought. The words which Henry suggested she say flew right out of her mind. It was too soon. She wasn’t prepared. Everything was a mess. She knew, somewhere, that she needed to do this, to make him understand that she just couldn’t.

It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. To either of them.

_ “It’s your Achilles heel, Rika. You made it that way because you care.” _

“I’m … really sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t want to do this, but I don’t want to pretend and lead you on either. Besides, even if I  _ did _ … like you that way, I wouldn’t want to just … jump into anything until I remembered everything. I don’t want to wake up suddenly one day and remember a snippet of something and get pissed or whatever since I don’t have the context or history to go along with it.”

She sighed and uncrossed her arms, forcing herself to look at Takato. He deserved that much.   


“I don’t remember anything about us … or much at all in general. I also don’t want you to wait around for me to remember either.” She paused and frowned not quite sure how to put her words into proper thoughts. “So … I guess what I’m saying is … don’t wait up for me to remember. If you find happiness somewhere else, take it.”

Takato felt his heart crack for real, but he kept his expression light, not wanting Rika to see the pain he felt inside.

“Yeah…” he said numbly, feeling as though his whole world had fallen away from him and that its foundations were crumbling beneath it. “I...I thought that was the case. Jeri didn’t believe me.” He sighed and unclenched his hands, a part of him wondering when that happened before brushing it off as unimportant.

Looking up, he met Rika’s eyes and forced a smile on his face. “Well… Thanks for answering. That’s one of the things I always liked best about you.” He nearly choked as the emotional storm threatened to break free, but he held on.  _ Just a little bit longer, _ he told himself before continuing. “I can always count on you to be honest with me.”

He didn’t want to let her go. Every part of him shouted to tell her that he would wait...that he was  _ willing  _  to wait for as long as it took, but…

...she gave her answer. There was nothing left to say or do.

“I...ah…” He tossed his thumb at the gate and began to back up awkwardly. “I’ve got to get going. I…” He brought himself short of apologizing for taking up her time and fumbled about for another excuse that wouldn’t be as insulting to her.

Knowing her as he did, she would not react well to the insinuation that he did nothing but waste her time.

“I...ah...I’ve got to get home and help out. I’m running a bit late so...um… Talk to you later.”

“Wait,” Rika asked, her voice wavering slightly wondering if she should even ask this, feeling incredibly selfish, but there wouldn’t be another chance to ask him without bringing up the awkwardness and pain of right now. “If I can steal one more minute of your time … why  _ do  _ you like me … and why … did you choose me over Jeri?”

Takato’s breath caught in his throat, and his struggle with his warring emotions almost slipped. Tightening one hand together, he held firm. Just another minute…

“I…” Takato’s gaze again met Rika’s, and his fingers loosened. He scratched the side of his face, his brow furrowing, contemplating his feelings. She was beautiful, but how he felt about her went beyond simply the physical. There was more to it. A feeling; a word. The way she looked at him. The things she shared, or how she stood by him. How could one describe their better half and all the feelings that went with that?

“It’s hard to put into words,” he admitted finally. “It’s just… After all these years, I just know I can trust you with everything. Always. There’s really nothing else to it.”

He offered Rika a small smile before bowing politely.

“I’ll see you around,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” Rika agreed, her own voice going very quiet. Takato’s reasoning didn’t … exactly make sense to her, but she supposed when it came to feelings, nothing was cut and dry. That’s why they were messy, and why she tried to avoid dealing with them. They weren’t  _ logical _ . They didn’t make  _ sense _ . There was no direct correlation she could follow. Nothing she could study to strategize to make sense of them. They were like forces of nature which dictated everything in their lives … but nobody could control.

“...We’re … still friends right?” she asked suddenly, a sudden fear cascading over her like a wave, and somewhere in the distance she thought she could hear the ocean. It was like how it was in the cafe, only louder now and more clear.

Takato smiled at her and nodded, not noticing the lone tear that slipped free from his eye and traced a path down his face.

“Always,” he said, turning away. “Later...Rika.”

He had barely exited Rika’s home before the torrent started, but he managed to keep it to himself, turning down the street. He felt lost, unsure of where to go or what to do. Stopping in the middle of the path, he looked skyward for a moment, blinking back the tears.

“I knew it,” he whispered painfully. Wiping an arm over his face, he glared at his sleeve angrily. “Get a hold of yourself, Gogglehead.”

Reorienting himself, he started for home, feeling as though he had just destroyed something important.

Unknown to him, Rika felt the same way. Staring numbly at the closed gate, her heart had broken in half upon seeing the tear which escaped Takato’s eye. It was something she desperately wanted to avoid, yet in the end, she had just hurt someone incredibly precious to her.

“What did I do?” she asked herself quietly, her voice cracking slightly, the waves getting louder.

**###**

“I’m just...not sure now whether bringing Kazu back into the group was a good idea,” Jeri admitted to Ayaka, shifting her cell phone in her hand as she turned the page of her manga. “I mean, it  _ is _ , it’s just…” Her eyes scanned the pages, but didn’t actually read them. “I don’t know. Kazu just knows what to say to me, and…” She trailed off, her gaze sliding off the pages and down onto the blanket, and she thought of the day she and Kazu made love for the first time. She thought of Takato and Rika...and she felt a great wall of uncertainty rise up within her. Uncertainty and jealousy as well.

“Ayaka? Am I doing the right thing?”

“ _ You know my feelings about Kazu, so if you are looking for an unbiased opinion, you’re barking up the wrong tree _ ,” Ayaka’s voice crackled over the phone. There was a pause as sounds of the microwave beeping flooded through the earpiece, and Ayaka’s mumbled grumbles filtered through for about 10 seconds before she continued. “ _ Also if you are seriously thinking about dating him again, I don’t care how late it is. I will go over there and shake some sense into you.” _

“I could say the same thing about you and Takato,” Jeri grumbled. “Not to mention how you keep antagonizing Rika over him.  _ You _ could use a good shaking there.”

“ _ She’s a bully to him! _ ” Ayaka protested hotly. “ _ I mean yeah, she’s nowhere as bad as Kazu, but she’s just not good for him. You and him are too nice for your own good, so it falls on me to look after you both so you aren’t taken advantage of by people like Rika and Kazu.” _

“She’s not a bully to him,” Jeri sighed. “Ayaka, you’ve only  _ technically  _ known Rika for a few months. I’ve known them for years. You don’t know these two like I do. Rika doesn’t take advantage of people.”

“ _ I suppose you know them just like you know Kazu?”  _ Ayaka shot back sarcastically. “ _ You knew how they  _ used _ to be. People change. Besides, she’s only really nice to you. Pretty much her only good point honestly…” _

“I  _ know _ people change!” Jeri snapped angrily. “That’s why we’re talking about Kazu!”

Groaning at her sudden temper, Jeri flopped to the side, covering her face with one arm.

“I’m sorry Ayaka. It’s just...Rika’s different from Kazu. I’ve never seen her act like Kazu has...the way Kazu became. I know about her  _ Demon Queen _ reputation, but...it’s not quite the same. She’s different with people she’s friends with. And that’s just it, Ayaka. She’s never really had friends before us. We’re all special to her.”

_ Sometimes though it feels like I’m  _ extra  _ special to her though, _ she mused, shifting her arm so she was now looking up at the ceiling.  _ Ayaka’s right. She’s never as rough on me like she is with any of the boys. Or girls for that matter. I’m...different. _

She pushed the thought aside - or at least tried to. Takato and Rika… She didn’t want to come between them.

_ Besides. Rika would never see me like that anyway… _

“ _ The way you’re defending her, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you liked her, _ ” Ayaka retorted, her words slightly garbled - no doubt speaking with her mouth full again.

“You mean like the way you defend Takato?” Jeri asked, ignoring the sharp blush that crossed her features. “Or fix his uniform? Or complain about everything he does? I’m not the only one to think it I’m sure. You complain about Takato like you want him to be boyfriend material.”

_ “You’re evading the question,” _ Ayaka shot back, sidestepping Jeri’s own.

“No, I’m not.” Jeri sat up and adjusted her phone again. “I’m using what you do as an example. Since when does talking about someone mean that you like-like someone? Or doing anything with someone? If you don’t do what you do with Takato because you don’t like him ‘in that way’ then you can’t say what you said about me and Rika.”

She huffed, puffing out her blushing cheeks like a chipmunk, certain that she got Ayaka there.

“ _ Takato  _ needs _ someone to take care of him and look after him. Rika does not _ ,” Ayaka debated hotly before pausing a minute to swallow her food. “ _ Unless it’s not to punch someone, then, yes, she needs a constant babysitter.” _

“You just don’t understand those two, Ayaka,” Jeri frowned, tracing a circle on her blankets. “You don’t understand them at all.” She bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. “Ayaka…you need to stop treating Takato like he’s still ten and completely helpless. You don’t know the things he’s done or gone through to…to save me, or to save everyone else. He’s stronger than you think.”

“ _ Yet he can't even remember to wear his tie properly,” _ Ayaka responded, and just by the tone of her voice, it was obvious she was rolling her eyes.

“Tying a tie has nothing to do with doing what needs to be done to protect someone you care about.”

Ayaka was quiet for a moment - only if because it sounded like she was drinking out of a straw. When she was home alone, she tended to eat the unhealthiest things she could find in the house.

“ _ Look,” _ Ayaka said finally. “ _ I know you've liked Takato for years. Trust me I approve, especially after that stint with Kazu you had. Either way, he still acts like that lost kid back in elementary school. I'm sure he pulls through when really needed or whatever, but … I dunno what to say to you. You have these memories of how they  _ used  _ to be, and so I guess you see their potential. I see them how they are now. Besides … I wonder if they, or any of us, can go back to how we used to be. The past is the past, and even if we have a ton of fake memories … they still affect us.” _

“I know,” Jeri said, curling her fingers around the blankets. “Believe me, I know that  _ very _ well. But you’re not seeing Takato’s potential. Like that time when you told Takato to be quiet during your argument with Rika. It’s like you want to cage him up.”

She shifted slightly on her bed. “You don’t remember this, but...in the first few months after our original adventure ended, I was...in a rough place. I had been used by the D-Reaper, and I was still grieving about Leomon and my...my birth mother. And Takato wasn’t sure how to help me. He just knew he wanted to keep me safe, and he tried to do what you did to him. ‘Tried to keep me safe’. Tried to keep me in a cage.”

She continued to trace a circle on the blanket as she thought over those memories, and the old frustrations that went with them. A part of her wondered if that was the one silver lining that came out of Mnemosyne’s arrival in the real world. “It’s coming from a good place, but I couldn’t live like that. No one can. So please. Don’t do that to him. Let him make some mistakes. Otherwise, you’re suffocating him.”

Ayaka was quiet for a moment before she sighed.

“ _ Fine. I'll try,”  _ her voice took on a mock seriousness. “ _ Because you asked.” _

“I guess I’ll just have to live with that,” Jeri sighed back before a playful grin curved on her lips. “Maybe then when -  _ if - _ you ask Takato out, he’ll see you in a more positive light.”

“ _ Jeri!” _ Ayaka protested hotly. “ _ It's not like that!” _

“You sure don’t act like it,” Jeri giggled. “I’ve said it before. You and Rika are a lot alike. She was ready to really give Kazu a piece of her mind...well, her fist actually...when she heard he punched Takato. It really took us a lot to hold her back. The way you’ve been acting reminds me a lot of that.”

“ _ Please. If I liked Takato like that, I wouldn't skirt around the issue,”  _ Ayaka snorted. “ _ The dance they are doing is annoying.” _

“Tell that to Takato’s butt,” Jeri giggled.

“ _ In case you have forgotten, I declared Rika's better,”  _ Ayaka sniffed before muttering under her breath something about model genes.

“Yes, but you didn’t slap Rika’s butt. You’re not acting like you’re in charge of what happens to Rika and who she hangs out with.” She furrowed her brow. “You  _ have  _ gotten to be possessive of Takato.” She sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed. “Maybe you’re on the rebound. How long has it been since you broke up with Akio? Maybe you’re looking at him differently now because he likes someone else and is a good guy.”

“ _ I broke up with him months ago,” _ Ayaka said, her voice taking a sour tone. “ _ Lets drop it and talk about something else.” _

“I don’t know if we should,” Jeri insisted. “Ayaka, you’ve been really getting bent out of shape about what goes on between Takato and Rika, and you’ve been...well, you’ve been getting worse. You went from just arguing with Rika and talking about how you disapprove of things between them to groping Takato and challenging Rika to a drinking game. That’s...not normal for you. At all.” Her expression softened. “Tell me the truth. How do you  _ really _ feel about him?”

“ _ I  _ don't  _ want to talk about this, _ ” Ayaka insisted, snapping a bit. “ _ So drop it. Please.” _

Jeri frowned, wondering if she should just do as her friend requested. Swallowing, she pushed ahead.

“Only if you answer my question,” she persisted.

“ _ No,” _ was Ayaka's answer and the line went dead.

Jeri lowered her phone and sighed despondently. “Well… That went well,” she said to herself before texting a quick apology to her friend. She wasn’t expecting a reply, but she didn’t want things to be sour between them. Setting her phone aside, she glanced out the window, wondering how things went between Takato and Rika.

_ Hopefully better than my conversation with Ayaka, _ she thought miserably, wishing she didn’t feel so jealous of the two.

**###**

Rika walked down the path back home, saying goodbye to Henry a few minutes ago as they separated ways. Jeri was still following her, but her train was a couple blocks away yet, and there was silence between the two as their feet hit the asphalt.

Not that Rika hadn't been quiet all day - well quieter than normal, her talk with Takato still weighing heavily on her soul. Despite Henry and Renamon telling her she did the right thing, she wondered if that was the case.

_ What if he leaves too? _

The fear, however unfounded she was told it was, swam around her head, circling like a whirlpool.

Jeri glanced at Rika with a touch of concern. Her abnormal silence persisted throughout the day, and even her normal methods of getting her to talk hadn’t been successful. Lunch had been nothing more than an uncomfortable chore and she found herself unable to finish eating.

She sighed mentally. She could understand not wanting to talk about one’s problems. The scar on her arm was a constant reminder of that. Still, seeing Rika like this so soon after Takato left her and Kazu to go ‘talk to her’ (at least she believed that to be the case) seemed much too coincidental.

_ Maybe I should just cut right to the chase, _ she thought quietly.

“So…” she began carefully, testing the waters. “How did things go yesterday?”

Rika paused in her walk, violet eyes glancing backwards as her brow furrowed slightly.

“What do you mean?” she asked, the longest sentence she said all day.

“Um…” Jeri suddenly felt uncertain. Frowning back, she pressed on. “I guess I was wondering if Takato ever talked to you yesterday.”

“Oh.” Rika looked forward again, resuming her walk wondering how Jeri knew about that before remembering Takato saying the brunette thought she had feelings for him while he did not “Yeah.”

“And?” Jeri said, cocking an eyebrow at her. The dull way she spoke suggested that things didn’t go at all well. All at once, she remembered Takato’s concerns and worries.

_ Did I push things too much? _ she wondered.

“I told him I didn't remember anything, and even if I did like him that way, I couldn't in good faith get into a relationship without knowing how things used to be,” Rika said miserably. Even now she could see his crying face and the guilt only continued to eat at her. Not to mention the distinct feeling she broke something only becoming more well defined as the day went on.

“Oh.” Jeri blinked. “You mean...you don’t…feel about him that way?”

“Pretty much,” Rika shrugged before sighing, wondering slightly why Jeri was so surprised before remembering the girl tended to see the whole concept of love and relationships in a much more positive and optimistic light than herself. “Wish I did so I don't feel so awful. I don't even know if it's natural I just don't anymore or just because I don't remember anything.” Her voice took a slightly sarcastic twinge as she tapped her head. “Or whatever other issues I have going on up here.”

“Don’t…” Jeri felt a wave of shame wash over her. “Don’t...feel that way. You did what you felt was right. I…” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Rika. I pushed Takato into talking to you. He didn’t think you felt that way about him and...he...didn’t want to pressure you or anything.”

“You don't have to apologize,” Rika said quietly. She already felt awful about Takato. She didn’t need to have Jeri feel the same way too or to bring her down to her level. “You were trying to help. Besides Henry was pretty much telling me prior I needed to talk to him, so at least I didn't need to go knocking on his door to tell him to stop wasting his time.”

At that she gave a dry, humorless laugh which lasted only a second. Even her self-deprecating jokes and attempts at levity didn’t pull her out of her mood.

“Still…” Jeri glanced away. “I should have listened to him better. I thought he was just being...how he’s been before instead of…” She huffed in irritation at herself. “The one time I should have been the person listening, and I mess things up…”

Rika paused and waited for Jeri to catch up before suddenly turning and flicking her in the forehead.

“Don't beat yourself up,” she commanded. “You did nothing wrong. I mean apparently I had to shake sense into him when I asked him out in the past when I asked him out according to Renamon, so it's not like he's had a stellar track record on these things.”

Jeri scowled at Rika’s forehead flick, but nodded, deciding it was best to not beat herself up over this. She knew self-emulation, either physical or emotional, did no good in the end. Accept what happened and move on.

Still, a small part of her felt...relieved that things ended up the way they did. That much, she felt horrible about and quickly pushed the feeling aside.

“Maybe I should go check in on him later,” she said. “He might need someone to talk to.”

Rika smiled at her softly - the first time she did all day - before resuming her trek.

“If you would … I'd appreciate it.”

Jeri smiled back. “Maybe I should have Ayaka go look in on him instead,” she said sarcastically. “The way she’s been acting lately, this seems like something she’d jump at the chance to do.”

Rika snorted at that. She didn’t disagree with Jeri there, and part of her - a dark part - wondered if she planned this. Have her hurt Takato so she could make a move on him or some twisted thing like that.

“Maybe she'll leave me alone then,” she agreed.

“Maybe,” Jeri smiled wanly. “I will go look in on him though. I’ll let you know how he’s doing.”

“Thanks,” Rika said gratefully. “I'm glad I know I can count on you.”

Jeri blushed a little and, hesitantly, with great trepidation, reached out to take Rika’s hand into her own and gave it a soft squeeze.

“Any time,” she said softly.

Rika looked down at their hands a bit surprised, but smiled slightly, shrugging it off. Jeri was more physically affectionate than the others - not that it bothered her. She was kind of like mama in a way, who was always showing her affection physically whenever she got the chance. The only difference was - besides Rika didn’t get annoyed at Jeri - was that the brunette was nowhere as clingy as the model.

She didn't have anything really to say, but she squeezed Jeri's hand back, letting her know without words she appreciated the support.

Wishing that she didn’t feel so awful for the bold move in light of recent events, Jeri continued on, hand in hand with the fire-haired girl, feeling a soft, warm glow growing in her heart.

And behind it, the crash of dark waves upon a distant shore.


	35. Meeting Thantos

Jeri let out a deep breath, standing in the shadow of the bakery where she would visit so often in her childhood before going home, hoping to catch Takato’s eye or perhaps spend another minute with him before going to help out with her family’s tavern.

As they entered high school, her visits slowly trickled down until they finally became sporadic now that she had no real ulterior motive to constantly buy bread.

She wondered what awaited her inside. Part of her thought about texting Kazu or Ayaka, asking them how Takato was in school, to get a gauge on his mood, but she wondered if the crimson-eyed boy would be so obvious that he got shot down. Besides, Ayaka seemed to be sore at her still, and Kazu, well…

_ I’m not completely sure if he meant what he said yesterday. _

Forcing her feet to take a step forward, knowing this was the right thing to do - Takato needed to talk about this, and she had promised Rika she would check in on him - she entered the store, suddenly feeling very nervous.

Amber eyes glided over the different breads for sale before finally stopping at the counter, waiting patiently for the Matsuki patriarch to finish serving a customer before approaching him.

“Uhm, hi, is uh, Takato here?” she asked, trying to hide her awkwardness to the best of her ability.

Takehiro looked up at Jeri and smiled warmly at her. “Hey Jeri. Haven’t seen you in a while. Yeah, Takato’s here. He’s upstairs right now. Studying I think he said. Can you believe that?”

“No,” Jeri replied quite honestly. Gesturing vaguely upstairs, she continued. “Mind if I…?”

“Go ahead,” Takehiro nodded. “I’m sure he’d appreciate the company. He’s been a little down lately.”

Jeri nodded, giving her thanks before slipping upstairs, following the stairs which she used to climb so many times. Stopping in front of his shut door, she reached for the doorknob before hesitating and curling her hand into a fist and knocked.

There was a loud  _ thump _ from within the room.  _ “Uh...yeah?”  _ came the voice of Takato from the other side. _ “Mom? Er...Dad? Do you need me downstairs?” _

“You have one more guess,” Jeri replied back, leaning against the doorframe. “Can I come in?”

_ “Jeri?” _

There came the sound of footsteps and the door slid open, revealing the Matsuki boy. His hair looked a bit disheveled and unkempt, and he appeared tired. His red eyes were clear, if a bit sad, but curious and questioning.

“Uh...hey Jeri,” he said, stepping to the side. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came to check in on you,” she replied simply, walking in and looking around the room, folding her hands behind her back before spinning slightly to look at him. “How are you?”

“I’m...fine,” Takato replied, scratching the back of his head. “A little tired, but…” He shrugged, uncertain as to what more to say. “I don’t know. It’s been pretty quiet lately so I’ve been...knocking the books for...whatever.”

He flapped his hands uselessly at his sides uncertainly. “Uh… Is there anything I can get you?”

She shook her head, sitting down on his chair - one of few things which was clean in his room.

“I’m fine, thanks,” she said before pressing her lips together and decide to dive right into it. “I … talked to Rika,” she admitted softly, watching him carefully to gauge his reaction before deciding how to proceed.

Takato shifted, his eyes glancing away. “How...How’s she doing?” he asked hesitantly. “She’s doing okay, right? Well...why wouldn’t she? I…” He frowned, as though at himself and shook his head. Running a hand through his hair, he turned his back on Jeri, sighing heavily.

“She’s doing okay...isn’t she?” he asked softly.

“She’s doing OK,” Jeri said slowly, amazed that Takato could be worried about her when he was the one turned down. She felt it would be bad to say the girl had been quieter than normal to the point getting her to talk was a chore. “She’s worried about you though.” A pause. “Takato … I’m sorry I pushed you into it. I should have listened more instead … of … well you know. Not.”

“It’s okay,” Takato shrugged. “I mean, you were thinking about the number of times she and I got together so…” He trailed off and offered a wan smile at Jeri. “Don’t worry about it, okay? And tell Rika not to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

It felt like a lie, saying that. He could feel the sick, heavy weight in his chest, but he pushed it to the side. It was time to move on. There really wasn’t any choice in the matter.

Rika always said Jeri and Takato wore their hearts on their sleeves; the brunette finally could understand what she meant now as she watched the boy. He wasn’t fine, no matter how many times he uttered the lie. It was the type of fiction which one hoped if they said enough, it would become a reality, but when it came to emotions … things simply weren’t that easy.

“Want to talk about it?” she asked quietly.

“I…” Takato cast a glance at Jeri and then looked away, sighing heavily. Walking over to his library shelf, he pulled off a  _ How to be a Mangaka  _ book and looked at it absently before setting it back on the shelf distractedly.

“What’s there to talk about?” he asked. “Rika doesn’t feel the same way I do about her. She can’t return my feelings, so…” He swallowed painfully and brought his hand to rest on the shelf. “It’s just up to me to not be a problem for her. I’ll get past it.”

“Talking about your feelings is better than keeping it in,” she pointed out, her hand straying to her wrist, rubbing it with her thumb before catching herself and quickly dropping her hand. It seems like recently, she was catching herself touching the scarred skin more and more. “Trust me on that.”

Takato ran a hand over the spine of another book, one labeled  _ Gojira, _ and nodded reluctantly. “I know. It’s just...I don’t know how to put it into words. What do I say to her? How do I act? Does she hate me? Is she...afraid of me?”

He winced noticeably at that, and a look of horror made itself known in his eyes before he ruthlessly squashed it.

“That’s just dumb. She’d kick my butt before that happened,” he said, berating himself for even thinking such thoughts.

Jeri smiled wanly and chuckled slightly.

“I think she would kick your butt for even suggesting she’s afraid of anything,” she pointed out, slightly sarcastically before her eyes took a gentler approach. “Rika doesn’t hate you - I don’t think she ever could. As for what to say or do …” she glanced down playing with her fingers. “It’s not like you haven’t done this before. It’ll be awkward at first, but I’m sure you two will work something out.”

“Yeah,” Takato agreed, in spite of his heart’s doubts. “I know. It’s just...I guess...it’s more like I’m afraid. Afraid of losing her. Losing her friendship.” He gave a dry chuckle. “I’m sure if Kazu were here, he’d say something about how I just have that weird sort of luck with girls, but...I just don’t see it.” He shrugged again. “Not that it matters you know. It’s just…”

He frowned and breathed a heavy sigh. “I...really don’t know what it is I’m saying right now. I feel like I’m stuck in a fog. I mean, I know I usually act like that, like I have a disconnect between my brain and mouth, but this time it’s like…” His mouth twitched, searching for the words. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t think you’d lose Rika. She’s the  _ last _ person I think who would ever leave anyone,” Jeri started, remembering the girl’s fear of being left behind herself. Pausing a moment to consider Takato’s words, she leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. It was such a beautiful day outside. When they were younger, they no doubt would be playing until the sun set. Now …

_ Now we stay indoors, fighting something we can’t hope to win against while trying to figure out our future and our present _ , she thought, realizing that even though they’d be taking entrance exams for college soon, she hadn’t given what she planned on doing after high school much further thought besides her initial plans before all of this started.

“I know what you mean though,” she said finally, returning her attention to him. “With the stuck in the fog. Like your mouth might say something which you aren’t thinking or won’t say something, and it’s like even though you should be able to control it … you can’t.”

“How’d you manage it?” he asked, following her gaze over to the window.

“We can make our own destiny. Remember Rika always says that?” she said after a moment. “But … things … are just out of our control in what happens to us, but we  _ do _ control how we react to what life throws at us. Sometimes it’s just taking one day at a time, and just toughing it out even if we want to scream and quit. It’s not simple and there isn’t some cheat code you can do to simply make things easier. The most important thing though is even if you fall down to get right back up and keep going.”

Takato gave Jeri a small smile. “You know… Jeri… Has anyone ever told you how awesome you are?”

“I’ve heard it occasionally,” Jeri chuckled slightly, noting the irony that Takato was the second person to tell her this today; the first was Rika before they parted ways.  

“People should tell you that more often,” Takato nodded in affirmation, crossing his arms together. “You’re awesome.”

“Careful now,” Jeri smirked slightly. “We only need one narcissistic egotistical person in the group.”

“Jeri, I’m pretty sure that if anyone’s going to become egotistical or narcissistic or whatever, you’re the last person to end up like that.” His eyes softened on her. “You forgave Beelzemon. Do you know how rare something like that is?”

Jeri sobered up a bit, glancing away.

If she was honest … part of her still hated Impmon, Beelzemon, for what he did. However, him trying so hard to save her, to make it up to her …

_ And if I just went with him instead of refusing … so many more people wouldn’t have gotten hurt _ ? she thought. She saw the death toll numbers. Despite everyone wanting to keep the full horrors of what had happened from her, she  _ wanted _ to know. Sticking her head in the sand was what lead to this mess in the first place.

“... Keeping a grudge wouldn’t bring back Leomon,” she said finally.

Silence reigned for a moment before Takato spoke again.

“Have you talked about...how you felt when the echo of Leomon died?” he asked carefully, uncertain if he should even broach this topic.

“Ah …”

That seemed so long ago now. Like a scar which had healed. Losing the echo was like losing Leomon all over again, except … easier to get through. She had distracted herself with reorganizing her memories, and with everything else going on … simply  _ forgot _ .

“I was sad … of course,” she said slowly, suddenly feeling very horrible that she had completely forgotten about the instance. “But my memories were erased shortly afterwards, and then with Renamon hypnotizing me to bring them back … and with everything else happening.”

She shrugged, not sure how to go on, before finally-

“I’m used to loss.”

Takato opened his mouth to say something, only to close it when he realized he didn’t know how to respond to that. Did being used to loss numb a person that much that they just...didn’t feel it as much? Or at all? Takato cast his eyes down to the floor, wondering if that ever made Jeri sad. It reminded him of all the stories about losing one’s innocence to the world.

_ My problems are so small compared to hers, _ he thought.  _ I’ve got no business moping around like this. If she can get through that, I can get through this. _

“You’re strong,” Takato said after a moment. “Stronger than a lot of people might think. There aren’t many people who can go through what you did and still be like you.”

Jeri smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She didn’t  _ feel _ strong nor was she as grand as Takato thought she was. She was sure there was people who went through worse, and wouldn’t have been responsible for the death of millions however inadvertently.

_ And I tried to add one more to the count _ , she thought, her wrist hurting.

“You set your bar lower than you think,” she said quietly, glancing away.

“Why would you say that?” Takato asked, shocked. “You shouldn’t say that! You’re…” A flash of memory shot through his mind, and he staggered against the bookshelf, suddenly becoming dizzy. In his mind’s eye, he saw Jeri standing in front of him, looking lost and sad amidst the cloud that Azulongmon transported them in, Leomon’s recent death weighing heavily upon her.

His heartache throbbed to a different song now as the memory faded, but the words that he said then felt as true now as they did then.

“You’re one of the strongest people I know.”

Jeri chuckled dryly, standing up and dusting her skirt off. She had come here to cheer up Takato, not the other way around. She ought to leave before she said anything to add to his addled mind.

“If you say so,” she said simply. “Anyway, I need to get going back and help with the tavern. If you need someone to talk to or whatever, just give me a call, OK?”

“Uh...sure,” Takato nodded, raising an eyebrow at her. “Um… Thanks for checking in on me.”

“What are friends for?” she asked, smiling at him once more.

**###**

Chewing on a cigarette, Himiko was getting tired of watching the constant bleeps on the screen appearing before disappearing. While Hypnos managed to properly identify IceDevimon and Renamon’s digital signature based on the data Renamon provided, they were no closer to deleting the demon than they were earlier.

Needing a break - and barking orders at Tally and Riley to make sure they delete the echo next time it popped up on the screen, she decided to go check in on how the Monster Makers were doing with her request.

Yamaki wasn’t here today; he was making sure Ryo - after his little stunt yesterday - stayed home and properly grounded. Even though the boy turned himself in, he caused a panic amongst Hypnos, and most notably between Yamaki and Riley who were acting as his legal guardians.

_ He’s growing up to be a proper teenager. All the same if my plan works, all our problems will be solved, _ she thought, her tongue pushing the unlit cigarette to the other side of her mouth before she removed it, tapping the end of it like there was ashes purely out of habit.

“How’s it going?” she asked, opening the door and announcing her presence to the scientists.

“We’re ready to begin testing,” Janyu said, looking up at Himiko from his computer screen. “We’ve isolated the frequency from the original Hazard echo event and we’re ready to to activate our recall signal.” He frowned at Himiko. “I feel that I should remind you, we don’t know what we’re dealing with here. This Digital Hazard’s effect… We still have systems that are down as a result of it. We’ve only had two days to study it, but we’re still no closer to truly understanding its impact on the network.”

“Please Himiko,” Aishwara ‘Curley’ Rai said, rising from her chair and adjusting her glasses. “If nothing else, let us study the phenomenon in more depth. We have Yuggoth. That’s been working as an excellent means to deal with the echoes. This...Digital Hazard… It’s too big of a risk.”

“I will take responsibility for anything which may happen,” Himiko said curtly, her eyes traveling over the Monster Makers. Putting the cigarette back in her mouth, she resumed speaking.

“As for Yuggoth … it takes too long to boot up. For the echoes who can hide themselves from our sensors like Renamon and IceDevimon, it’s  _ too  _ slow. Not to mention we no longer have the time with echoes now becoming visible to everyone,” she said simply. “Yuggoth is good for those which are … realizing still. Not for ones which have already made their way into the Digital World. The Digital Hazard will open up new avenues for abilities to protect the public from harm’s way.”

“I  _ must  _ protest against this course of action,” Curley insisted. “Just from what we’ve  _ seen, _ we risk widespread network damage! Surely there must be  _ something else _ that can be used. Some other program we can design or...or  _ something! _ This is…” She pressed her hand to her face and ran it up to her eyes, pushing her glasses up her forehead. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this but...it’s too  _ hazardous!” _

“Duly noted. Once again, I already said I will take full responsibility for whatever happens,” she said coldly, her patience beginning to run thin. It was getting aggravating, having to command people who didn’t know the danger they were in and trying to take the quickest and best course of action to protect them and everyone else. She was the  _ director  _ here and their boss. She gave the order, they stated their fears and she took them into consideration.

She wanted to shake them, yell at the danger they were in. That a bunch of  _ children _ were doing more than them to try to address it, and if they had any self-respect as adults, they would stop letting their future take all the risks.

Yet she didn’t.

Doing so would attract Mnemosyne’s attention, and she was already skating on thin ice in that department as was. This would tip her over the edge to make the digital entity pay her another visit … which she hoped for.

She wouldn’t have a second opportunity, and test or no test, she needed to make sure Mnemosyne and the danger he posed to Rika and the rest of her family, and populace as a whole, was properly eliminated. Whatever fallout might happen from that would pale in comparison to the constant risk it posed by being around.

“This isn’t about you taking responsibility for what happens,” Babel said with a frown. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms over his chest. “We’re not interested in you taking the fall if things take a dive for the south. We’re looking at the big picture. What’ll happen to people’s lives if this thing goes wrong? Who’s going to get killed? There’s a whole planet full of people out there you know. Not just us.”

“I  _ am _ looking out for this planet, which is why, as your  _ boss _ I am ordering you to do it,” Himiko snapped, any and all patience she had evaporating just like that.

Babel sighed and looked at the others. “She’s played the rank card on us guys. Guess we better do what she says.”

“All right,” Janyu conceded, only to be interrupted by Babel.

“I was being sarcastic when I said that you know.”

“Sarcasm or not, you  _ will _ do as I say,” Himiko warned. “I am your employer. You  _ work  _ for me. You  _ don’t _ get to decide what goes or stays. I  _ do _ . So deploy it  _ now _ .”

“No, I  _ do _ get to decide what I do,” Babel rebuked. “I’m just breaking my end of the contract because I think what you’re doing is not a good idea.”

He tapped a key on his computer and got up. “You’ll be wanting to arrest me now I take it?”

“Babel!” Janyu protested.

“Let’s not get hasty here or anything,” chimed in Daisy, getting up from her seat. “I mean, this is just a test we’re doing, right? We don’t have to decide right away that this is the direction we’re going in until we know for sure what it’s going to do. Isn’t that the whole point of having a test in the first place?”

“It is currently a test,” Himiko acknowledged, one hand already on a call button for security, although if she didn’t have to press it, that would be ideal. Babel, as aggravating as he was, was still a Monster Maker. She just couldn’t have him running around blabbing his mouth off where Mnemosyne could hear. After that …

Well she doubted with everyone’s memories back, she’d still be in this position, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

_ I just need one test … and one launch. There’ll be no second chances _ , she thought.

“Please Babel,” Janyu pleaded. “We don’t even have to run the test for that long. We can do this in incremental stages, gather data as we go. The scientific method!”

“I’m not comfortable with employing the scientific method when people’s lives are being played with,” Babel rebutted.

“I don’t think she’s doing that…” began Janyu, only to be cut off by Rob McCoy.

“Whether she is or not makes no difference!” he said, his fist slamming on his table. “Look… Let’s talk about this! We’ve  _ all _ seen the data that we have so far on the Hazard, and God knows where these echoes are coming from. We just know that it has a source! A source we know  _ nothing _ about except that it’s packed full of data. It’s like a librar-!”

Rob McCoy’s eyes went wide as his back stiffened in surprise. “A...library…” he continued in a soft voice.

“Dolphin?” asked Janyu, raising an eyebrow.

Himiko’s eyebrows raised as well, a bit surprised at Rob’s ability to connect the dots. She didn’t say anything at first, wanting to see if he could put them together himself without having to out herself.

“It’s...some sort of digital library,” Rob continued, quickly clicking through the information they currently had on file.  _ “That’s  _ what the source is. The unusual data we found in Renamon… The fact that we’ve been able to call up  _ people _ and all those digimon and other humans that just seem to be reenacting events from the past… This… This is all a record of some sort. Only...some of them became sentient.”

“That’s all very interesting, but what does that have to do with us using the Hazard effect?” Babel asked, glancing over at Himiko. “Seriously. You’re asking us to nuke the equivalent of some kind of Akashic record from the digital world?”

“It may already be having some kind of containment failure,” Rob continued, losing himself in his train of thought. “This Digital Hazard was a recording of an event that occurred in the digital world. The question is...what caused it? And what’s more...what  _ else _ is in those records that might pop up?”

“What are you saying?” Daisy asked. “That we should destroy it before a really bad echo shows up?”

“We may have to,” Rob said, clicking through the source signal. “I could probably create a reading program that lets us analyze the feed and get us some kind of video footage of the events as they unfold, but there’s no guarantee that we still won’t accidently summon something. We may be better off destroying it after all.”

Pressing his lips together he leaned back and sighed. “Such a waste…”

Himiko’s smile - an incredibly rare sight to begin with - was slowly growing as he put the pieces together. Taking the cigarette out of her mouth, she tossed it into the trash can.

“One more thought for you all,” she said simply. “Regarding the Digimon and it pulling from a digital library and reenacting past events … does it seem  _ odd _ to you that the reenactments we’ve seen so far haven’t taken place at all in the Digital World?”

The Monster Makers all exchanged looks. They had noticed it during their many data pings of the digital world and its surrounding network of information. The focus of echoes had, in fact, largely been centered in Shinjuku.

“If we do this,” Babel began, “I want to make sure that we’re airtight. We need a buffer or something.”

“I think if we duplicate the Hazard a second time and overlap the two patterns, we can create enough destructive interference that they end up cancelling each other out once they’ve done their job.” He looked at Himiko. “We’ll need to play with numbers first but I think it’s doable. Still…” He glanced back at the computer. “The entire history of the digital world could be within this stream. If we could just figure out what’s wrong, maybe we could repair it…”

“If you can find a way to duplicate the records first and then destroy what’s inside, that would work as well,” she pointed out. “Honestly I don’t think the  _ records _ are the problem so much as a  _ librarian. _ ” She smiled wanly. “After all … if it was just the records … we would get Digital World echoes as well, and they’d be … more randomized statistically speaking.”

“All right,” Babel said with a nod. “Then let’s get to it.”

**###**

Mako looked at the small slip of paper with an address he pulled off the Internet on it; Internet stalking at its finest.

He had told Ai - and his parents - he was going to the store to buy some food, and as he stood in front of a small, family-owned bakery on the other end of town, he doubted this is what they had in mind. All the same, he doubted they would believe him if he told them the real reason - Ai especially would scoff at him, calling him “delusional” and the little white lie was necessary.

_ OK, remember, you aren’t accusing. Just trying to help _ , he thought, rubbing his hands together as he entered the store, already practicing what he would tell the parents in asking to speak to him (alone) if they were the ones to greet him; he was trying to get better at art, and after meeting him at the flower viewing, he’s been trying to get better and was hoping to ask for tips.

If they didn’t go for that, he would need a Plan B, and he wasn’t sure how much time they had.

_ OK, so remember, he can hunt Digimon. Don’t let him know about IceDevimon. See what he knows. See how he’s involved. You’re here to  _ help, he thought, approaching the counter, although getting distracted several times by some of the pastries.

“Excuse me,” Mako said in a quiet voice, approaching the counter looking at an older man who he supposed could be the boy’s father. “Uhm, my name is Mako … is uh … is uh Takato here?”

Takehiro looked up from the counter and at Mako, one eyebrow raised curiously. He didn’t recognize the boy as one of Takato’s friends, but he knew who his son was.

_ Probably someone he met, _ he thought with a mental shrug. “Sure, he’s upstairs. Let me yell for him.”

Stepping away from the counter, he poked his head into the hallway.

“Takato! Someone to see you!”

_ “Okay!” _ came the loud reply from upstairs. Within short order, the brown-haired teen appeared in the doorway and looked around, spying Mako.

“Oh! Hi! You’re...um… You were at the Hanami celebration. Um…” He tilted his head to one side. “What...was your name again?” he asked. “Sorry. I’m usually better at names.”

“Mako,” the boy said smiling in understanding. He didn’t expect the teenager to remember who he was. “I was the twin if that helps any.”

“Right,” Takato nodded. “Um… So...can I help you with something?”

“Well … ever since I saw that Renamon picture you drew, I’ve been working really hard on my own artistic abilities,” Mako lied smoothly, scrunching up his nose in perfect frustration. “But it’s been really hard! And my school is having our school festival coming up, and I said I’d be in charge of the drawings, but I’ve been struggling and uh … I was hoping you could give me some tips? I don’t want to let anyone down.”

He looked at Takato hopefully, widening his eyes innocently and pleadingly.

“Please?” he begged for extra good measure.

Takato opened his mouth to refuse, but closed it. He glanced away, feeling conflicted. The pain he felt from Rika’s rejection still bled too freely, and yet…

_ Maybe… Maybe this is what I need to help me move on, _ he thought.  _ It’ll at least take my mind off of things and I can get back to focusing on...everything else. _

“Sure,” he said. “Um...I’ve got my things upstairs, so if you want I can show you or…”

He paused before frowning. No. That wouldn’t do. He was tired of spending the whole day up in his room. He needed to get out of there.

“How do you feel about going over this in the park?” he asked.

“The park’s fine,” Mako smiled in relief, amazed how  _ well _ that went. He was afraid the boy would say no, but as long as they spoke in private, he didn’t care where they spoke.

“Okay,” Takato nodded before turning to his father. “Um… Is that all right?”

“Just make sure you’re back by dinner like always,” Takehiro chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll cover your shift.”

“I’ll be back before then,” Takato smile before turning back to Mako. “I’ll be right back. I need to grab my things.”

With that, he disappeared upstairs toward his room and quickly returned with a sketchbook and his art supplies tucked under one arm.

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”

The two walked in silence for a bit - well, Mako skipped cheerfully in front of the older teen, occasionally slowing down to wait for him before darting out in front. However, as they approached the park and the people walking about around them began to wane, he fell back to walk side-by-side with Takato.

“So that Hazard event was something, huh?” he said after a minute, not sure how to approach the topic and while deception was one of his skills, tact clearly was not.

Takato turned to him, eyes wide and body suddenly going tense, not at all sure how to respond to Mako. The hazard event had made headlines in the news, with everyone who was anyone trying to solve it. Hearing the question from Mako though - someone he remembered, even if in part -  made him wonder...did Mako remember anything?

He suddenly took note of the timing of Mako’s appearance.  _ Is he here because he remembers? Or is it just a coincidence and he really does need help with his school festival? _

“Uh… Yeah, it was,” he replied carefully, deciding to test the waters. “It screwed up the cash register for a bit. Good thing it didn’t last for very long.”

“Yeah,” Mako agreed before looking right at him, his brown eyes meeting red eyes. He needed to make sure Takato truly was innocent and a pawn in this. He didn’t want to be helping someone who willingly hurt other people after all. “What happened though?”

Takato shrugged. Although he knew, he wasn’t ready yet to answer. Mako hadn’t been there in the digital world when it first occurred and he didn’t remember anyone talking to him or his sister about Impmon’s crimes.

_ Maybe it really is all just a coincidence, _ he thought.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “What about you? Have you heard anything?”

“That it was either you or Guilmon,” Mako answered truthfully, bluntly, before he stopped and looked at Takato. “I know about the Digital Hazard, and your connection with your partner and … abilities. I’m talking to you because I’m worried someone might be manipulating you.”

He looked at Takato, watching him with his eyes, seeing how he would react. Seeing if he truly was innocent. If he could  _ help _ .

Takato’s foot tripped on the dirt path and he nearly fell over with a squawk. Whirling about - completely missing half of Mako’s words in his excited surprise.

“You mean… You remember?” he asked, a smile blooming across his face. “You remember Impmon and...and everything? The D-Reaper and… Oh wow… We’re almost complete!”

“Remember … remember what? The D-Reaper?” Mako asked confused, not sure how Takato knew about Impmon at first, but then if he was a Tamer too, he supposed it wouldn’t be  _ that _ farfetched. Plus Impmon, er IceDevimon,  _ did _ say he had forgotten him. Takato’s words only seemed to collaborate that.

Still, something felt … off to him. Like a sinking feeling of something wasn’t right.

“Is … is the D-Reaper what’s trying to take over the Digital and human worlds?” he asked. “Also what do you mean we’re almost complete?”

“The D-Reaper was destroyed years ago,” Takato replied, shaking his head. “We don’t have to worry about it anymore. But...well…” Scratching his head, he gave a happy laugh. “I’ve got a lot of people to introduce you to. Oh man…” He pulled out his cellphone. “I need to call Jeri and let her know what’s going o…”

Takato was abruptly cut off as a massive, red-clawed hand closed around his neck from behind, crushing Takato’s windpipe closed. Takato struggled, mouth gasping for air as a searing cold pain from the hand’s owner clawed at his skin, revelling in his misery.

Feet kicking as he was lifted off the ground, the claw angled him until Takato found himself staring into the blood-red eyes of IceDevimon.

“Hello again,” the demonic Champion smirked triumphantly, commanding ice to begin spreading across Takato’s neck and down his body, causing the boy to jerk and choke in shock. IceDevimon tightened his grip around the teen, preparing to snap the bones that tied him to the material world.

“And goodbye,” he finished.

“IMPMON, STOP!” Mako yelled, rushing to his partner and grabbing at his leg, horrified that the demon Digimon would just come out of nowhere and try to kill the teenager. “Stop! I think this is all a misunderstanding! Please! Don’t kill him! What’s  _ wrong _ with you?”

He tried to reach up to Takato, free him, do  _ something _ to help release him from the Champion’s unusual murderous behavior.

IceDevimon turned a mocking smirk at Mako. “Pathetic weakling,” he said. “I’m not Impmon.”

With a vicious kick, IceDevimon slammed his foot into Mako’s stomach, sending him flying backward with a brutal crash into a tree.

“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with you in due time,” he promised. “But first I must do what I came here for and kill Takato… The one who killed me in another lifetime. Who took my queen away from me. Business before pleasure, as I’m sure you understand.”

He turned back to Takato, whose eyes were rolling up into his head. Starved of oxygen, his hands slumped away from IceDevimon’s claws.

“Although...this counts as  _ both.” _

**###**

_ We’ll play again. You promised. _

Guilmon stared up at the digital representation of the Earth that hung in the sky above them, pink beams sweeping across the landscape. He remembered that the Data Streams were a result of humans sending and retrieving data from the digital world, and often wondered if they were a way to go back to where they belonged; with their partners. Their misadventures in the digital world – humans and digimon both – often served as a reminder that it was best to not trust such things.

_ It’s too bad Renamon and Terriermon don’t remember how they got there, _ Guilmon thought.  _ I wish I remembered too. _

The bat-wing like ears on his head wilted as he brought a claw to his mouth. Thinking about Takato again made him sad, as it did more often as time wore on. He hid it from the others as best he could, but he doubted that it was a secret from any of them, especially Renamon and Terriermon who knew him the best as well as the longest. They often found him finding a secluded spot to stare up at the Earth – and he knew they found him because he smelled their presence – seemingly in deep thought while missing his partner on the other side.

His best friend. His father and creator. The other half of his digital soul.

More and more this desire to go back to Earth and be with his partner grew. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt…a strange sense of foreboding. That there was something Takato needed his help to fight against. So far he brushed it off as just missing him, but the feeling was becoming increasingly hard to dismiss. He remembered this feeling once before, when Yamaki launched the Juggernaut for the first time and the Deva’s began emerging. Something  _ huge _ and unidentifiable was coming. The question though was…what?

What did Takato need his help fighting against?

There was, he knew, only one answer. And if he wanted to settle that answer, sooner or later he would have to leave this ‘Primary Village’ that Renamon, himself and the others had cooked up to go find a way back to the real world. It was inevitable.

_ How long will I have to wait Takato? _ he wondered.  _ If you take too long, I can’t help you. _

No answers came. Only the silence and the distant sound of data streams crisscrossing the desert.

**###**

Jeri felt tired.

The talk with Takato took more out of her than she anticipated, and she hadn’t expected to pick at old scars. She had wanted to tell the boy that no, she wasn’t strong, wasn’t kind and that he put her up on a pedestal she couldn’t hope to live up to.

She was happy, however horrible it might be, that Rika turned down Takato because that meant she could monopolize the girl’s time and affections without feeling like she was getting in the way of something between them. What sort of person felt that way, especially about two friends?

A horrid one, that was for sure.

Not to mention, Takato still didn’t know about the real reason for her scar. That she hadn’t managed to stay strong, that she caved to the temptation and even now, sometimes, that dark little voice whispered to her when things were particularly bad to simply embrace the release which she became addicted to when the blood ran freely from her veins.

“I’m home,” she called out, opening the front door to their home, kicking off her shoes to go change into something more work appropriate.

“Welcome home, Jeri,” greeted Tadashi, looking up from the counter at the front of the tavern. He furrowed his brow at her worriedly, though he tried to hide it. “You’re running a little late.”

“I was talking with my friends and lost track of time, sorry,” she apologized, not really wanting to go into the whole drama between Takato and Rika with her father. Not that he needed to know really.

“Well, it’s good to have you home,” Tadashi nodded. “Seems like there’s a storm coming. One of my regulars says she can feel it in the air, and I’ve never known her to be wrong.”

He scowled at the deceptive sunlight outside before turning his attention back to Jeri. “Better get washed up. Your mother might want your help with preparing dinner.”

“Mn, OK,” she said, heading upstairs where she shared a room with Masahiko even though the two siblings were growing to be a bit big to be sharing quarters. She was nearly 17 and Masahiko 11, although she supposed it wouldn’t make much difference if she was going off to college next year.

_ If I’m going off to college next year _ , she grimaced in thought before shaking the thought from her mind, pounding up the steps.

Upon reaching the top, a voice called out to her from inside her parents bedroom. One that made her suddenly go cold. It was feminine, bringing with it the familiar memory of warm sunshine and laughter, and with it another one of hospital smells and a doctor towering over her, glasses gleaming as he presented her and her father with bad news.

The sort of news one never wishes to hear in their lifetime. The sort of news that was as inevitable as the sun setting.

“Jeri?” came the voice again, insistently before sighing. “Honestly, would you stop looking like that strange Takato child caught in dream land and come help me? I could use your help.”

The door had been open just a crack, and movement behind it shifted, and now it swung open.

Jeri’s breath caught in her throat, her amber eyes - the same eyes which were now looking back at her - widening to see a woman whom she shared a likeness to. Her father as she grew older said she looked just like her mother, but for the brunette, who only remembered her from photographs, she didn’t know how true it was.

Now though, a woman, who looked to be in mid 20s … maybe early 30s and vibrant and full of life instead of still and unmoving, a white cloth draped over her face, was staring at her now.

Jeri’s mouth moved but no words came out for a minute, a million emotions and thoughts fighting for control, taking a shaky step backwards.

_ An echo. It’s just an echo _ , somewhere inside her shouted, reminding her that her real mother was dead and was now ashes. Still, despite knowing technically the woman in front of her wasn’t alive, she still croaked out,

“... Mum?”

**###**

Himiko stood in the room where the Monster Makers were set up, preparing a live testing of their systems.

_ Here we are, _ she thought, finding herself wanting a cigarette badly.  _ The last time we did this, we wound up summoning my mother as she was...committing suicide. _ She shuddered involuntarily.  _ And here we are, preparing to call up a memory of a destructive, digital equivalent of a hurricane. _

For the first time, she wondered if they were making a mistake, but upon remembering that Mnemosyne and the power that it had over the human world - erasing everyone’s memories - she steeled her resolve.

“How much longer?” she asked, turning to Janyu.

“Almost done,” the man replied, glancing up at her briefly before returning to his work. “One more line of code and...there!”

He tapped a key and then looked up at Himiko. “All we need is your authorization.”

Himiko nodded, picking at her fingernails. She frowned, taking note that in her anxiety they had become a bit jagged now.

_ This is it, _ she thought.  _ Once done, there’s no turning back. _

“Babel. I want you to monitor the firewall between the worlds. At the first sign of trouble, shut it down.”

“Yes ma’am,” Babel nodded.

“I would  _ not _ recommend that,” a voice said from the doorway, a person with short black hair and steely cold eyes staring at everyone in the room, before finally landing on Himiko, glowering darkly. What this woman was up to was beyond it, but when he noticed the line of code the Monster Makers were playing with … well it needed to come and investigate. “ _ What _ do you think you’re doing?”

“Who…?” Dolphin began, getting up from his chair before Himiko shot a sharp glare at him. Composing herself, she returned her attention to Mnemosyne.

“Why don’t you explain what you’ve been doing?” she began, circling around the computers, keeping her eyes locked on Mnemosyne’s. “Controlling our world… Threatening us… Wiping our memories.” Drawing to a halt, she leaned forward on Janyu’s desk. “Go on. Let’s hear it before we do anything else, seeing as how you’re here.”

“ _ Threatening  _ you?” Mnemosyne asked, insulted wondering where this woman got such thoughts from. “I’ve been  _ saving  _ you all! I’ve been saving the humans and the Digimon! Yet here you are, trying to play with a force which should not be trifled with! I’m the only thing standing between the total destruction of two worlds, and you’re trying to destroy my hard work by toying with the  _ Digital Hazard _ . I told you of the dangers, yet it seems Icarus lives in you.”

Taking a threatening step forward, Mnemosyne raised it’s hand to get rid of the hazard program - and their memories - before they could do any more harm.

Himiko stared hard at Mnemosyne, her eyes blazing with fury. Oh, to think that this entity could be so naive. It could very well have thought it was protecting humanity, but as far as she was concerned, it was wrong.

_ Just another dictator thinking that they’re breaking eggs to make an omelet and that it somehow justifies everything they’ve done. Well, here’s where you learn what happens when you put humanities back to the wall. _

“You’re the one with wings of wax,” she shot back. “Here’s the sun.”

She hit the button on the keyboard. The lights in the room darkened and silence fell over the air. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then a red glowing hazard appeared on the screens of the computers. The building shook violently and electricity sparked in the air.

“The firewall…!” Babel shouted suddenly. “We’re getting some bad readings from it! I don’t think…!”

With a thunderous roar, all the computers in the room exploded. Crying out in surprise, Himiko jumped back, covering her eyes from the blinding glare and flying shrapnel.

_ That...was different, _ she thought, lowering her arms to take in the situation.

Her eyes met Mnemosyne one more time. The Digital entity was holding itself - as if it was trying to hold itself physically together, it’s body flickering like a broken hologram. 

“You’ll regret this,” it promised and with a burst of light, it was gone.


	36. Orpheus

The woman who was almost the spitting image of Jeri save for her age tilted her head at the girl in confusion. “You…” she began, hesitating as if to say,  _ You’re not my daughter _ . A guarded look appeared in her eyes, but she didn’t yet appear alarmed.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Are you looking for a part time job? I know my husband has been talking about hiring someone to help out with all the extra work, but you’re not…quite what I thought he had in mind.”

_ She's an echo,  _ Jeri reminded herself, licking her dry lips. 

Still her mother not recognizing her crushed her heart somewhat, despite the last time they saw each other was when she was just a child. They said a mother always recognized their child, and for that not to be true, it was like a bit of her soul died inside.

"Mum. It's me, Jeri," she said quietly. "I'm 16 now."

She glanced downstairs, half expecting her father to come up any moment or Masahiko or her stepmother to appear.

_ Oh gods... _

Her head swimming, she suddenly wondered what they were going to do, what  _ she _ was going to do. Say. How to explain to her entire family that this woman in front of her was merely a fragment of the past ...

_ And one that's like Renamon too... _ she noted mentally. 

The woman scrunched up her face, clearly not happy with Jeri’s answer.

“That’s not funny, young lady,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing, but I’m not laughing. I think…perhaps you should leave.”

Jeri ran her hand across her face, tears beginning to peek out of her eyes, taking a deep breath, her heart now in the pit of her stomach. She tried to think of something, anything, to prove it was her ... but she was but a child when she died. It was so long ago, she didn’t remember any little quirks she might have had or habits she used to do which were unique to her.

She wasn’t even sure if she  _ did _ remember something, she would be able to convince the woman in front of her she was her little girl, more than 10 years older than she thought she ought to be.

And she didn't want to get her father involved ... open up old wounds ... not if she could handle this…whatever this was by herself.

Just then her phone buzzed, and jerking in surprise, she rooted in her pocket for her cell phone, a text from Rika asking how Takato was. Jeri stared at it dumbly, wondering how to respond, her mind completely elsewhere - mostly situated with the problem in front of her.

She looked up once mother at her mother and then down at the phone before realizing - almost like a truck ran her over - that there was no way her mother would recognize the technology.  _ That _ surely had to prove her point - after cell phones weren’t like how they were now, sleek and small, but rather large and chunky. She wasn’t even sure if her family  _ had _ a cell phone back then, or if her father just had a pager.

Holding a shaking hand up, she licked her lips and uttered two words:

"It's 2008."

Her mother simply looked at Jeri’s cell phone and then at Jeri, not comprehending what she was saying. 2008? What nonsense was this?

“All right,” she said, starting toward her. “You’ve had your fun.  _ Tadashi!” _ Her voice raised suddenly as she called for the man who had once been her husband. “Tadashi! We have someone inside our home who needs to leave! Tadashi!”

At that Jeri facepalmed and groaned, wanting to bury herself in whatever she could. Whatever was going on before this was suddenly  _ much _ preferable to what was going on now.

_ What do I do? Say? Looks like either way dad is going to find out ... _

She thought desperately for some sort of reaction, something to do. Yet her mind was blank. She was still in too much of a shock that her dead mother was in front of her to properly think about what to do.

_ And it's not like she's Renamon either who understands ... and could hide, _ Jeri realized, a sudden epiphany coming that the second her mother's echo appeared now that echoes were visible, there was  _ no _ way to keep this from her family even if she wanted to.

_ Hope this doesn't complicate dad's marriage ... _ she thought suddenly.

Her mother brushed past her, her foot touching on the stairs. “Tadashi! Where are…you…?”

It was at that moment that Shizue, Jeri’s stepmother, came into view, and her mouth fell open as if at a ghost.

“No… It…can’t…be,” she stammered out. Grabbing hold of the wall, Shizue staggered, her vision swimming, and in the next moment she crashed backward, collapsing to the floor.

“Shizue!” came the surprised shout of Tadashi as he rushed into view.  _ “Shizue!!! What…?” _

His eye caught sight of Jeri’s birth mother standing at the top of the stairs and his face paled in shock. His mouth worked, opening and closing, completely uncertain as to what to make of what he was seeing. The woman he loved before Shizue… Who had been Jeri’s mother before being taken from them… Here. Now.  _ Alive. _

_ “Hisako!” _ he exclaimed in a harsh whisper.  _ “Hisako! _ Oh gods, if you’re mad at anyone… If you want to take someone take me and leave my family…our daughter out of it! They’ve done  _ nothing to you!” _

“What…? I…I don’t understand…” Jeri’s mother withdrew her foot from the stair as she retreated a step. She saw the pained expression on her husband’s face, the look of abject terror…directed at  _ her _ of all people. Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes and one hand went to her mouth.

“Tada…” she said hoarsely. “Why…?”

"You died about 10 years ago now of cancer," Jeri whispered. "Sorry. I should have lead with that."

Her mother whirled about on her, and there was a sudden change in her eyes. Gone was the sweet woman from before, and in her place was a terrified, upset, and  _ angry  _ Hisako Katou.

“You… Just what is going  _ on here?!”  _ she exclaimed, tears starting to flow freely now. She took a step toward Jeri. “Will someone explain to me just what…?”

_ “Get away from her!” _ Tadashi roared suddenly, barreling up the stairs, causing Hisako to stagger backward, her fright becoming palpable. Missing a step, she collapsed to the floor just as Tadashi reached the top of the stairs.

"Dad!" Jeri yelled, suddenly taking a step in front of her mother protectively, holding her hands out toward her father, trying to calm him down.

"It's fine, I'm fine," she insisted, wondering how to explain all of this. She very well couldn't tell the truth; everyone would think she was  _ insane _ without their own memories. Dad no doubt would send her back to the psychologist again, and the last thing she wanted was for her family to start treating her with kid’s gloves. Again.

"I'm sure there is a reason for this," she pleaded, hoping to think of a reason that wasn't 'Digital entity which messes with our memories because Digimon' only to find none.

Suddenly, she wished, not for the first time in her life, she could properly lie.

She glanced back to her mother, her amber eyes trailing to her father and then landing on her stepmother.

"So ... let's just ... sit down and figure it out," she pleaded quietly.

Tadashi looked at Jeri, breathing heavily before taking hold of her and picking her up off the floor.

“Go downstairs and call a priest,” he growled to her, setting her down to the side. “We need someone to send the ghost to the next world.”

“Tadashi…” whispered Hisako, blinking back tears as she got back to her feet. “I don’t… Why…?”

“Jeri!” Tadashi interrupted. “Downstairs!  _ Now!” _

Jeri returned stubbornly in front of her mother. She didn't think a priest would be able to help them - any of them. Mom wasn’t a wayward spirit - at least not in the way dad was thinking - and she was sure whoever she brought here would be confused why he was brought for a woman, who, as far as he could tell, was still alive.

Mnemosyne would ironically not only be able to but, sweep this entire thing under the rug.

_ I can't kill my own mother, _ she thought pressing her lips together, her body shaking.  _ I can't let daddy or anybody else either. Ma may be an echo ... but she's still alive. _

"No," she said, her voice quivering.

“Jeri, Go downstairs and  _ call a priest! _ I am your father! I will  _ not  _ let you be in danger!”

“Jeri…?” Hisako whispered.  _ The girl…was telling the truth? She’s…really my baby girl? But… No! That’s impossible! I…I… _

She lowered her face to her hand. It was shaking badly.

_ I’m dead…? _

"I'm not in danger!" Jeri shot back, anger for the first time shooting up since her mother appeared. "Do you really think mum would  _ ever _ hurt me? Or any of us?"

“That is  _ not  _ your mother!” Tadashi roared at her loudly. “Your mother is  _ dead! _ Now go downstairs  _ now!” _

"Make me!" Jeri yelled just as loudly back, channeling for the first time teen rebellion.

She didn't want to see her mother get hurt, she had no way to offer any explanation for this, and she was  _ tired _ of people acting like they knew what is best for her. She had enough of that after the D-Reaper.

Just for once she didn't want to be treated like some sort of fragile thing that would break at the slightest touch.

Tadashi did just that.

Grabbing hold of Jeri by the arms, he flung her over his shoulder and ran down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, he quickly set her down and rushed over to Shizue, hefting her up. She groaned in response, starting to awaken, albeit slowly. Tadashi glared angrily at his daughter.

“I am going to have a talk with you later,” he promised.

Jeri glowered back, having watched the angry redhead do it plenty of times to know how to furrow her brow just so correctly to look  _ particularly _ angry (even if said redhead always laughed instead, insisting she looked cute), before throwing up her hands in frustration.

She didn't know what she could do to make her father stop this without sitting him down and telling him her mother isn't a ghost but a literal fragment of the past.

_ This is all Mnemosyne's fault, _ she thought angrily, the tears beginning to come down her face now. If they were from anguish or frustration, Jeri's feelings were too jumbled to properly tell.

"I don't think a priest is going to help anything," she said bluntly. "Since ghosts tend to be  _ invisible." _

_ Most of the time, _ she added mentally.

“Whatever it is upstairs, we’re not staying to find out,” Tadashi insisted, grabbing hold of her by the arm. “Thank kami that we have no patrons here. Now hurry! We need to…”

“T-Tadashi…?” came the exhausted sounding voice of Hisako as she emerged from the stairs. “Tadashi… Please, can we…?”

“You’re  _ not _ Hisako!” Tadashi raged, hurt flashing across his face before he began to break down in tears. “You’re…You’re not. You died… Kami… You died more than ten years ago. Why… Why are you haunting us now? I did… I did my best to raise Jeri, but… I…”

With great effort, he forced himself to back away from Hisako, pulling Jeri and Shizue along with him.

“Please… Leave us in peace,” he continued, his voice cracking as the tears came even stronger now, the dam around his emotional façade breaking link by link. “Move on to the next world.  _ Please…” _

“Do you  _ really _ think mum would be haunting us out of malice?” Jeri demanded, trying for a different tactic to calm down her paranoid father. Why were non-Digimon or Digital events appearing now? Did it have to do with the Hazard?

_ Why couldn’t she be non-sentient … _ she thought quietly to herself.

“Be quiet, Jeri!” Tadashi ordered. He pulled on Jeri’s arm again, backing them closer toward the door. “Stop dragging your feet! We’ve...got to get out of here!”

“Why?” Jeri demanded, doing the exact opposite of what her father told her to do, and dug her heels in more. She was going to get a yelling later, she knew that much, but right now she wasn’t thinking about that. All she was thinking about was her mother’s hurt expression. “Why are we running? What has mum done besides just show up to get this reaction?!”

“Do  _ not _ talk back to me and get out! I won’t tell you aga-”

“Tadashi!” exclaimed Hisako shouted suddenly. “Don’t you  _ dare _ talk to her like that!”

The woman was fuming. She was angry and confused, but if there was one thing she didn’t like to see was her husband losing his temper with Jeri. Their daughter.

Her baby girl, even if she wasn’t a baby girl anymore.

Hisako fixed her gaze on Jeri, eyes blazing with anger toward her as well.

“Do as your father says and step outside. Tadashi… Please. If… If we could just talk… Call the priest if you want, but...just...talk to me. I…” She pressed a hand to her face. “I...need to know what’s going on. I’m...so confused right now. It’s almost as if I stepped into another world.”

Jeri fixed her mother with a “ _ really?! _ ” stare before looking at her father to see how he answered his wife - her mother. If he agreed to talk to her, well, the teenager would listen. If not, Jeri had plenty of rebellious examples to borrow from.  

In his arms, Shizue groaned and righted herself.

“Tadashi…” she whispered, shaking her head. “Did...Did I pass out? What…?”

“Shizue,” Tadashi said, pulling her toward him. “I need you to take Jeri outside. I’ll be along in a second.”

_ Might as well go _ , Jeri thought with a sigh, taking her step-mother’s hand and smiling at her awkwardly. She felt perhaps it would be better if she explained the situation  _ outside _ and away from this emotional drama. Not to mention, if she was honest, she needed to step outside herself.

“C’mon,” she said, glancing back at her mother worriedly.

Shizue looked between Tadashi and Jeri strangely before her eyes fell on Hisako. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth parted, but to her credit she didn’t pass out again. Closing her mouth, she looked over at Tadashi and nodded, understanding that whatever was going on, this was a ghost Tadashi had to handle himself.

“We’ll be outside if you need us,” she said, stepping away and toward the door with Jeri. She gave her stepdaughter’s hand a small squeeze, wondering how the girl was taking this unexpected shock.

_ Far better than I did, by the looks of things, _ she thought.  _ But...is she doing okay? _

A sense of unreality washed over her, but she pushed it aside for the moment. Jeri was what mattered right now. She would handle herself once things settled down enough for her to have a private moment to do so in.

Taking one last look at her parents, she went with Shizue outside, closing the door behind them, the last thought in her mind was thanking whatever god was listening that Masahiko was at Akira’s.

**###**

IceDevimon drew a frozen tongue along his corpse-pale lips, bringing it to a halt on a pointed fang, where it caressed it lustfully. In his remaining hand hung Takato’s unmoving body, eyes rolled up in their sockets and ice creeping along his jaw. He didn’t react to it. He was beyond reacting now.

“So long I’ve waited for this,” the demon digimon whispered breathily, his claws drawing more tightly around Takato’s neck. He could feel the vertebrae beneath the skin groaning beneath the pressure; his larynx pushing backward, restricting airflow to his lungs. It would take but a second and then the miserable flicker that this sack of meat called life would wink out of existence.

“What should I do, I wonder? Should I freeze you and put you on display for my Queen to see? Perhaps I should, so that she may…be with you forever. So you may  _ never _ leave her…”

His smile dropped into a twisted snarl, and he pulled Takato closer to him. Anger throbbed in his digital veins as pure hatred for the boy rushed through him. How he  _ despised _ this human… The human who took him from his Queen to begin with, and she…she  _ showered _ him with affection! Oh, how he watched it.

“You made her weak, and she repays you for that weakness by joining her heart with yours. Death is too good for you. And yet…” He squeezed all the more tightly, and this elicited an instinctive twitch from his legs followed by a choking gag.

_ Still alive… _ he tsked.  _ Time to finish this. No more playing games. This is business now. _

His skin prickled just then and he frowned. There was a flash of light and he looked up just in time to see a trio of blazing orbs, bound together by lines of sparking electricity, ripping free from empty air. A digital fog blasted over IceDevimon a split second before the orbs – Yuggoth – exploded against his back.

IceDevimon screamed, dropping Takato to the ground. His back burned…  _ Burned! _ He could see his wings collapsing before him in tatters, dissolving into shards of data. His wings…ripped free from his back were gone.

_ Dying… _ he thought deliriously, barely able to think of anything else. Every instinct that survived shouted at him to live…to escape! Another hole tore in the air and IceDevimon jumped into, shrouding himself with a digital field of his own, and then…he was gone, leaving a gasping, shaking Mako, crawling toward the unmoving Takato, clutching his stomach. Groaning, he forced himself up to him and brought his head to rest next to him.

“T-Takato…” he wheezed, only to receive no answer.

_ He’s…He’s not breathing, _ he realized in horror. Adrenaline flooded him and with great effort, he heaved Takato over onto his back.

_ CPR… _ was all he thought, his mind racing as he tried to remember everything he needed to do for it that he had been taught. Adjusting his hands, he took a deep breath.

_ This is going to break ribs, _ he thought with a grimace before beginning his work.

Broken ribs or not, it was better than Takato dying.

**###**

“IceDevimon’s signature has disappeared,” Tally reported, her chair swiveling around.

“Did we get it?” Riley asked, her voice tense. They had been tracking it going in and out between the world barriers for weeks now, and IceDevimon always seemed to give them the slip.

“Negative,” Tally replied, scanning the network. “I’m still detecting his digital trail. I’m trying to reestablish lock now. Launching Tracer…” She frowned beneath her visor. “Damn it,” she cursed under her breath. “He’s fast.”

“Launching two additional Tracers. If we triangulate them, we should be able to…”

Just then, there was a flicker on the screens and then they all went dark.

“Wha…?” Riley gasped, pulling her visor up. “What the hell just…?”

The screens lit back up. Tally’s hands flew across her console. “Systems are booting back up,” she reported. “Looks like we had a power outage of some kind.”

“So we’ve lost the IceDevimon.”

“Looks like. Better call the director. She’ll want an update on this.”

Riley nodded, hating the idea but it needed to be done.

Speaking of the woman summoned the devil herself, the black-haired director coughing as she re-entered the room. Looking at Riley and Tally, she pawed at her pants for a cigarette.

“Status report!” she barked, wondering if the blackout from the Hazard affected the rest of the building.

Riley jumped in her seat, but quickly fell into answering.

“We located the IceDevimon and managed to get a yuggoth blast on him before he retreated into the spatial warp between worlds,” she replied. “We were tracking his movements when we suffered a blackout.”

“Our systems are finishing coming online now,” Tally added. “But we’ve no doubt lost the target again.”

“Keep an eye on it,” Himiko said, putting a new cancer stick into her mouth. While she wasn’t worried about IceDevimon “escaping” - Mnemosyne’s death should have taken care of the echoes - it wouldn’t hurt to be paranoid. “If it appears again for some reason, destroy it.”

_ Our problems should be taken care of though _ , she thought, surveying the room, taking the first relaxed breath she had in  _ months _ .

Of course the universe saw fit to ruin that within seconds.

“Director!”

Himiko turned to see one of the agents from the surveillance unit she had established to listen in to emergency calls and deal with the public coming in contact with the echoes. Raising an eyebrow at the young man gasping for breath, as if he had sprinted from their office which wasn’t that far away, clutching a piece of paper in his hand, she waited for him to catch his breath and continue speaking.

“Ice … demon,” the agent breathed, holding up the paper. “Your orders.”

Himiko’s heart dropped to the pits of her stomach as she snatched the paper from his hands, her eyes quickly scanning over the report. An unresponsive person in the park, critical condition. Caller spoke of an ice demon “Digimon.”

“Fuck!” Himiko swore, quickly pulling out her phone and dialed Rika’s phone number.

_ Come on brat. Pick up. Pick up! Don’t let everything I did be in vain! _

“Hello, this is Rika-”   
  
“Rika!” Himko gasped only for the girl’s voice to continue on.

“And I’m not here right now. Leave your name, number and a message, and I’ll get back to you.” There was a long beep, and Rika’s answering machine recorded Himiko saying things she shouldn’t be saying in a work environment, 95 percent of which was swear words before she hung up.

“I’m going out!” Himiko said, storming out of the room. “Riley you’re in charge!”

**###**

“So, tell me doctor, can you explain what exactly happened. I’m also going to need the caller’s information,” Himiko sighed, glancing at the door toward the critical care unit. She still didn’t know who the victim was yet, but she was told it was a male. While her cousin could look boyish, she doubted (or better said, hoped) the doctors wouldn’t mistake Rika for a boy. As a result, she was able to start thinking rationally again.

If she came down here anyway, she might as well get the information and start making bullshit excuses to the boy’s parents when they got here. For her to do that though, she needed to make sure she knew what exactly was reported and his injuries to make sure things were consistent.  

“The victim is a 16 year old male,” the doctor said, flipping through the report. “He has injuries consistent with strangulation and, oddly enough, frostbite around the neck.” He furrowed his brow, not understanding. “Fortunately the frostbite isn’t as bad as it could be. First degree so the damage is localized to the skin’s upper surface area. It’s the injuries from the strangling that concern me more, but there doesn’t appear to be any long term damage outside of bruising.”

Stopping in front of the door, he turned toward her. “This is an...unusual case due to the two types of injuries. The other child who was with him reported something about an...ice yokai. I’ve recommended a psychiatric evaluation. He could be in shock.”

Himiko nodded, silently thanking the doctor for the excuse, but-

“How would you explain the frost bite then?” she asked, jotting the information down in her notebook.

“I’m uncertain,” the doctor replied, pushing open the door. “But I am a man of science. I don’t believe in things like supernatural spirits. Not without proof that they exist anyway. It could be a deodorant burn from aerosol sprays or, and I believe this to be extremely unlikely, poor circulation.” He scrunched his face up at that possibility, revealing his distaste for it. “At this point, a yokai sounds like the more plausible answer to both of them. We identified the victim and pulled up his medical history. He has no history of circulatory problems, even in his extended family and the burns don’t show any signs of prolonged contact with aerosol sprays. I’m sorry, but I can’t explain it at the present.”

“Who is the victim?” Himiko asked, scribbling down what he was saying even though she knew that the caller knew what they saw. “Also the person who called for help. I’ll need to interview them as well, obviously.” She paused and glanced at the doctor. “Are they still here?”

“The other victim has been picked up by his parents… Ah, I don’t have his release forms. You’ll have to go to the information desk. As for the victim…” He glanced at his paperwork. “Matsuki, Takato.”

Himiko paused in her writing, glancing up at the doctor wondering if there was any coincidences in this world.

_ Son of a bitch _ .

Her obsidian eyes ghosted over to a hospital bed she had become very intimate with herself a few months ago to see the boy who Rika was much too good for lying there, unconscious, an IV hooked up to his arm. A brace was wrapped around his neck like a hug, and suddenly the urge to smoke came over her like a wave.

“Is his condition stable?” she asked, going back to writing, staring a note to herself to go to the front desk to get the other victim’s information. She had a feeling that perhaps this wasn’t a random attack, and Rika wasn’t the only one in IceDevimon’s gaze.

_ Well … he’s been taken care of now _ , she thought, assuring herself.

“Aside from his ribs having been broken from CPR, he appears to be doing well. He...hasn’t woken up yet though. We’ll be running some more tests on him soon to determine if there’s any damage to his brain from oxygen deprivation, but otherwise he’s healthy.” He winced. “Healthy and lucky. There can be no doubt that whatever -  _ whoever - _ attacked him was definitely looking to murder him.”

“I see,” Himiko said as her phone began to ring. Frowning slightly, she pulled it out and saw Rika’s name flash up on her caller ID. Pressing her lips together, she murmured an apology to the doctor and stepped outside of the intensive care unit and picked it up.

“Rika,” she greeted calmly, closing her eyes. “Good that you actually can return a call, even if you can’t pick up a phone. I have something to tell you. You’re not going to like it.”

**###**

Henry leaned against the wall outside of Takato’s room, listening to the sound of his friend’s parents talking quietly to each other in hushed whispers. They were both clearly upset, particularly Mie Matsuki, which didn’t surprise him. He remembered how much she worried about her ‘baby’ even before Mnemosyne arrived in their lives. It often struck him that she had little faith in his ability to take care of himself without her watching over him.

_ This incident isn’t helping, _ he thought before glancing over at Rika. Her face had bitter lines to them, reflecting anger, similar to how she looked when she learned about Kazu’s fight with the boy, but there was more behind it.

_ She blames herself, _ he thought.  _ She’s probably thinking if it weren’t for her, IceDevimon wouldn’t have gone after Takato. He’d be safe. Safe and not in a hospital room. _

“It’s not your fault you know,” he spoke up. “I know that’s kind of the expected thing to say, but...don’t beat yourself up over this.”

“IceDevimon is after me, and has been going after people close to me,” she said in a quiet whisper, clutching at her hair as if she wanted to rip it out. “First it was Renamon. Now it’s Takato. Both of them came near death … and …” she choked up unable to go on, but she doubted that the Chinese boy needed her to go on.

She wasn’t sure what was worse; the fact she could hear his parents fretting in the other room, not knowing what happened to their son, who tried to murder him, yet two of the people who could provide them the (horrible) answer were sitting just outside the room. Or that one of them was responsible for their son’s condition in the first place.

_ Not to mention I broke his heart just the day before _ , she reminded herself bitterly, rubbing at her dry eyes.

“It’s still not your fault,” Henry affirmed. “You can’t help how you feel. IceDevimon couldn’t handle that. If you blame yourself...if you let what he did eat you up, you won’t be able to do anything about him when you have to. And that’s what IceDevimon wants. He wants you to be vulnerable.”

He reached out and placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You don’t want him to win, right?”

He hoped to tap into her combative spirit; to get her to rise up and fight. If she stopped and let herself collapse...it wouldn’t end with Takato. IceDevimon would destroy  _ everything  _ she cared about.

“Of course I don’t want him to win!” Rika hissed, rage welling up in her and she quickly took hold of it, the sound of waves crashing against the beach ringing in her ears. Rage and anger was easier for her to deal with then helplessness.

She hated being helpless, unable to do anything. She  _ hated _ not being strong.

“If I knew where he was, I’d destroy him myself,” she snarled, slamming her first against the bench only to instantly regret it, pain coursing through her arm.

“We’ll work it out,” Henry said. “We’re there for you. We just have to figure out a plan.”

It sounded bad in his mind. Without their actual partner's, thinking about tackling someone like IceDevimon was tantamount to suicide. They had no real way to combat him outside of Renamon, and she couldn’t digivolve. Still, hope wasn’t lost. The road to it however was difficult.

_ That’s just the way the universe likes it, _ he thought grimly.

“... Himiko … did tell me … that Hypnos has IceDevimon’s signature,” she said quietly. “That the next time he shows up … they’ll finish what they started.” She dragged a hand over her face and sighed. “I can’t just leave it at that though. Just … hope for Himiko and Hypnos to pick up my messes. To let her  _ protect  _ me like I’m … I’m useless.”

She gripped her hands together and closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the ocean noises had stopped and suddenly everything was in grayscale. Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she rubbed her eyes and somewhere far away, like at the bottom of the well, she could hear Henry’s voice.

“-a. -ka. -ika. -Rika!”

Snapping her eyes open again, suddenly the hospital was in color again, and she turned to Henry who was looking at her worriedly, his hand still on her shoulder. Shaking her head, feeling slightly lightheaded, she frowned slightly.

“Sorry, what?”

“You kind of drifted off for a second there,” Henry said, his voice full of concern. “Maybe you should get some rest after we’re done here. You’re under a lot of stress.”

“Yeah…” she agreed, frowning slightly, putting a hand on her forehead, not quite sure what just happened. “Yeah…” she repeated herself, frowning slightly, glancing at the hospital room. Visiting hours were finishing soon, and she hadn’t finished her homework. “... I think … I’m going to go home,” she said quietly, wondering if that was selfish of her, not to stay until the end.

“Okay,” Henry nodded. “Don’t worry about it. For right now, Takato’s out of danger. He’s going to be fine.”

From within the room, the voices of Takato’s parents grew louder and they stepped out into the hall, Mie’s eyes red and damp. Takehiro held her close, though he looked grim and as haggard as Rika.

“Hey,” the man greeted with a nod. He offered them a strained smile, trying to put on a brave face. “We’re taking off so...if you want some privacy with him in there…”

He let the sentence drift off. He had tried to let them know they were allowed to stay earlier, but Rika insisted on allowing them privacy with their son.

Rika looked at Henry. She didn’t want to go in there alone. It hurt just seeing his parents like this, and unable to do anything.

_ That might not be necessarily true _ , she thought, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a napkin she had from earlier, and borrowing the pen attached to the clipboard outside his room, she quickly jotted her number down before handing it to his parents.

“Uhm, if there is anything …” she said quietly, drifting off, not quite sure what  _ to _ say as she handed them the worn (and clean, except for the ink now staining it) napkin.

Takehiro met Rika’s gaze before accepting the napkin and handing it to Mie.

“Thank you,” Mie replied, pocketing the napkin. “Takato… He’s really lucky to have friends like you. A much better influence on him than Kazu and…”

Her words drifted off, her mind going back to the unmoving body of her son in the room, holding her attention. Shaking herself free of it for the moment, she forced a tired, false smile on her face.

“Thank you,” was all she said.

“Yes, thank you,” Takehiro added. “Take care of him while we’re gone, okay? See you around.”

Henry watched them go, Mie leaning against Takehiro as her shoulders shook, quietly crying again. He turned to Rika, starting toward Takato’s room.

“Are you coming?” he asked. “Visiting hours are almost over.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly, watching them leave, feeling a lump rise in her throat. She felt like she was lying to his parents. She was  _ not _ a good friend. She was a  _ terrible _ influence. And she let his parents think she was something else, someone  _ better _ than what she really was.

Sighing, she turned on her heel and followed Henry inside.

Henry winced upon seeing Takato lying there in the bed, a brace around his neck. He looked...vulnerable, which was not something he was used to seeing from him, even with all the changes forced on him by Mnemosyne’s machinations. Approaching him, he took a spot by his side, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at him. At the corners of the brace, where it met his jawline, he could see a slight discoloration of his skin - bruises from the force of his strangulation - and the skin was cracked where the ice had burned him.

He gripped the bed guard tightly, feeling a wave of anger wash over him.

_ IceDevimon…. If I had the power to destroy you… _

Rika stood just behind Henry, and next to the boy, the vulpine materialized in the room. There was nobody around, and her sensitive hearing would allow her to pick up anybody approaching. Looking at the fallen boy, the kitsune pressed her lips together.

_ It’s a miracle he’s alive _ , she noted, but she didn’t say anything. If it wasn’t for the timely intervention of Hypnos and the phone call of the boy - whose name and address Renamon made sure to memorize when she followed Himiko quietly to the front desk - Takato would be dead. There was no doubt about that.

_ The question is though _ , she thought, glancing at Rika, taking a protective step closer to her, resting a paw on her shoulder,  _ where will he strike next? _

Henry forced himself to release his grip on the bed guard and turned his gaze up to Takato’s closed eyes.

“Takato,” he began quietly. “I don’t know if you can hear me. Probably not, but...I just thought you might like to know that we’re here. Rika’s blaming herself though, so when you wake up, you should let her know that she’s being a Gogglehead.” A pause, and his fingers curled into his palm before he unclenched his hands. “We can’t stay for very long though. Visiting hours are almost over. We’ll be back tomorrow though to see you. Hopefully you’ll be awake then.”

He glanced at Rika and stepped away. “I know it’s kind of silly looking but...would you like to say anything? It might help.”

Rika looked at the fallen form of Takato and took a step forward. She didn’t know what to say. She was never good with this sort of thing. Communicating was hard for her, and it was even harder when one of the people was unconscious.

“...We’ll take care of IceDevimon,” she said finally. “So … don’t have any nightmares. We’ll make sure you - or anyone else - will never get hurt again.” She glanced at Renamon, who smiled and nodded at her, squeezing her shoulder. “... We’ll be back tomorrow, so don’t worry about anything else but getting better.”

Henry smiled at Rika and then turned back to their friend, bowing politely.

“Until then, Takato. Momentai.”

Turning, Henry and Rika exited the room, Renamon disappearing from view as she followed after them. The half-Chinese Tamer looked at the red-haired girl out of the corner of his eye, smiling softly.

Rika turned her head and upon noticing Henry’s smile, gave an awkward one of her own.

With Henry and Renamon, IceDevimon didn’t have a chance.

**###**

Mako stared at the bottom of Ai’s bed, his twin sister sleeping soundly.

While his parents and sister didn’t believe him about IceDevimon - Ai in particular had scoffed - his parents, at the suggestion of the doctor, had promptly enrolled him counseling.

_ “Watching someone almost get murdered is very traumatic, for any age,” the doctor said in hushed undertones as he addressed his parents, jotting something down on a piece of paper and handing it to his mother. “The police no doubt will be visiting you soon for your son’s statement, but I don’t think his current mental state of shock will be much help to anyone. Never mind this can severely mentally scar him if left untreated.” _

True to the doctor’s word, the police did come. A woman with short black hair and cold black eyes. While she didn’t say anything about his story, he knew she didn’t believe him just like the doctor didn’t believe him.

Covering his stomach, wincing slightly when he rolled to his side, his eyes found the computer and he scowled.

_ IceDevimon is out there, and the adults aren’t doing anything _ , he thought angrily, his hand clutching his blanket tightly.  _  If they won’t do something,  _ I  _ will. _

He turned around, his back facing the computer.

_ It’s the least I can do to make up for everything. _


	37. Deimos and Phobos

A silence hung over the Tamers like a dark cloud. All three looked tired and exhausted. While Henry looked his usual self, the two girls appearance had taken a downward slide. Although while it wasn’t  _ as _ unusual for Rika, Jeri always was more put together than she was today. 

 

In the end, the brunette didn’t answer Rika’s text or phone calls to call her back last night. The redhead decided not to push it upon seeing how distraught - no matter how she tried to hide it - and tired she looked. Something must have happened at home, and truth to be told, Rika didn’t really want to talk about Takato’s condition today at any rate.

 

She had all night to think about it and beat herself up over it, even though both Henry and Renamon tried assuring her it wasn’t her fault. Not to mention each time she thought she might find some relief and fall asleep, the sound of the ocean which had been ringing in her ears as of late would wake her back up.

 

_ I’ve been too stressed lately _ , she thought, poking at her food with slight disinterest. 

 

She didn’t want to bring up the ocean sounds to anybody else; it was something she was sure would go away on it’s own. There was nothing more to it, she was sure.

 

Henry took a sip from his juice box and glanced between the two girls, taking note of their grim behavior. It didn’t surprise him of course. He didn’t know anyone who wouldn’t be a bit distraught about recent events. 

 

_ When you’re worrying about your friends and the fate of the world, everything else tends to take second place, _ he mused, lowering his juice and taking a bite from one of his rice balls.

 

“So…” he began carefully. “I’m going to go see how Takato’s doing after school. Are you sure you two are up for it?”

 

Jeri poked at her bento half-heartedly before making a noncommittal grunting sound, having barely heard his question.

 

_ Maybe it’s too soon for her to see him like that, _ Henry thought, looking over at Rika.  _ Between Leomon and everything else she went through before, this may be a bit too much. _

 

Did the same hold true for Rika as well? She had been badly upset after all and blamed herself. He didn’t think so, but the question tugged at the back of his mind.

 

“Yeah,” Rika said quietly with a sigh. It was the least she could do. If she was honest, part of her hoped he was still asleep when they were visiting - it would be easier to deal with the weight of the part she played in his condition. She wasn’t sure if she could even look him in the eyes, and what made it  _ worse _ was that she  _ knew _ he wouldn’t blame her - even if he should.

 

“All right,” Henry nodded before looking back at Jeri worriedly. Her silence was...concerning. All day she looked like she had been in another world. He leaned over to Rika.

 

“I think she might need your magic touch,” he said to her in a soft breath. 

 

Rika pointed to herself in slight confusion and when Henry nodded, she looked over to Jeri who  _ did _ seem out of sorts. Scooting closer to the smaller girl, she gently put a hand on top of the brunette’s.

 

“Hey. Yen for your thoughts?” she asked gently.

 

“Mn,” Jeri responded absently, her chopsticks, absent of any food, went up to her mouth and poked at her lips. She blinked, seeming to take notice that she wasn’t chewing on anything and her chopsticks returned to her bento, poking at the food emptily again once more.

 

Henry looked at Rika with a raised eyebrow, conveying a single meaning.

 

_ Something is really wrong here. _

 

Rika’s response - although also without words as she furrowed her brows at the Chinese boy - was just as sarcastic as it would have been if she had spoken it out loud.

 

_ No, you think so? _

 

Turning back to Jeri, she decided to get her attention by taking some drastic - if ill-thought through as tended to be the norm with the socially awkward girl - measures. Taking a piece of her own sausage from her bento, she poked Jeri’s mouth with it.

 

If she didn’t get a response, at least she would  _ eat _ something.

 

Jeri squawked and jerked back in surprise before turning toward Rika.

 

“Wh-Wha…?” she sputtered in surprise. “Sorry. Were we talking about something?”

 

“I was talking about visiting Takato after school. You’ve been pretty out of it. I can understand it, but...well, to quote you, would you like to talk about it?”

 

“I…” Jeri dropped her eyes down, feeling the scar on her wrist itch a little .With great effort, she brushed it off. “Sorry. I’ve been thinking about Takato and...and my mother.” She bit her lower lip before taking a shuddering breath to continue. “An...An echo of her showed up at my home yesterday after I left Takato’s home.”

 

It didn’t take Rika long to realize the implications.

 

“Oh,” she said, before amending herself. “Oh shit.” Reaching over, she hugged Jeri, pulling her into a tight bear hug before pulling back slightly. “Jeri, what are you doing at school then?” She paused wondering how to tactfully say she probably should have stayed home, looking to Henry for help.

  
“Are you alright?” Henry asked, setting his food down. “If you’re this upset, you really should have stayed home.”

 

“No…” Jeri replied, her voice dropping. “I...I can’t just stop and shut down when I get upset about something. I…” Her voice trailed off as her hands reached up and touched Rika’s arms, missing the comfort of her embrace already. “The world’s not going to stop for me,” she finished.

 

“Taking a day off from school to process the shock of having your mother’s memory show up isn’t stopping and shutting down,” Rika said bluntly. “You aren’t asking the world to stop for you. You’re just taking time to collect your thoughts and feelings. You should go home.”

 

“I shouldn’t,” Jeri shook her head. “There’s notes to take still and...and I can’t afford to skip class. I need to see Takato after school too. I can’t go home.”

 

“Don’t worry about notes. Henry and I got you covered,” Rika said. “You don’t have to visit right after school either. Anyway, if your mum appeared, shouldn’t you spend time with her?”

 

“She…” Jeri swallowed, her face growing pale. “Dad...called the police and they had to take her away. It...It only makes sense. She’s...She’s dead in real life and…”

 

She swayed on her spot and placed one hand on the grass to steady herself. Closing her eyes, she counted to three and when she reopened them, she was more stable.

 

“I’m...not sure where she is,” she said finally. “I called around before going to school, but she’s not at any of the police stations. The one she was taken to said that she had been picked up by someone. A woman. They couldn’t give me any more information than that.”

 

“Himiko?” Henry suggested, turning to Rika. “Or at least Hypnos? It would make sense, or at least a little bit. Since she’s an echo, they would want to get her somewhere away from the general public.”

 

“Probably,” Rika agreed, pressing her lips together for a moment before suddenly standing up. Reaching down, she pulled Jeri up on to her feet before looking at Henry. “We’re going to go pay Himiko a little visit. You want to take notes for us?”

 

She would have asked Henry if he would come, but she had a feeling Jeri would be more resistant to the impromptu kidnapping and skipping school if one of her concerns weren’t met in some capacity. 

 

“Sure, as long as Renamon doesn’t raise an issue with you about it,” Henry nodded, unfazed by Rika’s sudden proclamation while Jeri whirled about on her in surprise.

 

“Rika…!” she exclaimed loudly.

 

“I think it might not be a bad idea,” Renamon said, phasing into existence, although she kept to the shadows. “I’ll be with them, so no need to worry about Rika picking a fight with Himiko.” Renamon paused and amended her statement. “A fist fight that is.”

 

“We’ll be depending on you then,” Henry said, tipping his chopsticks at her in a salute. Jeri looked at the three in shock.

 

“No! I...I can’t…! I’m  _ fine! _ I can’t just skip school!”

 

“This is clearly bothering you,” Henry said, taking another bite out of his rice ball. “Trust me, you’re not fine. Also, Rika’s kidnapping you whether you like it or not. That’s how she is.”

 

_ Just ask Takato, _ he thought, remembering her doing just that to Takato when they were at the beach. She just...had that way about her of knocking down hesitation like a boxer.

 

“Now that’s been settled, let’s go,” Rika grinned, pulling on Jeri’s hand insistently, and it must have been the trick of the light, because it almost looked like she  _ sparkled _ .

 

**###**

 

Himiko watched as the ‘woman’ identified as Hisako Katou lay on the scanning bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling emptily. She tapped a cigarette against her side as she hugged herself, wishing she could smoke, but didn’t.

She was finally starting to understand why Yamaki carried that damnable lighter of his and flicked it open so often. This job was a heart attack waiting to happen. No question.

_ “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Hisako Katou, but…you’re dead. You’ve been dead for the past twelve years.” _

To have been the one to tell her that – a sentient echo like Renamon, only human – weighed heavily on her heart.

_ Katou… Birth mother to Jeri Katou, one of the Tamers. Well, former one at any rate, since her partner was killed. Died when she was four. _

She had done a quick study on Jeri’s profile, just as she did with all the Tamers. She had been central to the D-Reaper crisis, the digital entity using the memories of her dead mother and her depression following Leomon’s death to empower itself. It was, perhaps the starkest example of what happens when the dark side of human emotions were harnessed by a force for dark deeds, and with good reason as it nearly destroyed the human world.

She could only imagine how Jeri felt. She had met the woman after all before she could be properly…dealt with.

_ I should probably look into that, _ she thought as the door to the observation room opened, allowing Janyu Wong entry.

“Report,” she greeted.

“She appears to be human,” Janyu said, handing her his clipboard. “Only digital in makeup. Obviously I can’t tell for sure how close she is to the original, but given what we’ve seen so far with other echoes, she’s likely an exact match.”

Himiko took the clipboard and poured over its contents. “This graph here…” She pointed. “What’s this? You’ve marked it as an anomaly.”

“Yes,” Janyu nodded. “We’re not sure what it is. It stands out in comparison to other echoes, including Renamon’s. We’re investigating it now. However…” He frowned. “It…shows a deconstructive value. No particular pattern however, and it goes in and out amongst her data structure. It might be a glitch of some sort caused by the digital hazard event we unleashed.”

“We’ll need to bring Renamon in to see if she picked up anything similar,” Himiko suggested.

“Just out of curiosity, what are your plans for this echo?” Janyu asked.

Himiko pressed her lips together. “Protocol says we should…destroy the echo.” She forced herself to say that, not liking the tastes of the words.

“You don’t sound like you like that.”

“She looks human,” Himiko replied. “She’s sentient. I’m not a huge fan of destroying living things.”

She paused, her eyes becoming distant.  _ All the other echoes we destroyed… Were any of them…sentient? _ She hadn’t looked at any of the echo profiles. They had just been echoes to her at the time. Unfeeling bits of data belonging to a recording. Nothing to be concerned about.

Yet…

_ How many echoes did we destroy…that looked like Rika? At what age? _

Her hand shook and she handed the clipboard back to Janyu hurriedly.

“Hisako Katou… In her real life, before dying, she had a daughter. If we destroy her…are we killing her twice?”

She thought back to when they first tested out their systems regarding the archive signal, and how it had summoned forth the ghost of her mother mere moments before her death. She had ended it then, temporarily, from the shock.

_ Her daughter has got to be feeling the same way… _

Janyu frowned slightly, looking at the woman lying on the bed. Ever since she had been informed that she was just a memory - a fragment of the past - she had been lifeless. Despite knowing she was an echo, and that they should take care of it before more harm could be done, he agreed with Himiko; he didn’t want to. He didn’t envy Himiko or her position at all.

 

To some, the woman was an anomaly. Yet just like Renamon, who clearly exhibited thoughts and feelings, not to mention some sort of agenda, this woman was  _ alive _ .

 

“I … don’t know,” he admitted after a moment. “She’s clearly sentient … and, like the Renamon, really shows no signs of malicious intent.” He looked over to Himiko. “... We allow Renamon to stay around. Why can’t we do the same with her? Just … relocate her.”

 

“Renamon...is a unique case,” she began not wanting to admit that it was due largely to Mnemosyne’s interference. “And she can stay out of sight whenever she wants to. The echo of Hisako...can’t.”

 

It was a weak argument, and Himiko knew it.

 

“Well obviously she won’t be able to stay here without the worry she would run into her child or husband, opening up fresh wounds no doubt, but living somewhere else in Japan … even internationally. There’s no reason we  _ have _ to kill her,” Janyu argued back. 

 

“It’s not  _ real  _ Janyu,” Himiko pressed, tightening her grip on her cigarette until it abruptly snapped in two and fell to the floor. “It’s a recording.”

 

“So is Renamon,” Janyu said quietly. “Yet judging by the fact you haven’t wanted to delete it, and want to run tests to make sure it didn’t catch any viruses shows you care for it like a living thing. Are you saying you want to kill Renamon too?”

 

“Checking for viruses is a security precaution. Unless you want our systems infected Janyu…” She closed her eyes before continuing in a quieter voice. “And something will have to be done about the Renamon sooner or later.”

 

“Does it?” Janyu pressed. “Director Hata, forgive me for being so frank … but do we really have the right to delete them if they aren’t dangerous to us? Creatures like IceDevimon I can understand … but Renamon … Ms. Katou … they may be echoes, but they’re still sentient beings.  _ Living _ beings.”

 

“What do you suggest then?” Himiko opened her eyes. “Tell me, Janyu. I’m curious. I seem to be doing a terrible job at being director of this organization. What do you suggest we do with these...living records?  _ If  _ they’re alive.”

 

“To begin with, I think you’re doing a well enough job given your position,” Janyu said frowning. “I don’t agree with all your decisions, but I think you’re genuinely trying to do right. There is no manual for this sort of thing.” He paused and looked at the woman again. “As for what to do … well, for humans like Ms. Katou, like I said, we could always relocate. Other Digimon … well if they’re not like Renamon, I don’t know.” He frowned and glanced at Himiko. “By the way, you seem to have a connection to Renamon. How  _ does _ she live … handle this? Maybe there is a hint right there.”

 

“That’s...complicated,” Himiko responded. “You remember the entity that appeared right before I activated the Hazard program. It...requested that I let Renamon live. I...can’t say why.”

 

Sighing, she massaged her forehead. “I’ve let it go on for too long. I  _ should _ be doing something about it, but… I don’t know. I’m afraid I have a conflict of interest here. The echo is connected to my cousin. If it were to disappear… If it  _ died…” _

 

She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. In her mind’s eye, she saw Jeri’s picture from her file, imagining how she had felt when her mother died. She knew how she herself had felt when her mother killed herself. She didn’t want the same thing to happen to her cousin. Not that kind of pain. There had to be an alternative.

 

Yet, from where she stood, there wasn’t any.

 

Janyu frowned, wondering what sort of connection Director Hata’s cousin had to a Digimon. Not to mention, why another entity would want it to live. Things didn’t make sense, and he couldn’t shake the feeling the director knew things she wasn’t sharing.  _ Important _ things. 

 

“Your cousin is lucky to have you looking out for them,” he said, looking back at the woman. “Once again, I don’t envy your position.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “Well we don’t have to do anything right now about either of these echoes,” he pointed out. “If we all put our heads together, I’m sure we’ll figure out something. You aren’t alone, Director.”

 

_ You’re wrong, Janyu, _ Himiko thought, her expression bitter.  _ Rika’s not lucky to have me looking out for her. I’m just all she has who’s doing it besides the Renamon. That’s...bad luck. Just like me.  _

 

Sighing heavily, she shook her head. “Let me know if you’ve found anything else about her, Mr. Wong. We’ll need to reconvene for a brainstorming later to fix my mistakes.”

 

**###**

 

Rika had never skipped school before, surprisingly enough. She had detention and suspension, and been sent home sick - more or less kicking and screaming - but never skipped. 

 

There never had been a reason to. The closest she came was going to beat up Kazu after he dared hurt Takato, but Renamon got in the way of that, so she stayed. Otherwise, she was content on pissing off the people who no doubt would  _ like _ for her to stay home by being in school every day for every period.

 

The redhead could channel spite in useful and constructive ways.

 

However, school was the furthest from her mind as she walked hand in hand with Jeri, who had finally stopped protesting being kidnapped when she realized it truly was a lost cause, down the street toward where Himiko worked. She decided perhaps showing up unannounced and forcing her cousin to try to say no to Jeri’s sad face was the best option to have Jeri connect with her mother.

 

Himiko could be cold hearted, but Rika - however grudgingly - had to admit the woman  _ did _ have a soft side. And anyone with a heart couldn’t say no to Jeri Katou. That much was a scientific fact. 

 

Jeri, for her part, was uncertain about whether this was a good idea or not. Having surrendered to her whims however, she was no longer in a position to continue protesting. All the same though, she felt...awkward, and not just because Rika was holding her by the hand.

 

If anything, that...made things easier to bear.

 

“Thanks...Rika,” she said quietly, pushing the words out reluctantly, feeling as though by doing so she were admitting something to herself. A crime of some sort.

 

_ This is where Takato’s hand used to be, _ she thought, her eyes dropping to the sidewalk.

 

Rika glanced backwards, before smiling encouragingly at her.

 

“Don’t mention it. I can do this much,” she said.

 

Yes. She could do this much. She could do  _ something _ , instead of sit back helplessly. The chance to help  _ someone _ , in however a small way, was a welcome relief to the redhead. Even if that something was simply kidnapping them, and dragging them off to do what they should probably do when they felt more comfortable.

 

Who knew how much time Jeri had though if Himiko had her mother. If the echo was even still  _ around _ , but Rika didn’t think such thoughts. Voice such thoughts. 

  
The brunette needed some sort of optimism, and while that was hardly her department, she had hung around Takato long enough to be able to bullshit it at least. 

 

Jeri looked around uncertainly though, feeling as though eyes were on them; watching them. What were a pair of school girls doing outside of school? 

 

“I’ve...never done this before,” she said, a touch of excitement in her voice. “Actually, that’s not true. We did this when we first went to the digital world. We wound up missing a lot of school and we almost repeated the grade. We all worked together to make sure we didn’t fail.” She giggled. “Even you helped, and you weren’t in our school.”

 

Rika smiled, glad to see Jeri starting to cheer up some at least.

 

“Really now. They didn’t give any leniency to us?” she asked, arching a brow, a grin playing on her features. “I bet you and Henry though did fine.”

 

“We all did,” Jeri replied, smiling softly. “Even Kazu. He’s smarter than he looks. He’s just...you know. Lazy. He gets distracted easily. Doesn’t like working on things that don’t interest him. Kind of like you.”

 

“Excuse me, I have good grades across all my subjects. Even the ones I find boring,” Rika protested in a mock insulted huff.

 

“I didn’t say that you resembled each other in  _ all _ areas. Kazu’s not a girl too you know.”

 

“I’m also better looking,” Rika added, flipping her hair for good measure as if to prove her point.

 

“And just like Kazu, you’re very humble,” Jeri giggled again before her expression sobered. “We’re not going back to the way things were...are we? Before Mnemosyne I mean.”

 

Her face twisted in sadness and anger, thinking of their group breaking apart. They seemed to be pulling together, but...a part of her couldn’t help but wonder. Couldn’t help but doubt. They all changed so much after all.

  
Rika wanted to lie and say that of course they were. Of course they could. She didn’t like seeing that look on the smaller girl’s face, and once again a wave of helplessness washed over her. 

 

However, she didn’t.

 

“Nothing lasts forever,” she said instead quietly. “Even if we have memories that are a lie … they still shaped us. How we are today. There’s no getting around that. You can’t … just undo that.” She looked at Jeri, hoping to say something slightly more positive. “That is to say … it doesn’t have to be a bad thing though.”

 

“I think it does,” Jeri said, scrunching her eyes together angrily. “We used to be a tight knit group. We used to be a team. We were  _ all _ friends. We had something...special. I don’t like the idea of losing that. It’s like losing the digimon all over again.” She glanced at Rika out of the corner of her eye. “What if you had to lose Takato, Henry or...me? Would you say that’s not a bad thing?”

 

“You know the answer to that,” Rika said, looking away, frowning. She had to stop herself from reminding Jeri she  _ had _ lost them in the past. Repeatedly. She squeezed Jeri’s hand a bit tighter on an impulse to make sure she was still there, old fears of being alone momentarily kicking into overdrive. “Anyway … that’s not what I meant. I meant not being able to return to how things were in past doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing.” She glanced at Jeri. “We’re still a team. We may not all be friends but …” she shrugged. “I don’t think we’d all stay super connected. I know personally I’d stay close to you, Henry and Takato of course … but even without Mnemosyne’s interference, do you really think I’d ever grown close to Kazu and Kenta?”

 

“You were,” Jeri said quietly, giving her hand a soft squeeze back. “A couple of resets. Just...not in the same way as you were with me, Takato and Henry.”

 

Her hand tightened angrily around Rika’s hand and she reluctantly forced herself to relax her grip.

 

“That’s...what makes me so angry with Mnemosyne. It...It just thinks it knows better and it’s been ruining our lives...our friendships...our...love’s...because of that. And now...with my mom…”

 

Again her hand tightened around Rika’s and her vision briefly saw red.

 

“Rika… I...I can’t believe I’m going to say this but...I… I think I need to hit something.”

 

Rika smiled gently. Jeri’s grip was strong, but it didn’t hurt. Pulling her off to a quick little detour, she understood the need - no doubt better than anyone - to let anger out in a violent manner. Just letting her feelings explode until she was worn out.

 

She understood  _ painfully _ well.

 

“I understand,” she said quietly. “C’mon … there is a quiet spot under the bridge, and it’s pretty close. You can hit me.” She glanced over at Jeri and smirked slightly. “Don’t want you hurting yourself, and there’s no way you’d be able to hurt me even if you tried.”

 

“I’m not going to try hitting you!” Jeri exclaimed, shooting Rika a horrified look, staggering after her. “I don’t care how good you are at tai chi, I’m not going to do it!”

 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Rika hummed before glancing at her, raising her brow. “Besides I was thinking more of the lines of this.” She held up her book bag and glanced at it slightly. “... I should probably take the textbooks out first though…”

 

Jeri tilted her head to one side in confusion before understanding what she was getting at. She wanted her to hit her book bag. “That’s...better,” she said reluctantly. She supposed she’d be okay with hitting that. “I...I don’t like the idea of hurting you. You’re… I...”

 

She swallowed, hesitant to say that she didn’t like the idea of leaving a bruise on Rika’s face because of how pretty she was. Not that she liked the idea of hitting anyone regardless of how they looked, but Rika was...special to her in much the same way Takato was.

 

“I just don’t like to think about hitting you,” she finished, finally finding her voice.

 

“You’re adorable,” Rika chuckled. “You were always the most gentle out of us all.” She stopped them underneath the bridge, hiding in the shadows, pulling out her textbook out of the bag taking a moment to smirk at the brunette. “The fact you want to punch something clearly means I’ve been a terrible influence on you.” 

 

Looking over to the side, she held out the textbook to empty air.

  
“Renamon, can you hold these for a second?”

 

The vulpine materialized, sticking to the shadows, taking the books from Rika’s hand.

 

“Of course,” she said, before promptly flipping the top book open and starting to skim it’s contents. Rika rolled her eyes slightly but turned her attention back to Jeri. Her partner enjoyed reading different things, and in the past few months Rika got a library card just to pick out books for the vulpine to read.

 

“OK,” Rika said holding up the bag. “Keep your thumb outside of your fist, but tuck it between your second and third knuckle.”

 

Jeri looked around them worriedly, half expecting that they were going to be caught before turning down to her hand. She slowly curled her fingers into her palm as she had been instructed.

 

“Is this right?” she asked, flexing her fist. Her fingers felt so...fragile, and she worried that they would break upon impact.

 

_ Boys do this all the time? _ she wondered with a mixture of horror and amazement.  _ Rika likes doing this? _

 

“That’s it,” Rika encouraged. “So hit me with all ya got.”

 

Jeri looked up at Rika holding the bag in front of her. She felt… She couldn’t say that she felt silly, but she felt strange all the same. 

 

She wasn’t sure if she liked it.

 

In that fist, she felt the anger stirring within her, eager to be released. Yet she also saw in it all the times anger had been unleashed in one form or another. Beelzemon’s rampage through their numbers, culminating in Leomon’s death. Takato snapping in response to her own screams, unleashing all of his rage into Guilmon, transforming him into the monstrous Megidramon. The D-Reaper, feasting on the depths of her anger and sadness…

 

_ This is what it means…  _ she thought, opening her fist, a tear forming at the corner of her eye and running down her cheek. She felt her body flushing.

 

“I...I can’t…!” she whispered harshly. “I  _ can’t! _ I don’t like this! I don’t…”

 

Before she knew it though, her fist returned, quickly joined by another and she clutched at the sides of her head, trembling all over as she held back her screams. 

 

Rika dropped her own bag, reaching out and pulling Jeri into a protective hug, Renamon closing the textbook worriedly. 

 

While she was concerned about the brunette girl, the vulpine, in the back of her mind, still remembered the scar tissue which had embedded itself in her psyche. She hoped with all the new stress Jeri had, this wasn’t the straw which broke the camel’s back. 

 

“Hey, it’s OK. You don’t have to,” Rika said, trying to gently get Jeri to let go of the side of her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

 

Not answering right away, Jeri shuddered and with great effort forced the trembling to stop. For an instant, she was back in the office with her therapist. Back there with the pain that had to be forced out in the open in order to be dealt with. “No…” she whispered. “Don’t… I’m...I’m just running again. I…” She looked down at the bag, eyes narrowing. “I swore that I wouldn’t run again. Could you...pick it back up?”

 

She swallowed.

 

“I’ll hit it.”

 

“Jeri,” Rika said, frowning slightly. “You don’t have to force yourself. You don’t do violence. That’s not running.”

 

“No,” Jeri replied. “This needs to be let out. I don’t like violence but… This  _ needs _ out. I’ll explain it later, but just...I need you to do this for me.”

 

Rika looked at Jeri worriedly before glancing at Renamon, hoping to get a second opinion. When the kitsune nodded, Rika sighed and let go of the girl and picked up her bag again. Turning to face Jeri, she held it up like before.

 

“OK. Thumb outside fist, but tucked in between your second and third knuckle,” she reminded her.

 

Jeri nodded and did as she had been told. She brought her focus on the bag and stepped closer to it. She didn’t know the proper stances, but she imagined that hitting the bag wouldn’t be difficult as long as she was close enough. Taking a deep breath, she pulled her fist back and slammed it into the bag, causing it to rock violently in Rika’s hands.

 

Jeri withdrew her fist, finding herself breathing heavily now, her heart banging loudly in her ears. A part of her was tempted to strike out again, but she took a step back, somewhat afraid of doing so.

 

_ Go as far as you are comfortable, and get used to that before venturing further, _ she thought, remembering her therapist's advice.

 

“Okay,” she said quietly, turning away before hitching a heavy breath. “Okay. I...I think I’m good.”

 

Renamon and Rika exchanged glances, and without a word, Renamon handed back Rika’s textbook before slipping out of sight again. Putting her book away, Rika ruffled Jeri’s hair affectionately before taking her hand again.

 

“You got a lot of strength in you for such a small little thing,” she praised, beginning to pull her back toward their original destination. 

 

Jeri shifted, looking uncomfortable. “I’m not that strong,” she replied. “But...I am trying to get there.” 

 

Picking up her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and then hugged her free arm around herself tightly.

 

“Sorry about how that looked,” she continued. “But...I can’t let something like that stay inside me to fester. It’s...It’s like a monster and it’s better to shine a light on it than to let it hide and...get worse. I’ve...seen it happen too much to like it. But...it’s also better to make sure that it’s done in a way that...doesn’t hurt anyone. I… It’s hard to explain but...when I said that I couldn’t run from this, if I didn’t...punch that bag because I’m afraid of violence...then I lose ground. It becomes harder to face  _ other _ problems.”

 

She shook her head, her expression forlorn. “I don’t know if I’m making any sense. Sorry.”

 

“You are,” Rika said quietly. “You say you’re not that strong, yet you’re stronger than me.” She glanced away, not wanting to admit she had a problem, that she had a weakness, but Jeri opened up to her, was spilling her heart to her, the least she could do was show  _ some _ sort of trust in kind. “I run from my problems all the time.” She smiled wanly. “You know that though.”

 

Jeri met Rika’s eyes, her expression sympathetic. “Well...the first step is to admit that you have a problem. When we were kids, you didn’t.” They began to climb the hill back up to the street above. “So...do you hate that?”

 

“I hate being weak,” came the blunt, and no doubt expected, reply.

 

“What makes you so sure you’re weak?” Jeri asked. It was an obvious question and one that had no doubt been asked often, but Jeri knew from experience that sometimes asking the question aloud could help, like presenting the brain with a puzzle to solve directly. Sometimes even vocalizing that there was a problem gave it a certain...solidity that could be tackled.

 

“Because … I can’t do anything,” Rika said quietly, the sound of the ocean once again creeping up in her ears. “I’ve been nothing but useless, and people are paying for that. Getting hurt because of me. Even with my memories coming back, I’ve yet to really had one of a significant event with the Digimon … or anything else which might be considered painful.”

 

She clenched her own bag tighter.

 

“You don’t like violence … but for me … it’s the only way I know how to address things.”

 

“I see…” Jeri said, furrowing her brow slightly. “Do you ever wonder if that’s why you were so violent before? Like you  _ knew _ something was manipulating you but you had no direct way of fighting it, so it...manifested in a desire to fight? I kind of remember that you always used to become more eager to fight whenever you couldn’t control something you were being faced with.”

 

“I think that’s giving me too much credit,” Rika chuckled, although it wasn’t a humorous one. “I just remember being angry. I don’t remember about what - not much of a surprise  _ there _ .” She sighed. “I … just couldn’t control my darkness at the time, that’s all, so I lashed out.”

 

“Of course you wouldn’t remember,” Jeri huffed. “Mnemosyne’s been manipulating you so that you would forget. I think that’s plenty of credit. I think we  _ all  _ knew that there was something going on, even if we didn’t really realize it. And that’s when we lost control of our darkness and lashed out. That...might be what’s happened to Kazu. To you… Me… To Takato…”

 

_ Takato… _

 

Suddenly tightening her grip on Rika’s hand, she took a glance around to orient herself and then gave a sharp yank, pulling her in a different direction at a rapid pace.

 

“Jeri, wha- Hypnos is the other way!” Rika yelped in surprise, never being on the receiving end of a kidnapping before.

 

“I know,” Jeri said simply. “You helped me, so I’m doing you a favor. We’ll just be taking a quick side trip. That’s all. So you can hopefully confront your own darkness.” Her eyes flashed as she met Rika’s gaze. “Consider this an intervention.”

 

Panic coursed through Rika’s system as she instinctively dug her heels in the ground.

 

She didn’t want to go to the hospital - at least not right now. She wasn’t prepared, especially with whatever Jeri had in mind. She didn’t know what she needed an intervention for, but she knew she did  _ not _ want one.

 

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I don’t need any intervention.”

 

“You just said that you weren’t fine,” Jeri said. “You already know where we’re going, don’t you? You’re afraid of seeing him.”

 

“I’m not afraid of seeing him!” Rika protested hotly before looking away realizing how big of a lie  _ that _ was, even if it might not be in the way Jeri was thinking. “I … just … he’s that way because of me. Because IceDevimon was after  _ me _ . He went after Renamon, and then Takato … and I don’t know where he’s going to appear next, or target next, and this is  _ just _ after I broke his heart to top things off … and …” her voice dropped lower. “And … it’s worse because I know he won’t even blame me, or be angry at me, even though he has every right to.” She shook her head. “Plus we don’t even know if he’s awake.”

 

Jeri gave Rika’s hand a soft squeeze, smiling a little sympathetically. Oh, how she remembered being this stubborn in the past when it came to confronting her inner monsters directly. Acknowledging them had been a war just by itself. Going a step further...even harder.

 

“There’s no easy way, Rika,” she told the girl, massaging her fingers with her own. “But you have only one real choice here. You can ignore him...maybe lose his friendship because of that...just so you can blame yourself, or you can see him. You need to choose.”

 

“I already said I was going to see him after school!” Rika snapped, a bit more harsher than she normally spoke to Jeri - although about on par with how she did with one of the boys when she got annoyed or defensive. However, because this  _ was _ Jeri, a look of guilt and regret immediately crossed her face, and she looked away.

 

“Sorry …” she apologized quietly. “I’m not really afraid of visiting Takato. I’m honestly more afraid of what your idea of an intervention is. I don’t want him to worry about me.” She puffed her cheeks out annoyed. “You already got that handled after all, even though you should be worrying about yourself.  _ Both _ you and Takato should be thinking of your own health, not about me.”

 

“That might be part of the problem too,” Jeri replied. “Rika, you should see him again. Even if it’s now, because it’s related to your...difficulties. I...feel certain about that. How many times did you have to lose him? That’s something you have a problem with before, right?” She tilted her head to get a better reading of Rika’s face. “You don’t like losing people. And you always blame yourself.  _ Especially  _ when it’s not. Because you hate not being in control.”

 

She released Rika’s hand and took a step back.

 

“I still think you should go visit Takato now, since...well, this is the best time for it. When you’re not ready is the best time because we were never ready for a lot of the things life threw at us. But...if that’s not what you want to do then...make your choice. I’m sorry for trying to force it.” Jeri looked away, ashamed. “But sometimes you  _ do _ need a kick in the butt.”

 

Rika was silent for a long while, not meeting Jeri’s gaze. 

 

The brunette was right. She had her pegged to a ‘T’ and if Jeri could force herself to punch a bag, the least she could do was visit someone she planned on doing so anyway. 

  
Still, she didn’t want Jeri to lose sight of their original goal. Takato would be at the hospital tonight and even tomorrow. Jeri’s mother might not be. She might be gone even as they speak. Jeri had a smaller time window, and at the very least, Rika had to make sure she took advantage of it.

 

“... I’ll only go if you go visit your mum,” Rika said softly. 

 

“I will,” Jeri replied, an awkward smile forcing itself on her lips. “I promise.”

 

“Now,” Rika amended herself, looking at the brunette.

 

“As long as you go see Takato now, too,” Jeri added. “I can get there by myself. I’m…” She straightened up and met Rika’s gaze more fully. She was still nervous but this was a battle she was familiar with. “I’m not going to get lost. I’m...not afraid of seeing her. Or...finding out she’s...not there.”

 

She took a deep breath to steady her courage at that. The thought was on her mind. The echo with her mother presented her with a unique opportunity to  _ talk  _ with the woman who gave her life. In spite of her words it did scare her a great deal, but it was something she had to be realistic about.

 

Since Leomon’s first death, she knew she couldn’t expect the universe to fit around her. She had to be ready - and acknowledge - even the bad along with the good.

 

That was life.

 

Rika smiled a little more honestly this time, and once again, reached out and ruffled the small girl’s hair.

 

“You’re strong,” she said simply. “Call me if Himiko gives you a hard time, yeah? I don’t think she will. You’re too cute to say no to.” 

 

Jeri nodded. “I’ll let you know how things go,” she said, smiling back. Shrugging her bag into a more comfortable position, she waved cutely at Rika and ducked around her, looking over at her but once before losing herself in the crowd.

 

Rika looked at the crowd, half considering Renamon to go with the smaller brunette before shaking her head. This was Jeri’s battle, and Rika couldn’t ask Renamon to babysit for her over it. 

 

Sighing, she shouldered her own bag and turned on her heel, heading toward the hospital.


	38. Eurydice

Jeri rubbed her wrist, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as a woman at the front desk dialed Himiko’s number. At least Jeri hoped it was Himiko and not the security. Now that she was here alone, the weight of everything began to push down on her. Suddenly she wished Rika was here to keep her company, to make this easier.

 

_ No … this is something I need to do by myself _ , she thought, shaking her head slightly, beginning to feel dizzy and nauseated, as the woman hung up the phone. 

 

“She’ll be here shortly, so if you want to sit and wait,” the receptionist said, gesturing to some nearby chairs. They had a black wooden frame and white cushions. Next to it was a small table with magazines on it. For a moment, the brunette was reminded of the hospital waiting room. Her throat constricted, but she counted to 10 internally before forcing herself to answer.

 

“Thank you,” Jeri murmured, bowing her head and sinking herself into the closet chair.  

 

**###**

 

Himiko set down her phone and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes.

 

_ “Jeri Katou is here to see you,” _ had been the message from the front desk. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

 

_ Of course she’s here, _ she thought.  _ Why wouldn’t she be? The echo of her mother showed up at her house… She’d want to see her. It wouldn’t take her long to figure out where she went after she had been taken. She’s a smart girl after all. _

 

She looked at the cigarette, unlit, sitting in the ashtray. Once again she understood why Yamaki had such an obsession with that lighter of his. She didn’t know how he resisted the urge to smoke. It seemed like  _ every  _ damn day was a fight to not light up and take a long,  _ deep  _ drag. Toxic fumes, but oh… How they would kill her so happily.

 

Ignoring the cancer stick, she got up from her chair and adjusted her clothing before heading downstairs.

 

It was time to weather the storm.

 

**###**

 

“Jeri Katou,” Himiko greeted upon entering the lobby. “Thank you for stopping by.”

 

“Ah, Himiko,” Jeri said, standing up awkwardly, forcing herself to let go of her wrist. The scar hurt so much, but she ignored it. She forced herself to look into Himiko’s black eyes, and she couldn’t help but think perhaps it  _ was _ a good thing Rika wasn’t here. “Sorry for dropping by unexpectedly.”

 

Himiko furrowed her brow slightly, taking note of the way the girl held her arm before continuing.

 

“Not as unexpected as you think actually,” she replied. “I’ve taken steps to arrange things for you so that you’ll be able to see her.”

 

“Really?” Jeri asked, perking up instantly, slightly surprised Himiko went through the trouble for her. 

 

_ Well she  _ did  _ rescue Ayaka from being hit by that car. She’s probably like Rika and just not good with people _ , she thought, a small smile crossing her face.

 

“Thank you so much for going through the trouble.”

 

Himiko did her best to not wince at the praise, knowing what she had been discussing with Janyu previously about what to do with regards to the echo. Instead, she gestured for her to follow.

 

“Right this way,” she said. “I’ve arranged for the two of you to talk in the cafeteria. Would you like anything? If you don’t mind my saying so, your school schedule indicates that you did not eat anything before coming here.” She frowned slightly at the girl. “It’s generally not a good idea to skip school you know.”

 

“Ah, no thank you,” Jeri said, wincing guiltily as she followed Himiko. “I’m … kind of nervous, and … I’m not really hungry.” She glanced at the director of Hypnos, chewing on her bottom lip. With each passing second, the brunette wasn’t sure what she should say - what she should  _ do _ . It wasn’t anything she thought out - or planned, to be honest. There was no precedents for this sort of thing. “What … do you think I should say to her?” she asked quietly. 

 

Himiko looked at her, startled by the question. Why was she asking  _ her _ of all people about what to say to her mother? She didn’t really know Jeri, and she didn’t know Hisako at all outside of her government file. After a moment, she thought about her own mother, and considered the girl’s question.

 

“If it were me...I’d…” She hesitated, biting her lower lip before sighing. She couldn’t say the words. The wound ran too deep. It was too toxic to even touch.

 

“Katou… I’m not the best person to ask for this. But...what do you want to ask her? What have you always wanted to say to her?”

 

Jeri took a moment to consider Himiko’s question. There were  _ many _ things she wanted to say to her, especially when she first left her. However, as the years drifted by, such thoughts no longer entered her mind. 

 

However, she didn’t have much time to think about it because they entered the cafeteria and she could see her mother sitting at a table by herself in the corner. Suddenly she felt cold and clammy, yet her body felt like it was on fire. She wanted to throw up, and she wondered if she really  _ was _ ready to face her mother. 

 

However the time to decide if she was ready or not had passed.

 

Hisako Katou sat alone, a tray of food in front of her, yet she didn’t eat. She no longer wore the kimono that she had been taken into custody in, and instead now wore a simple, grey sweater with sweatpants. She looked up upon Jeri and Himiko’s entrance, but she didn’t smile. She didn’t do anything. She looked...tired.

 

“She’s been informed of her situation,” Himiko whispered to Jeri. “Needless to say, she’s...unhappy. I don’t know how good this will be for either of you to be honest.”

 

“At least I’ll be able to say goodbye this time,” Jeri murmured back, nodding in acknowledgement to Himiko’s words. Things never worked out the way they did in storybooks. However, being able to talk to her mother, even in this sort of situation, was  _ something _ at least. “I didn’t really understand what was happening when I was little. So … at least that’s something.”

 

Himiko considered the girl for a moment. “It’s something,” she said finally. “Or maybe, instead of goodbye, you’ll be able to say...hello.”

 

Jeri smiled at Himiko. It was a small smile, but just like her cousin, the dark haired woman’s words managed to calm down the torrent of her heart.

 

“Yeah,” she agreed before deciding to approach her mother, slipping at the table across from her. Playing with her fingers, she offered her a nervous smile. “Hey, mum.”

 

Hisako’s gaze followed the girl all the way to the table, and she forced a small, grim smile in response.

 

“Hello...Jeri,” she replied, sounding as though she found it hard to say...hard to  _ believe _ that this teenager was her daughter. It had been just yesterday after all that Jeri was just a little…

 

Her mind stopped there however. She had to remind herself that this girl was  _ not  _ her daughter. This girl was the daughter of the actual Hisako Katou, now long dead. She... _ she  _ was just a shadow.

 

Did that matter?

 

She pressed her lips together, uncertain. She glanced away and poked at her food. “How...How are you?”

 

“I’m doing pretty well,” Jeri answered, feeling the awkwardness seep into the atmosphere. Neither knew what to say to each other - though that was to be expected. What did one say to a dead mother? What did one say to a daughter you saw yesterday as a child? There was so much lost time between the two.

 

“I’m in my third year of high school,” she decided to go on. “I’m planning to be a social worker. I want to be able to help people.”

 

At this, Hisako’s smile became more natural. “That’s...That’s good,” she said throatily. “You always did have a gentle touch. You liked helping people.”

 

Jeri smiled a bit more at that. Her mother supporting her choice gave her more confidence she was taking the right path. She had her doubts every so often - she barely had herself together. She wondered how she would be able to help other people.

 

“Do you have any stories for me from when I was a kid?” she asked, leaning forward curiously. 

 

Hisako’s expression softened as memories came to mind. Once again, she felt the sting of her not being  _ real _ run through her. She wanted to remind Jeri of this fact, but one look at her... It made her heart melt. Here was the girl she had raised - albeit briefly - and carried so very often, and she had grown up into a fine young woman. 

 

_ And beautiful, _ Hisako thought.  _ She’s so beautiful. Anyone would be lucky to have her by their side. _

 

“I do…” Hisako nodded. “Although considering your age back then, I don’t think it’s appropriate to go into most of them.”

 

Jeri puffed her cheeks out like a chipmunk - a behavior she had ever since she was a child when she was annoyed.

 

“That’s not fair mama,” she complained, leaning forward. “I wanna know!”

 

Hisako chuckled at her ‘tantrum.’

 

“Well...on a more polite note, you used to hold your breath until you passed out whenever you were mad about something. Or how you would tear around the house, chattering up a storm… Talking to people who weren’t there.” She smiled. “You did voices a lot when you were little. You made pretend friends all the time. I seem to recall you were working on a hand puppet at one time.”

 

At the mention of her old hand puppet, Jeri’s hand drifted back to her wrist, a sudden flash of the ripped and bloody thing coming into her mind, unwanted. Her body suddenly went very hot, and she silently counted to 10 before answering.

 

“Ah, yeah, I had it for a while,” she said, smiling a bit. “I also have friends now that aren’t imaginary.” She chuckled slightly. “You’ll have to meet some of them some time. You know Ayaka and Takato of course, but there are others I’d like you to meet.” She grinned slightly. “Any embarrassing stories?”

 

“There was the one time you were sick and puked up down my shirt,” Hisako replied. “I...remember that I had to discourage you from following that Takato boy around. You were shy, but you wanted to play with him, but...well, his friend Kazu worried me and to be frank, you did appear to be a bit unsettling with how you would stare at him and follow him.”

 

Hisako leaned back in her chair, frowning slightly. “It was too soon for you to be thinking about boys anyway. Besides, he would only think you were being odd. Hmmm… What else…? Ah yes. There was the time you tried to clean the toilet with our soap. No gloves. You wanted to make me proud… But I had to run you through the bath over and over again.”

 

She cast an amused smirk at the girl. “You  _ were  _ quite messy, and that had been the reason why you tried to clean it up.”

 

Jeri blushed, ducking her head in embarrassment.

 

“Well, I think you’ll be pleased to know I’m no longer socially awkward and shy,” she said, glancing at her mother, before smirking slightly. “I can even talk to boys without making them think I’m odd now and everything.” 

 

“Good…” Hisako nodded, smiling still. “Good.”

 

She lapsed into silence, and poked at her food again before setting her chopsticks down.

 

“I...don’t know what to say,” she said, running her hands through her hair. “I… Jeri. I don’t…”

 

Her eyes took on a frantic look about them as she fought to say the words. At the far end of the room, where Jeri had just been, Himiko’s phone went off and she hit the reply function.

 

“Yes?” she could be heard saying in a low whisper. “Janyu?”

 

“Why… Why are you even here?” Hisako asked, taking no notice of Himiko’s conversation. “I’m not  _ her. _ ”

 

“You’re still my mother,” Jeri said quietly, reaching out to take her mother’s hand in her own. “Just … because you’re an echo from the past doesn’t mean you aren’t my mother. That you aren’t real. That you aren’t  _ sentient _ . Why  _ wouldn’t _ I be here?”

 

Hisako didn’t meet Jeri’s eyes, but their hands remained intertwined. She could feel her daughter’s heartbeat against the palm of her hand. She felt so warm to the touch - so  _ real! _

 

“This has to be a dream,” she said, with a shake of her head. “I keep telling myself that, but I’m not waking up. It just sounds too crazy.”

 

“What if I told you this isn’t even the craziest thing I’ve had happen to me?” Jeri asked, smiling awkwardly, rubbing her mother’s hand with her thumb. It was soft and warm. If her mother was a ghost, then heaven and earth collided because she felt so  _ real _ . So _ alive _ .  

 

“If all of this is true, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Hisako said. “If I’m not ‘real’ and I’m just a….a...I don’t know.  Anyway, if all of this is true, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could have all kinds of crazy things happen to you.”

 

She scowled at Jeri. “Wish that it didn’t. I wish you would have a  _ normal  _ life.”

 

“I don’t mind,” Jeri said smiling at her awkwardly, thinking that her life ceased to be normal when the Digimon started coming over. “At least it’s exciting. Beside …” her eyes softened as she squeezed her mother’s hand tightly. “I got to see you again. I’ve missed you so much, mum.”

 

Again, Hisako wanted to remind her daughter that she wasn’t actually seeing her mother. Just some... _ thing _ wearing her face and using her name. While mulling it over, she remembered that Hisako  _ did _ die...and she didn’t know how that affected her daughter.

 

_ I...look like her mother. I have her memories. Oh gods… _ Hisako buried her face in her free hand, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.  _ I still think of Jeri as my baby, and...and… _

 

“I’m sure...your mother misses you too,” she replied. “I...I know I would for sure. I always used to worry about you when you were little. I tried to hide it… I didn’t like showing how I felt. I didn’t want to worry you or Tadashi. Neither of you would have understood. There were so many ifs out there and all I ever want for you to be is happy…”

 

She sniffed and ran her hand along her eyes, stemming the flow of tears and drying others.

 

“You  _ are _ my mother though,” Jeri said, her voice cracking, tears of her own beginning to leak out. “And I  _ am _ happy. You don’t have to worry.” 

 

“Oh Jeri…” Hisako reached out and brushed her fingertips against her daughter’s face. “Always thinking of others. You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear that and to know you’re looking to do good in the world. It needs more people like you.”

 

Jeri’s hand covered her mother’s, the tears coming more freely. Shizue was a kind woman, but to be stroked like this by her own mother, her own flesh and blood, it was something she wanted from the bottom of her heart since her mother died all those years ago. Now, ironically thanks to Mnemosyne, she finally got that wish. 

 

“Mama,” she choked out a sob. “Mama, I love you.” 

 

Hisako could no longer hold back her tears, and quickly reached over the table to embrace Jeri, pulling her tightly against her and whispering softly to her, rocking her gently from side to side like she did when she was a child.

 

She was so...so happy now. In spite of last night… In spite of all the confusion… Here, she could find something to hold on to. A port in the storm and…

 

...and…

 

A bar of television static crossed her body, and she flickered erratically, colors splitting and switching from one to the other as she froze in place, her body losing tangibility.

 

“Mama?” Jeri asked, her eyes widening, tightening her grip around her mother, for how much good that would do her. “Mama … mama what’s wrong?”

 

However, despite asking that, she knew what was wrong. She had seen this before - on TV when Takato, Rika and Henry fought Vikaralamon and the sky split open. She was being  _ deleted _ .

 

_ Why is this happening? _ She thought frantically.  _ What’s going on? _

 

“Oh gods…” Himiko whispered, coming up behind Jeri quickly, lowering her phone. “Janyu just called. He said that the blood samples they took all vanished. This…”

 

Before Himiko could say anything further, Hisako’s body warped and then  _ shattered _ into a thousand shards of data, blowing past the two and then disappearing forever, leaving a stunned Jeri behind.

 

“Ma…” Jeri whispered before burying her face in her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks freely. “... Good bye, mum.”

 

Hisako looked down at the girl and took hold of her by the shoulders. Drawing her close, she awkwardly held her in a hug. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, Jeri’s smaller body shaking as she let out her pent up pain at losing her mother a second time.

 

Himiko never wanted that cigarette so badly in her life.

 

Finally, after what seemed forever, anguished sobs subsided into silent crying. She didn’t pull herself away from the older woman though, finding comfort in the awkward comfort and kindness.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered finally, wiping at her red eyes. “For allowing me to say good-bye.”

 

Himiko nodded reluctantly, not wanting to meet the girl’s gaze, and instead opted to look at the spot where Hisako had been.

 

She was afraid that if she looked at Jeri, she would lose it completely as well.

 

“I’ll arrange for transportation to take you home,” she said, guiding Jeri out of the cafeteria.

 

**###**

 

“I'm telling you, I know what I saw!” Mako declared, slamming his fists against the clubroom table where four friends ate lunch.

 

He had just told his story to Akira and Masahiko - with interruptions from Ai every other sentence “explaining” what he saw, echoes of what the doctor and officer said. While he knew it was hard to believe, Ai’s insistence he’s under a lot of stress and to disregard the tale was getting frustrating.

 

“Mako, you’ve always had a big imagination,” Akira sighed, folding his arms together and looking at the boy dispassionately. “You saw someone try to kill someone else. I think most people would freak out over that.”

 

Masahiko looked back and forth between the two, a part of him thinking back to yesterday’s events at home. He felt under a lot of stress as well. Although he never knew Jeri’s mother - on account of being born to his own mother years after Hisako had died - the effect of her sudden presence could be felt, crazy person or a ghost.

 

“I know I’d want to jump into another world if I ever saw that,” Masahiko stated, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. “That sort of thing is nuts.”

 

“The doctor did say this reaction isn't unheard of, especially among younger children,” Ai agreed, glad both of the younger boys took her side. While she was worried about her twin, she didn't want his delusions to be acknowledged in case they spiraled out of control.

 

“I'm not imagining things though! Takato will back me up I bet!” Mako protested hotly.

 

Akira and Masahiko exchanged glances. Neither of them had any particular interest in this topic. True, a kid had nearly been killed and Mako had been there, but what good did it do to indulge in their friend’s delusion? They all doubted that the older Takato would say that he had been nearly choked to death by a fictional character after all.

 

“So you keep saying,” Akira sighed. “But you don’t have any evidence, and the doctor’s word weighs a lot more than yours. So...yeah.”

 

He flopped his hands up in the air uselessly, as if to close the conversation.

 

“Even the doctor couldn't explain the fact Takato had  _ hypothermia, _ ” Mako pressed on, clearly not going to let this drop.

 

“There are a  _ lot _ of things that are hard for doctors to explain,” Akira replied. “Look. What do you want us to do? Even if we believed you, which we don’t, what do we do about it? We’re just kids. The cops are on this. They’ll catch whoever it is before too long. Why are you pressing this?”

 

“Because …” Mako looked down, ashamed, his voice dropping to a pained whisper. “Because … it's my fault Takato is in the hospital. That he almost  _ died. _ ” He looked at his friends imploringly. “I  _ have  _ to make it up to him! The cops don't believe me, and so that means IceDevimon is going to run free, and who knows when he’ll try to kill him again!”

 

“What...What do you think you can do against this guy?” Masahiko asked, cocking an eyebrow at their friend. “Wait, if it really  _ was  _ IceDevimon… Why isn’t Takato dead? How’d you two even get away in the first place?”

 

“I don’t know,” Mako admitted. “There was this …  _ thing _ . It was like a triangle of some sort, and it attacked-”

 

“Oh  _ come on _ ,” Ai interjected, annoyed. “I know you like anime, Mako, but  _ seriously _ ? This isn’t some  _ story _ . This is real life. Digimon? Triangles? What’s next? Government cover-up? Aliens?  _ Ghosts? _ ”

 

“Ghost aliens?” Akira threw in. “Come on, Mako. Nothing you’re saying makes any sense, and you know it.”

 

“But I’m telling the truth!” Mako protested before turning to Masahiko, looking at him imploringly, his voice dropping. “You … you believe me, right, Masahiko?”

 

Masahiko looked away, unable to meet his friend’s eyes. “It...does sound crazy, Mako. When was the last time a digimon card came to life? Or...you know...anything from anime?”

 

Mako’s heart broke in half. He thought even if his family and the adults wouldn’t believe him, his friends at least would. Clenching his hands together, he gritted his teeth, trying to blink back tears.

 

“Then what about that hazard event?!” he snapped. “That red light in the sky? What about the stuff on the news - a lot more people have reported on seeing monsters and things from the past! What about that, huh?!”

 

“Who knows what that was all about?” Akira replied. “People report all kinds of weird stuff  _ all  _ the time. The hazard thing could have been one of those trojan virus things that run around the Internet infecting computers. Maybe it was one big troll. Who knows?” He leaned forward in his seat, frowning at Mako. “You’re starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist. If I take a dump, am I going to hear about how the government made me do it or something?”

 

“I don’t need any of this!” Mako yelled standing up before throwing the door open and storming out of the room. There was an awkward silence between the three, only for Mako to return a minute later, grabbing his lunch. “This is mine,” he said before stealing some food from his sister’s lunch before running out of the room again, the door shaking behind him. 

 

Masahiko got up from his seat and started after Mako, only to pause briefly and look at the others. “Aren’t you two going to stop him?”

 

“He needs to cool his head, I think,” Akira replied, calmly continuing with eating his lunch. “Give him some time alone. Maybe he’ll snap out of it.”

 

“I don’t know…” Masahiko said uncertainly. “I’m going after him.”

 

With that, the boy exited the room, the door closing with considerably less violence than before - to which it was probably grateful - and raced down the hall. 

 

“Mako!” he yelled. “Hey, wait up!”

 

The brown-haired boy was further ahead, but upon seeing Masahiko, he slowed and stopped. His eyes were red, and it was clear the older boy was trying his hardest not to cry.

 

“What?” he snapped.

 

“Look, I’m sorry that we don’t believe you,” Masahiko replied. “But it’s like we said back there, and…” Scratching the back of his head, he heaved a sigh. “...it...is weird. I don’t know what to make of it, and my older sister’s mother is back from the grave. Either that or she’s a real good imposter.”

 

Mako sniffed, not understanding what Masahiko was saying before remembering Masahiko’s sister was only his half sister. Wiping the snot from his nose, he recalled something Takato had talked about before IceDevimon said to him.

 

_ Something about remembering … and meeting others …  _ the boy thought unable to recall what was said, the following sequence of events taking up most of his memory.

 

“What did your sister say about that?” he asked instead.

 

“Not much,” Masahiko shrugged. “She was pretty quiet. Mad at Dad for sure. They had an argument I think, but I wasn’t there for that. It’s like...you know how someone gets when they’re really mad but don’t want to admit it? How they just...try to stay clear of you and only say what they have to to get by? And you always know they’re still mad by how they talk? She was like that.”

 

“Hmm…” Mako hummed. “Is she still at your house?”

 

“She’s at school, last I heard. Because...that’s...kind of where you have to be when you’re her age? She doesn’t skip you know.”

 

“I meant her mother,” Mako said sheepishly. “I’m sure there is  _ something _ weird going on, and the more I can learn, the more I can prove I’m not crazy and Takato’s in danger.”

 

“Nah.” Masahiko shook his head. “She got arrested by the police and taken away. I don’t know where she is now.”

 

“Of course,” Mako sighed despondently before a determined look crossed his eye. If there were other weird things going on, maybe he could find proof. He was planning on visiting Takato after school; he wanted to stand guard to make sure IceDevimon didn’t get to him, but Ai would have ratted on him if he skipped.

 

“Masahiko, I’m going to go looking for proof after school.  _ You’re _ welcome to come along, if you want,” he said, the way he said it made it clear Ai and Akira were not invited. 

 

“I see,” Masahiko said. He scratched his head uncertainly, but he couldn’t fault Mako’s insistence on this whole situation. He understood that quite well.

 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll tag along,” he said finally.

 

“Great!” Mako beamed, glad that he had  _ some _ help. “I knew I could count on you Masahiko!”

 

“Sure,” Masahiko nodded reluctantly. A part of him though felt terrible. 

 

_ Is Akira right? Am I just feeding him into whatever’s going on in his head? _

 

He didn’t know, but...he couldn’t leave Mako alone. The guy could be driven at times, fueled no doubt by his competition with his sister.

 

“Alright, let’s meet outside by the bike rack as soon as the bell rings,” he said, nodding his head, eating his bento while they stood in the hall. “I’m sure  _ something _ will show up.”

 

**###**

 

Ayaka sat in the hospital chair, overlooking Takato’s still sleeping form. Aside from the neck brace and the bruises that poked out from underneath it, he didn’t look too bad, to which his mother, who sat the closest to the boy, confirmed. He had color back and generally looked more restful than he had previously.

Which made her feel better about the whole ordeal. Not great, of course.  _ Very _ far from great, but better was an improvement, and she’d take that over feeling awful.

Improvement at least felt like Takato’s condition matched what she secretly expected; what she would  _ fear _ would happen regardless.

She glanced over at her two companions and fellow partners in the crime of skipping school, Kazu and Kenta. They all had the same basic idea it seemed once they heard about Takato having been jumped in the park – Kazu’s emotional reaction to that had…surprised her to say the least. After everything she had heard, she half-expected him to not care about the boy, yet here he was, looking  _ very  _ concerned and upset. It looked as though he were barely holding in his anger, what with the tapping of his feet and his fiddling around with his hands to keep busy.

She half wondered what was on his mind, but she quickly brushed it away before glancing briefly at Kenta, who looked completely uncertain at the situation as well.

Not that she could blame them.

Dismissing them entirely, she turned her gaze over to Mie. The Matsuki matriarch looked clearly distressed, but by all accounts she was doing better than before, having shed her initial panic and now focused on spending time with her son and making sure he was all right.

Still… The silence in the room was oppressive. She hated having this much silence, making a part of her actually  _ prefer  _ Kazu’s antics.

“I’m sure he’s doing fine, Mrs. Matsuki,” she said to the boy’s mother, flashing her a comfortable smile that didn’t appear to convince Mie at all to do the same.

Mie nodded hollowly. While she was relieved that Takato was doing much better than he was yesterday - the doctor said he was in no danger of dying - the explanation of what happened to her little boy left a lot more questions than they answered. Not to mention, she wasn’t sure when he would wake up. Shouldn’t he have done so by now?

 

_ Oh, Takato … _ she thought.

 

Suddenly there was the sound of the door opening, and the Matsuki matriarch turned, expecting a doctor or the nurse, only to be met with a very surprised Rika - if she recalled the teenager’s name correctly. She had only seen the teen a couple of times in the flesh, although her son  _ did _ have drawings of her and when she grilled him where he was late at night, her name typically came up along with Jeri and Henry’s. 

 

“Ah…” the redhead said, looking around the room,  _ not _ expecting everyone who was inside. While she half expected one of Takato’s parents, she was surprised to see Ayaka, Kenta and most of all, Kazu, in the room as well. 

 

“Rika,” Kenta greeted, raising an eyebrow surprised she was alone and not flanked by Henry or Jeri. “You’re here too?”

 

“Uhm … yeah,” she said awkwardly, glancing at the sleeping boy. “How … how is he doing?”

 

“Better than yesterday,” Mie said, glancing back at her baby boy, before giving an awkward if not tired smile at the new teenager. “Are you going to sit in the room this time?”

 

_ Ugh…  _ Ayaka thought upon sighting the redhead, but she let it be, dismissing her irritation with some effort. Kazu glanced between Rika and Kenta, uncertainly before finally deciding to nod to the girl, for once, opting to not antagonize her. 

 

Since seeing Takato in a hospital bed, he felt...disquieted. And the circumstances surrounding the Hazard event only added to that.

 

_ You have such bad luck, Chumley, _ he thought.  _ Get rejected by the girl you like, and then you get attacked by a freakazoid monster. _

 

He shook his head, still unable to believe that digimon were...were  _ real! _ There was just a lot to take in, and with the memories he felt swimming around in his head, some of which lay just out of reach, he honestly wasn’t sure what to say or do.

 

But he did know, in a part of him that ran deeper than his cigarette addiction, that he felt... _ wrong _ if he were to poke the bear that was Rika Nonaka.

 

Still...looking up at Rika...he could see the uncertainty in her face. With a heavy sigh, he got up from his seat and headed for the door.

 

“I need to use the bathroom. You might as well take my spot. Chumley needs you more than me I think anyway.”

 

Rika wasn't quite sure if  _ that  _ was true, but she nodded her head slightly and took the seat all the same. While she didn't like Kazu at all, she wasn't going to start anything - especially with Mrs. Matsuda here.

 

_ Glad I'm not the only one skipping,  _ she thought, glancing at Kenta and Ayaka before looking away.

 

Kenta watched Kazu leave, still a bit disbelieving his best friend was able to ‘wake up’ so easily, but he wasn't complaining. If he knew it would have worked, he would have done so earlier.

 

“So, just you?” Kenta asked in an undertone.

 

“For now,” Rika acknowledged, not wanting to bring up the reason she was skipping in the first place.

 

“Jeri’s coming?” Ayaka asked, her tone neutral, if tense. 

 

“And Henry,” Rika added.

 

Mie smiled, though her expression remained sad. “It’s good to know that he has all of you looking out for him,” she said. “You’re all such good friends.” She turned toward Ayaka. “Especially you. You’re always looking out for him. I’m sorry that he’s such a bother.”

 

Ayaka blushed lightly and mumbled something about how it was no trouble. That she was doing what any other friend would do. She glanced at Rika briefly before tearing her eyes away.

 

Rika raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't comment. If Ayaka wasn't going to start anything, she sure as hell wasn't going to either. Plus she wasn't in the mood for Ayaka's bullshit and was glad for the unsaid ceasefire.

 

_ Maybe I should tell her later she can go after Takato …  _ she thought, returning her attention to the sleeping boy, wringing her hands uncomfortably. She did not do well in any social situation; this was even worse.

 

_ What the hell does one say? _

 

Kazu came back in and glanced over at everyone before taking a seat on the corner of Takato’s bed.

 

“Two sad girls…” he muttered.  “I haven’t even started dating yet and I have to deal with two sad...girls…” He frowned at himself. “Wait… That’s not right.”

 

_ I have dated. What am I talking about? _

 

In his mind’s eye he saw himself standing beneath a red sky in front of a large, gate with purple stone and long, bone-like spikes stabbing toward the sky. Suzie was there alongside Guardromon and Kenta...and there was Jeri, staring sadly at her digivice.

 

_ Oh kami… _ he thought before suddenly looking at Rika imploringly.

 

“How… How is Jeri by the way? How’s she handling this?”

 

Rika looked at Kenta,wondering if the spectacled boy knew more about Kazu’s odd statement only for his friend to shrug unhelpfully. Turning her attention back to Kazu, she spoke slowly. 

 

“She’s doing alright,” she said, wondering how she would be taking this if her mother hadn’t come back from the grave. She’d be upset for sure, but beyond that, Rika just didn’t know.

 

_ I wonder how she’s doing on her end. She didn’t text me, so I assume Himiko let her in all right _ , she thought before sighing.  _ I hope she’s having a better time than me. _

 

“That’s… That’s good,” Kazu nodded, scratching at the side of his head distractedly. Mie looked back and forth between the children, a part of her feeling that she was preventing them from truly opening up to each other, before finally getting up.

 

“I should get going,” she said, moving closer to her son and giving his face a gentle pat. “I’m sure my husband could use help back home.”

 

She looked at each of them in turn, still smiling that same, strained smile. “Be careful when you’re heading home, all right? Takato… I’m sure he’d be upset if you all ran into trouble.”

 

Ayaka, for a wonder, bit back a retort about how Goggleheads serve as warnings to everyone else, and instead nodded. “We will,” she replied. “We’ll be sure to keep him out of trouble when he wakes up.”

 

Rika and Kenta nodded in agreement, both of them the more quiet of the four teenagers who now gathered in the boy’s hospital room.

 

“When he wakes up, we’ll be sure to call the shop and let you know,” Kenta added for good measure.

 

Giving her thanks, Mie turned and left the room, leaving the children alone with their friend. With a sigh, Ayaka stood up and went over to Takato’s side where Mie had previously been, laying a hand close to his.

 

“Stupid Gogglehead,” she grumbled. “Why do you have to make us worried so much, huh?”

 

“It’s not his fault you know,” Kazu began. “He just...sort of stumbles into these things.”

 

“Way to prove my point there, Kazu,” Ayaka snorted.

 

It lapsed into uncomfortable silence again, and Rika only felt more stressed than she did before Mrs. Matsuda left. At least with her there, she wasn’t left alone with two least favorite people and Kenta, who she barely tolerated but hardly knew, and the unconscious form of one of her best friends.

 

It was suffocating.

 

“I’m going to get some juice,” Rika announced, standing up. “You guys want anything while I’m at the vending machine?”

 

Ayaka glowered at the redhead in response, her hand brushing up against Takato’s possessively before suddenly looking ashamed.

 

_ Why… Why am I acting like this around her now of all times? It’s not her fault he’s like this. _

 

She shook her head finally while Kazu did likewise.

 

“I’m good. What about you Kenta?”

 

“Some water, actually, if you wouldn’t mind,” Kenta said, glancing at Rika, who nodded her head. He was slightly thirsty, but more importantly it gave him something to put his hands in. He could always pull a book out of his bag, but he felt like that would be rude in the current atmosphere. 

 

“Alright. I’ll be back in five minutes,” she said, opening the door and closing it with a soft  _ click _ behind her.

 

**###**

 

IceDevimon floated in the void, pain wracking his body. His one remaining arm clutched at himself. The stump of his other arm - lopped off by the boy whose throat he had been crushing just yesterday - throbbed to a different tune, that of age, while the other injuries screamed to the pain of youth. The freshness of nerves just laid bare.

 

He was angry. He wanted to howl and cry. He wanted to  _ crush _ and  _ destroy. _ He wanted to rage at the unfairness of it all. The universe seemed  _ determined _ to keep him away from his Queen, despite the simplicity of his desire.

 

_ Is that too much to ask?  _ he wondered mentally, forcing himself to uncurl from his fetal position.  _ All I wanted was a girl with a heart of stone and a soul of ice to be my partner, but for all my strength… _ He stared at his bloody claws, opening and closing them experimentally. Time and time again, he failed. He seemed  _ destined _ to fail.

 

He hated that. He hated that notion. That failure was all fate had in store for him.

 

_ I will fight it, _ he growled mentally before speaking his heart’s fire aloud. “I will  _ fight  _ it!”

 

Uncurling all the way now, he forced himself to straighten out, ignoring the pain from the stubs where his wings had been. This was not pain. This was a  _ test _ . A  _ test  _ of his determination and worthiness to the Digimon Queen. 

 

“I will not be destroyed,” he boasted to the shadows of the digital void that guarded him. “I  _ will _ make her mine! And then... _ then  _ I shall finish what I started!”

 

With a demonic howl, IceDevimon encapsulated himself in a digital field and disappeared, traveling to the world of humans wherein lay his final destiny.

 

**###**

 

Himiko burst into the control room, a lighter in hand with her fingers tight around it murderously. Since Jeri had left, she had spent much of her time going over reports and struggling with the urge to smoke, leaving her with the impression that she was in a boxing ring. All she needed was one more thing...one more  _ reason _ to tear away her final reason for resisting, and she would light up…

 

Unfortunately for her, the main control room had strict policies against smoking.

 

“Report!” she barked at Riley, stopping beneath her. She was  _ fuming. _

 

_ Just what the hell is it  _ now?!

 

“IceDevimon appeared, director!” Riley shot down, glad the two women locked on to the target as they called the director to the control room. If the two programmers wasted any time locking on and it got away again, Riley didn’t want to see Director Hata’s reaction to  _ that _ . 

  
Especially since she had a death grip on a lighter Riley didn’t know she had. She thought that like Yamaki, Himiko had quit smoking since she never even bothered taking smoke breaks.

 

“It’s in a crowded area as well!” Tally added, expecting the director’s demand of why they didn’t kill it already. 

 

“How soon until it realizes?” Himiko asked, her mind rushing frantically as she considered her options. She didn’t  _ dare _ let it get away this time. On the other hand however, launching Yuggoth into an area full of civilians… It would not look good no matter what the excuse.

 

“Thirty seconds!” Riley shouted. “We’re locked on, and ready to fire!”

 

_ Thirty seconds…  _ Thirty seconds felt like an eternity, but it was far from the case.  _ Not enough time to evacuate anyone. If we let him get away now, we might never catch him again. Who knows what kind of damage he’ll do in the meantime? _

 

“Where…?” she found herself asking, looking up at the screens that surrounded the two women. The clock was ticking. Why was she asking? She  _ needed _ to make a decision!

 

“Main and Sakura streets. Ten seconds!” Tally said urgently. 

 

_ Main and Sakura… _ Himiko’s eyes widened in horror.  _ That’s… That’s where the hospital is! The hospital that Takato Matsuki is in. _

 

She tightened her grip on the lighter until her knuckles turned white.

 

“Burn him…” she growled. “Hit the bastard with everything you have. I don’t want a single  _ speck _ of his data left! I don’t care how degraded it is!”

 

“Yes, ma’am!” Tally said, and with her partner, sent Yuggoth out to destroy the echo once and for all. 

 

“It’s launched…” Riley started only for a  _ secondary _ blip to suddenly appear on the screen. The redheaded woman stared at it in surprise for a moment only to realize it was an echo they had in the system for a  _ different  _ reason. An echo with a ‘do not kill’ parameter on it.

 

“Oh no,” Tally said quietly.

 

Tally’s voice was shared by Himiko’s as she saw the echo’s signal as well, immediately recognizing it for what it was. She had programmed the computers to recognize Renamon personally and debriefed Riley and Tally on the digimon in question.

 

_ Renamon _ had just entered the kill zone.

 

“Abort! Abort Yuggoth  _ now!” _ Himiko shouted, but it was too late.

 

Yuggoth’s signal materialized in the real world, just as Renamon and IceDevimon’s signals entered its epicenter.


	39. Breaking the Ice

Rika’s violet eyes looked at the multiple choices which the vending machine offered, Kenta’s water hanging loosely in her hand. Even though she had a general idea of what she wanted - the orange juice looked tempting - she pretended to think about her choices in case one of the three came to check on her for not returning right away.

Which she doubted would happen, but she wanted a ready made excuse.

_ Why did those three have to be here? And why did I have to come alone?  _ She thought, digging change out of her pocket, wondering if allowing Jeri to talk her into this was such a good idea.  _ This was not well planned out. Takato’s out like a light still, and I’m stuck in a small room with two of the people I can’t stand; one of whom I want to punch. _

Slipping the coins into the machine, she shivered slightly.

“Could they crank the AC any higher? This a hospital. They’re going to give their patients pneumonia,” she grumbled to herself before pausing upon realizing she could see her breath.   

As she watched, she saw a pair of crimson eyes and a pale figure materialize in her reflection  of the vending machine before ice froze over it. A frigid cold claw suddenly latched hold of Rika’s back and yanked her off the ground.

“No running? No hiding? And you’re in the same place as the boy.” IceDevimon chuckled darkly. “It’s almost like you were waiting for me to come here just so that we may...take care of him.”

Leaning forward, he whispered into her ear, “Don’t worry. I intend to. I thought of all the ways you might want him displayed as a trophy of your victory and strength.”

Rika’s blood ran cold, fear coursing through her system, yet the singular thought going through her mind was,  _ I knew this was a bad idea _ .

“ _ Power paw! _ ”

Renamon appeared from behind IceDevimon, a glowing blue paw crashing into the demon’s head. Their little game had gone long enough. She noticed his arm was gone, so were his wings. While it was commendable he still stuck around despite his grievous injuries, there was no way Renamon would lose now.

Not this time.

IceDevimon staggered forward with a grunt of pain, dropping Rika to the floor. Were it not for his injuries, such an attack wouldn’t have even affected him. However, the loss of his arm to Takato, and the severe damage he took from Yuggoth, had more than brought him down enough to such a degree that Renamon could actually harm him.

Eyes flashing angrily, he surged up and faster than the vulpine could react, slammed her to the wall with his remaining arm.

“You’re old news,” he growled to her. “Rika goes to the fittest of us. The  _ strongest.” _

Lightning sparked around the pair as IceDevimon tightened his grip around the kitsune.

“And that...is  _ not _ you.”

“Renamon!” Rika gasped, scrambling to her feet, looking around for something to use to help her partner but only found the bottle of water in her hand. She doubted it would do much but help him considering his power over ice.

The vulpine narrowed her eyes, before noticing something bright and …  _ triangular _ in the distance coming upon them at an incredible rate. It wasn’t a Digimon, that much was for sure, yet she had a feeling it was something Himiko was behind. She knew Hypnos was using some sort of program to  _ take care _ of the echoes, and the director made the demon her enemy the second she learned the Digimon threatened Rika.

Luckily, it didn’t seem IceDevimon noticed yet, too enraptured in his gloating and grandstanding.  

_ Hubris before the fall _ .

“Sorry, Rika,” she gasped. There was no way she would be able to escape whatever program Hypnos used, but she would be damned if she went down alone.

A cruel smile drew itself across IceDevimon’s face as he tightened his grip around her, crushing her digital ribs. The vulpine digimon cried out in pain, but, true to her warrior spirit, she lashed out with her claws and stabbed them into IceDevimon’s face, scraping them down and carving bloody trenches across his demonic mask.

IceDevimon let out a loud, bone shaking howl, causing windows to crack and shatter…

...and then Yuggoth hit them, the blast so strong it even sent Rika slamming into the vending machines.

It devoured IceDevimon first, obliterating him with a ferocious blast of energy, leaving only his arm around Renamon’s abdomen for a brief second before evaporating into shards of data. The blast expanded, striking Renamon next. Her paws burned first, and then began to break down. Her fur blackened and her data-frame cracked as she was crushed further against the wall from the force of the blast. Renamon gasped, pain slicing through every bit of her.

As swiftly as it came though, the blast ended, and Renamon collapsed to the floor, barely breathing and data leaking from the destroyed remains of her arms. Her body became translucent along the stumps of her armguards and began to retreat toward her shoulders.

_ Dying… _ she thought with surprising lucidness.  _ I’m...really dying. _

She almost chuckled at that. After so long...so many years of uncertainty, of being alone and then finally reunited with Rika...protecting her in the place of the real Renamon...it was over.

She turned her blue eyes toward Rika, and saw the horrified, stunned look on her partner’s face. She felt tears in her eyes, knowing she was leaving her behind… Leaving her as so many left her in the past.

“Don’t...give up...Rika,” she rasped. “It’s...not…”

_ Over. _

Renamon never got to finish her sentence as the damage to her body finally reached critical and she broke up into innumerable shards of shining data that floated into the air and then...vanished.

Something inside the redhead snapped. Between the pain wracking through her body from hitting the vending machine and seeing her partner  _ die _ in front of her, she suddenly found it very hard to breathe. Gasping for air, her hands digging into her hair, her mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out.

Her body began to shake and shut down, and the last thing she heard before her vision going black, gravity taking her into it’s embrace, was the thunderous crashing of the ocean.

**###**

Ryo was alone in Yamaki’s apartment. Well, not precisely ‘alone.’ Akane Komagata was in the next room over, guarding him in the place of Yamaki, who was presently at Hypnos, doing whatever it was he did now that Himiko was in charge, something that Ryo felt the man deeply resented in spite of never speaking of it.

Not that it mattered really. The man was distant, and even though Riley tried to engage him in conversation to let Ryo know that he could talk to them when he needed to, everyone in the apartment had a sense of…distance to them.

Even Akane as well, though Ryo suspected that had more to do with his having tricked her.

_ People hold grudges when you lie to them, _ Ryo thought, laying back on his bed. He was bored. He spent his days here, doing very little while wanting to know who he was, where he came from, who his parents were… Who those  _ kids  _ were that he met on the day of the Hazard! That especially struck a chord in him. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with them – especially the red-haired girl – pulling him toward them. He  _ wanted _ to get to know them and had expressed as much to Yamaki and Riley, albeit as subtly as he could given that they were angry with him for tricking Akane, but they dodged the subject. He was fortunate that the Tamers had told him their story and how he was connected to them, and possibly why his memories were missing, but the fact remained; he was alone. Completely and utterly alone in the world. Purposefully isolated even.

He hated it.

_ I can’t stay like this forever, _ he thought.  _ I need something to do. I need to know who I am. _

With a heavy sigh, he swung his legs over his bed. He had played the role of the compliant and ‘good’ boy for too long. It was time for a change of behavior. The question was…how?

_ Maybe my digivice… _

The digivice. It had to be the answer to all of this. But he had already tried every button on it, but it didn’t show him anything he could use about his current predicament. No memories. No way to send messages. The only things he saw that were of any particular interest were the odd slot in the side and the odd, recently discovered ‘energy whip’ that he had thus far managed to keep secret from Hypnos.

The card slot offered a great many potential functions, but he didn’t have the means to take advantage of it, and the energy whip he felt required some practice before he could do anything else with it.

_ That doesn’t leave me with very much, _ he thought.

_ “Ryo…” _

“Huh?” Ryo sat up from his bed. “Is that you Akane?” he called out from his bed.

_ “Did you say something?” _ came the response from down the hall in the direction of the living room. Ryo rewound the memory of the voice he  _ thought _ he heard and frowned.

It hadn’t sounded like her. The voice was far too deep.

“Never mind,” he called back. Not receiving a response, he frowned and looked about the room.

His eyes fell upon the sheen of a glowing, green card sitting on the desk on the far end of the room.

The card throbbed with green light, but remained dim. Getting up from off the bed, Ryo went over to it and picked it up.

“Hey,” he greeted it. “Was that…you calling to me?” he asked.

There was no response from the card, save for its light vanishing once he touched it. As with before, it had a strange, holographic look to it that displayed the letter  _ D  _ and a crude, pixelated dinosaur next to it that appeared and disappeared as Ryo turned it over in his hand. Ryo ran a tongue over his lips, thinking about the card slot in his strange digital device.

The card appeared to him before, and it did so now again.

_ Nothing ventured, nothing gained,  _ he decided, setting the card to the slot.  _ Besides, Hypnos never tells me anything about what they found with this thing. _

He slashed the card through the slot, and lightning sparked as the digivice read the data.

At first, nothing happened, and then the whole world  _ lurched. _

**###**

Drowning. She was  _ drowning _ .

Frigid water surrounded her, and darkness pressed in on her from all sides. Flailing her arms, trying to push her body upward, her fingers brushed against something causing an electrical shock to run through her system.

_ A boy, about the same age as her, sat, nestled in the roots of a tree in the park. Brown hair framed his face, crimson eyes staring, wide-eyed, into her own violet ones, clutching a sketchbook tightly between his hands. From it was missing pages - pages which she held in her hands. _

_ “These yours?” _

Gasping, only to regret it seconds later, she looked around to notice she was surrounded by bubbles about the size of basketballs. All of which were floating upwards, and craning her neck upwards, Rika could see the sun shining in through the water.

Another shock went through her system as one of the bubbles brushed against her foot.

_ Craning her head upwards, she saw a large, blue sphere with pink beams emitting out of it, roaming the landscape, caught her attention. Her mouth fell open slightly in wonder. _

_ “Is that what I think it is?” Her voice came out in wonder, turning her attention to the large bipedal vulpine standing protectively next to her. _

_ “Yes. Planet Earth,” Renamon replied simply, looking at Rika’s home with a passive look on her face before turning her attention back to her partner. Rika’s lips pulled into a frown, returning her attention back to the other world for a moment. _

_ “But it’s so far away,” she murmured, more to herself than to the Digimon beside her. Turning her attention back to Renamon, her eyes betrayed the worry her voice didn’t. “What if we can’t ever get back?” _

_ The vulpine didn’t answer right away, instead taking the time to take in their surroundings. They were in some sort of valley, rocks all around them. It just seemed … so uninhabitable. Was this the sort of place Renamon grew up in? _

_ “The world has changed since I left,” the vulpine answered finally. _

_ “Huh?” Rika asked, not understanding Renamon’s comment, nor what it had to do with her question. Her partner gestured lazily around with her paw, as if proving some sort of point. _

_ “Look how barren it’s become,” she replied. Rika found herself thankful that it wasn’t the world Renamon grew up in, but part of her wondered what happened to it. Still she never knew what it looked like before, so she had nothing to compare it to; except one thing perhaps. _

_ “Yeah, this is kind of how I pictured the inside of Kazu’s head.” _

Rika barely prevented herself from taking in more water, using her muscular arms to pull herself upwards. Part of her realized these were her  _ memories _ , but she would dwell on it later. Right now her lungs felt like they would burst out of her chest, screaming for air she didn’t have.

Kicking her feet, she dragged her body toward the top, trying to avoid the bubbles. There was a time and place for everything, and she didn’t want to figuratively and literally drown her own memories. Her head, however, bumped into a rather large bubble, bringing her to yet another scene.

_ The sky was permanently stained red, as if a testament to the sheer amount of blood spilled in this fruitless war. They were victorious in the end, but after years of fighting, it felt like a pyrrhic victory. _

_ Stooping in front of a granite monument, the first thing the survivors erected in the battle ground, a desperate means for closure never found, she fiddled with two pieces of wood with a name on each messily scrawled in black ink. Around her were others similar to the ones she held in her hand, each bearing a different name. If she looked hard enough, she could find repeating names. Even still, standing here in this sacred ground, she could feel the loss bearing down on her. _

_ “Hey.” _

_ Turning around, she saw Henry, bags drooping from his grey eyes and a bundle of sticks clenched tightly in his remaining hand. On his head was Terriermon, who, after a gesture from Renamon who reappeared back at her side, announced he was ‘taking a walk’ to leave the two Tamers alone. _

_ “Hey,” she responded softly, standing up, Henry approaching her, glancing at the two remaining sticks in her hand. His eyes softened, and he bent down himself, putting his pieces of wood next to him before putting in the sticks in the ground, the first one bearing the name ‘Suzie Wong.’ _

_ “If you don’t bury them, you’ll never get a sense of closure,” he said softly, putting the next, ‘Kazu Shioda,’ into the dirt. “The point of the monument is to give ourselves and those who left us, peace. So we can move on with our lives and fix up this world. What’s left of it.” _

_ The third stick. Aishwarya "Curly" Rai. _

_ “I know,” she said, glancing down, and despite being pieces of wood, they never felt so heavy. “I just … feel if I do so, it’ll be permanent. Final. We never found the bodies… we never confirmed…” _

_ “If they were alive, we would have found  _ some _ sign of them by now,” he pointed out before sighing, looking up at her. “Rika, they’ve been missing for  _ four _ years. It’s time to let go. Holding on like this … it’s not healthy. We got our miracle with the D-reaper finally being defeated. Don’t go expecting the gods to bring us another.” _

_ She sighed, bending down next to him, burying the sticks next to his own and her earlier planted ones. At least they would be among friends. _

_ “This doesn’t feel much like closure,” she remarked, her voice catching in her throat. A hand found hers, squeezing it tightly. _

_ “No,” Henry agreed, and Rika tore her eyes away unable to look at the two names of the people she failed to save, failed to  _ find _ : Takato Matsuki and Jeri Katou. “No, it doesn’t.” _

Surprise and confusion momentarily flooded her system before her body, once again, reminded she needed air. Pressing the odd memory to the side for a moment, she kicked her legs up, navigating through the maze of bubbles, almost breaking the surface when-

_ Renamon’s fur darkened, from the vibrant, beautiful yellow to pitch black - almost like she got burned. The explosion took her arms, shattering them into pieces, before her armguards - what was left of them - began to become translucent _ .

She’s being deleted.

_ Rika opened her mouth to scream, to yell out to her partner, but nothing came out. IceDevimon was gone, but she was frozen solid, unable to rush to her partner’s side, to do something, to  _ save _ her. _

_ Beautiful bright blue eyes found her own, and Rika noticed tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Rika never saw Renamon cry. She saw many emotions play in those mysterious blue depths before, but tears, never. _

_ “Don’t...give up...Rika,” she rasped. “It’s...not…” _

_ She didn’t get to finish that sentence because the vulpine broke up into innumerable shards of shining data that floated into the air and then...vanished. _

“Renamon!” Rika found her voice - and her breath - and violet eyes snapped open, and she was no longer drowning but found herself staring at bright white lights, her body in some sort of cot, her lungs greedily sucking up whatever air they could get.

“Rika!”

Himiko was suddenly there on the cot, her eyes a barely restrained torrent of emotion, and was suddenly gone as the older woman abruptly pulled Rika into a hug. Her body shuddered as she awkwardly held her, but she tried to give her comfort all the same. This was twice now that she had to hold someone, and she doubted she would be at all successful in making things any better.

_ I screwed up… I messed this up badly. And now… _

“A doctor is going to be here to look in on you,” she said, her words coming out in a harsh whisper. “Your friends are just outside, and they’ll be back in shortly. I…”

She swallowed a painful lump in her throat. “I’m...sorry.”

That last barely came out as an audible whisper. So much had gone wrong today. She could see her entire career crashing down in flames because of this. Worse yet, she caused incredible pain to two young girls - one of whom was  _ family! _

Try as she might to rationalize everything regarding Mnemosyne and IceDevimon, she felt that blame could only be laid at her feet. There was no one else who could be remotely responsible.

“Himiko…” Rika’s voice came out quieter this time, in a hoarse, slightly confused, whisper. Part of her wondered what her cousin was doing here, how long she was out for, and what she was apologizing for. However, the memory of Renamon’s digital frame erupting into a thousand pieces caused her to choke up, and not caring it was Himiko - the cousin she never got along with once and quite frankly disliked - her hands went up and grabbed the older woman’s jacket, redhair burying itself into Himiko’s chest.

“IceDevimon … he … Renamon … she tried to …” she croaked, the words unable to come out, tears beginning to drip down her face. Her grip tightened, as if Himiko would disappear herself if she let go, she hugged her cousin tighter. “Renamon … she … she …”

Rika was unable to say it. Unable to make it  _ final _ .

“She’s gone,” Himiko finished, saying what Rika couldn’t. “She was...she was caught in the blast of a program we were using to destroy IceDevimon. We deployed it...the second he showed up on our sensors and...and she was there so suddenly. We...We couldn’t… There was nothing we could do.”

She tightened her grip on Rika, pulling her closer.

“It’s my fault. I made the call.”

It took a moment for Himiko’s words to sink in.

She was responsible for Renamon’s death.  _ She _ was the one who killed Renamon.

Suddenly pushing away Himiko violently, tears still in her eyes, Rika backed up the best she could until she hit the wall, a look of betrayal and anger crossing her face. She knew she and Himiko didn’t get along, but part of her - a  _ small _ part thought maybe,  _ just maybe _ , Himiko cared about her. That was she was different like how grandma and mama were different, but she was just more of the same.

Yet somehow, it was worse. At least the rest of the family didn’t put on airs.

“How … how could you?” she croaked angrily, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them and herself defensively, shutting Himiko effectively out.

Himiko winced internally at Rika’s tone, but she held herself firm. “Because...I was trying to protect you.”

That was all there was to it. IceDevimon dogged the corners of her mind for quite some time now, ever in the background and only appearing as a blip that she could never reach in time. She was sick to death of enemies that she could not touch because of where they were or what they were. She wanted Mnemosyne dead. She wanted IceDevimon dead. She wanted to clear the table of those who sought to control and destroy the world...her family.

_ Just like we had been controlled by our family, _ a tiny part of her whispered. So quiet was that voice that she didn’t hear it in the storm of her emotional turmoil.

“ _ I’ll protect you, Rika. No matter what.” _

Rika hissed, holding her head, a flash of brilliant blue eyes staring right into her soul. They were mysterious, and behind them, held a certain sort of sadness to them which made the redhead’s heart lurch, bile suddenly starting to rise up in her throat only for it to be pushed back down.

_ Renamon _ .

“Le… leave me alone,” she croaked, cradling her throbbing head, more flashes of the kitsune suddenly coming to her like a tidal wave, the Digimon’s voice calling out her name numerous times across a multitude of time periods.

It hurt. It hurt  _ so  _ much. Did it always hurt this much? She didn’t know. Didn’t remember.

How ironic.

“Rika…” began Himiko, reaching out to her in concern at the way the girl was holding onto her head. She appeared to be in pain for reasons outside of having a broken heart.

_ The doctors said she was fine, _ she thought.  _ She wasn’t injured. _

“Leave me alone!” Rika yelled, louder this time. She didn’t have the ability to deal with Himiko right now on top of everything else. She just wanted to be left alone. Left alone with thousands of memories over the past six years. Left alone to process that her partner was no longer here with her.

Even if she was an echo, Renamon was real … and now she was gone. She left her behind … just like her father. Just like the real Renamon. Who knew who was next? She lost her friends so many times, and it seemed fate brought them back together.

_ Do we really make our own fate?  _ She thought half-deliriously to herself.  _ Tell me, Renamon. _

Himiko jerked back at Rika’s sudden rise in volume and retracted her hand.

“All right,” she said after a moment. She wasn’t at all sure how to deal with Rika when she got like this. Jeri had been hard enough, but she didn’t turn adversarial. “All right,” she repeated. “I’ll leave you alone. I just…”

She licked her lips uncertainly and stood up. She started toward the door, only to pause at it and look back.

“I was just trying to protect you,” she repeated. “I… I’ll let your mother and grandmother know where you are.”

With that, she exited the room. Taking out her cell phone she dialed up the number belonging to Rumiko workplace. She doubted she was home right now.

_ That woman never finds time for anything but her modeling, _ she grated angrily.

**###**

Suzie frowned as she looked at the different flowers on display at the florist on the way to the hospital which Takato was staying at. While she was mad at her brother for neglecting to mention to her  _ yesterday _ that her knight in shining armor was in the hospital, now that school had  _ finally  _ let out, she could fix past wrongs.

Yet as she stared at the vibrant colors, she desperately tried to recall which ones one shouldn’t bring to a hospital, and the different meanings of each. Of course she could go simple and straightforward, and bring roses, but that seemed like a slightly inappropriate statement at the time being.

Finally, she gave up and turned to the florist.

“I’m going to visit a friend in the hospital. What would be the best flowers to bring to him?” she asked, causing the young man - who looked half asleep moments earlier - to move from behind the counter and shuffle toward some pink and white flowers, before pausing and grabbing  _ another _ bunch of pink flowers - which Suzie managed to recognize as tulips - and start arranging them in a bundle.

“You can’t go wrong with peonies, yarrows and tulips,” he drawled, and the teenager wondered if the young man cared at all about his job with the lackluster customer service she was receiving.

_ Well, whatever, at least he’s helping _ , she thought, pulling out her purse to pay, thanking the young man. Pulling the flowers toward her, she turned around to see two somewhat familiar faces walking down the street.

“So anyway,” Mako chattered, his thoughts barely being able to keep up with his mouth, laying out his grand, jumbled up play to Masahiko. “I was thinking we visit Takato in the hospital before going to the park. Ya know, for clues?”

“Sounds good,” Masahiko. “Maybe while we’re there we can ask Takato about what happened and… Oh!” the boy blinked upon seeing Suzie. “Hi...um...Suzie. Here...in the flower shop. Um…” He glanced at Mako helplessly before turning back to the girl. “Hi.”

“Masahiko,” Suzie said, approaching them, recognizing them as she drew closer, taking a moment before trying to remember the other boy’s name before it came to her. “And … Mako, right?”

Mako nodded, smiling at the older girl.

“I overheard you two are going to visit Takato too,” she said, gesturing with her head for the two boys to walk with her, resuming her route to the hospital. “You heard about what happened too, huh?”

Masahiko exchanged a look with Mako, uncertain as to how much Suzie had overheard before nodding and following after her.

“Yeah,” he replied warily. “Pretty freaky, huh?”

“Henry said he got attacked, but didn’t give me much more information than that,” Suzie replied, puffing her cheeks out annoyed. “I bet he knows, and is just holding out on me. He’s always been weird like that - especially when it comes to getting between true love.”

“I dunno about the true love bit, but  _ I _ know what attacked Takato,” Mako said, causing Suzie to look at him surprised.

“Seriously?!” she asked, stopping at the crosswalk, the light red, giving her full attention to the older of the two boys. “Who?”

“IceDevimon,” Mako replied seriously. “He tried to kill Takato. Almost succeeded too. I was there.”

Masahiko looked at his friend with wide, panicked eyes. He  _ seriously _ spilled the beans to Suzie of all people?! Something that there was simply no way that she would believe in a thousand years? His eyes, bulging in their sockets, shot over to the girl in question, waiting to see what her response would be, and knowing it simultaneously.

_ Great… And this is where she thinks we’re nuts… Nice job, Mako. It’s no wonder why Ai and Akira laughed at you. _

“Seriously?” Suzie asked, her face in a deadpan. Mako was just as obsessed with Digimon as her brother it seemed - if not more so.

“Seriously!” Mako declared, his eyes shining, somehow missing the tone of disbelief in the older girl’s voice if only because she hadn’t laughed in his face. Yet. “Masahiko and I are going to go visit Takato, then look around the park for clues. The grown-ups won’t believe me, and because they don't, that means Takato’s in danger!” There was a pause, before the boy thoughtfully added, “Want to help?”

Suzie regarded Mako for a moment. While she didn’t believe him for one second - he was clearly delusional - yet the fact remained Takato  _ did _ get attacked. If she managed to find his attacker and bring him - or her - to justice before the adults did …

Well, Takato would have no choice but  to fall for her.

_ The fair maiden rescuing the dashing knight,  _ she thought to herself, giggling slightly, beginning to walk across the street as the crosswalk light turned green.

“You know what? Sure,” she said, images of Takato swooning into her arms already playing in her mind.

Masahiko blinked, taken aback by that. Her initial deadpan response was... _ close _ to what he imagined her reaction to be. The girl, from what he saw of her at times in school, mastered the talent of the deadpan sarcasm to a razor-edge like degree. This agreement to join them in their investigation however...was not.

“Um...not for nothing,” he began, opting to be the lone voice of reason here, “but most people don’t say ‘sure’ when someone says they’re going to investigate whether or not a fictional character tried to kill someone in real life.”

“ _ Excuse me _ ?” Mako asked insulted.

“Well I don’t exactly believe that an IceDevimon attempted murder,” Suzie admitted, ignoring Mako’s betrayed gasp. “It’s just …  _ someone _ did it, and whoever it is, I’m more than willing to find out who.” A determined look crossed her eyes. “Nobody messes with my future husband and lives to tell the tale.”

_ There’s a lot of crazy going around today,  _ Masahiko sighed mentally.  _ I’m not sure which is more unrealistic. A real IceDevimon or Suzie’s belief that Takato will marry her someday. _

He shook his head, thinking back on all the times he thought Jeri and Takato would get together, and how, ultimately, that never materialized. He suspected the boy was stubbornly determined to remain single for reasons he couldn’t begin to fathom.

“Well… Welcome aboard then?” he replied, shrugging his shoulders and looking over at Mako. Raising a hand, he twirled a finger around one ear, indicating what he thought of Suzie’s delusions of marriage.

Mako nodded in agreement to Masahiko’s subtle statement, completely oblivious to the irony in this. All the same, he was excited to have an older (and quite cute) girl to join their cause. Pumping his fist out excitedly, he darted out in front of them.

“Then let’s go!”

**###**

Rika kicked the ground with her toe, pushing herself back and forth on the old swing set in the park. The second she was alone, she slipped out of the hospital, not wanting to linger around. Part of her knew people would be upset, but she didn’t care.

She wanted, no  _ needed _ , time to herself.

Anger coursed through her system, yet she didn’t know where to direct it.

At Renamon, who left her behind despite promising to be with her always? At Himiko, who was responsible for her death? At IceDevimon who caused the scenario in the first place? Or at herself, for being so weak and helpless to cause it in the first place?

A shadow fell across the ground in front of her and Jeri’s voice broke through the cloud of anger that swirled through her thoughts.

“Rika?” she asked. “Is everything alright?”

The redhead jerked in surprise a bit, but upon noticing the brunette, she looked back down at the ground.

“I'm not really in the mood to talk right now,” she grunted. “Sorry.”

Jeri tilted her head to one side questioningly, but approached the swing next to her friend and sat down in it.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I’m not really in the mood either right now. Is it alright if I just...stay here with you for a bit? I promise I won’t say anything.”

Rika glanced at the brunette, frowning slightly, somewhere in the haze of her own anger wondered what happened with her mother. All the same she nodded, respecting her desire not to speak as well.

“If you want.”

Jeri nodded, not speaking aloud out of respect for Rika’s wishes. They sat there, letting the silence wash over them. Jeri noted how uncomfortable Rika looked. The tension radiating from her was powerful.

A sharp gust of wind blew over them, causing Jeri’s arms to prickle with goosebumps. Shivering slightly, she rubbed her arms together, one hand touching her scar.

Her fingers came to rest on it, feeling its smooth, ugly distortion along her skin. It made her think of her mother, or rather, the echo of her mother that she said goodbye to. Distantly, she thought she heard the sound of waves crashing on the shore, but she dismissed it as her imagination and continued massaging her arm.

“You cold?” Rika asked. She was still in her summer uniform, and didn't have a jacket to offer the smaller girl. While it was summer, or close enough to it, the swing set was situated in the shade and it wasn't  _ that  _ hot out.

Her eyes glanced at Jeri's scar, frowning slightly more. Something happened because the brunette always touched the marred skin whenever she was stressed or upset.

_ Her mother probably wasn't there anymore,  _ Rika thought, her heart twisting uncomfortably, remembering she wasn't the only one suffering. Jeri was too, and she had it worse.

She always did.

Jeri shook her head, mindful of keeping her promise. Seeing where Rika’s eyes fell however, she quickly pulled her hand away from the scar and took hold of the swing’s chains to give her hands something to do.

She wondered how Takato was doing. She suspected that was why Rika was in a bad mood. The question though, she wondered as she dug the toe of her foot into the dirt, pushing the swing ever so slightly, was how to get Rika to open up about it.

The girl was, if nothing else, difficult.

Rika pressed her lips together but didn't say anything else, pushing herself back and forth on the swingset. When she was younger, her father used to take her before-

Rika’s foot caught the dirt, digging in, effectively stopping herself short, a new wave of anger washing over her.

Standing up suddenly, not wanting to be here, she glanced at Jeri.

“Let's go sit in the sun.”

“Huh?” Jeri blinked. “But...why?”

Jeri blinked again and clasped her hand over her mouth, realizing she had just broken her promise. “Sorry…”

“Don't apologize. I don't mind if you want to talk,” Rika said. “It's just … a bad memory is all.”

“A bad...memory?” Jeri asked, getting up from her seat. “About what?”

“Don't want to talk about it,” she reminded her, walking to a sunnier,  _ warmer,  _ part of the park, making sure it wasn't viewable from the main path.

Jeri scowled at Rika as she followed her. “I see…” she said, not sure what to say with regards to that. On one hand, she knew that talking about one’s problems was a good way to deal with them. On the other, if someone didn’t want to talk, it was better to let them be.

They made their way over to the sunnier part of the park, and Jeri sat herself down in a blanket of sunshine.

“Better?” she asked Rika.

“Yeah,” Rika replied, sitting herself down, sprawling across the grass, looking up at the clouds lazily crawling across the sky. Part of her wondered how the sky wasn't crying itself before remembering Jeri's words from earlier.

The world stopped for no one.


	40. Return

Mnemosyne glanced at the single screen it had displaying the human world. On a hospital bed lay Takato Matsuki, not moving since almost being killed by IceDevimon. The librarian clicked its tongue, irritated it couldn’t get more information from the human world. Yet it only had one agent remaining there, not in the vicinity of the Hazard blast Himiko Hata set off.

_ Well at least she got rid of the demon _ , it thought, returning it’s attention to the multitude of files, double checking to make sure none of them were completely damaged after Hypnos snuck around in the library, Mnemosyne giving the records low priority during the time. A mistake, it learned, just like relying on the director of Hypnos was a mistake. One which will be fixed - in due time.

The humans made their bed, they could lie in it for a bit. However, with the firewall now destroyed, Mnemosyne couldn’t afford to leave them alone for  _ too _ long - especially since the recovering Digital World was now getting more data from the humans than it was used to. It wouldn’t be long before Digimon tried to break through the barrier again - its prisoner already trying to do so, and Mnemosyne was using up more than half of its already limited resources to make sure it wouldn’t break out of it’s cage and wreck havoc on the human world.

Again.

_ You’re lucky you didn’t delete my core _ , it thought, pausing for a second when it came across a file. It had been copied, but it didn’t have Hypnos signature on it. Pulling it up to see what it was, it frowned, quickly searching to see what other files had the same digital signature attached to it.

It took a minute for all the files to load up, and when they did, Mnemosyne’s heart sank.

_ Oh no _ .

**###**

Masahiko plodded along with Suzie and Mako, eyeing the both of them with concern.

_ Mako might be going crazy…or not, _ he thought.  _ And Suzie is joining in on our investigation because she’s crazy head over heels in love with Takato. And here I am. How’d I get involved with this again? _

The answer was obvious. He felt bad for Mako and hoped that, maybe, by investigating the scene of the crime, they could help figure out what  _ really _ happened. Whatever it was. It was far more sympathy than he got from his sister and Akira, who brushed him off like a fly.

_ Speaking of people head over heels in love with someone, _ he thought with a slight frown with regards to Mako’s sister.  _ Love sure makes people do some pretty stupid things. _

“So what are we looking for exactly?” Suzie asked, looking around the park. She used to come here a lot more often when she was younger with her father or one of her siblings. Henry used to come here all the time - still does - although Suzie wasn’t quite sure what he and his friends found so interesting about this place. It wasn’t the most exciting place in the world, that was for sure.

“Clues!” Mako reminded her impatiently. “If we return to the scene of the crime where-”

“Takato!”

“Yes, Takato,” Mako paused and turned and looked at his two investigation buddies, seeing Suzie suddenly pointing ahead of them with her eyes wide in surprise. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing, but when he did, his heart skipped a beat.

“Uh…” Mako heard Masahiko stammer out. “Mako? Why am I looking at a younger version of my sister and Takato walking together?”

“Uh … that’s a good question,” Mako said, his mouth hanging open slightly only to snap shut, a wide smile on his face. This was a clue, he was sure of it! And so soon after they started looking for them. He no doubt would make an excellent detective in the future.

“So I’m not just seeing things,” Suzie murmured to herself, rubbing her eyes, suddenly recalling a journal entry she found while snooping in her brother’s room talking about Takato and Rika before he even met them. She forgot about it before - especially since Henry yelled at her when he found her in his room, but unbidden, it came back to her. Almost like something was trying to give her some sort of  _ clue _ .

“Let’s follow them!” Mako declared loudly, yet somehow didn’t attract the attention of the two.

“Shouldn’t we just...I don’t know...call out to them or something?” Masahiko asked as they started after them. “I mean… Okay, I know it’s a crazy idea, but...why just follow them?”

Suiting actions to words, not interested in hearing Mako’s reasoning for why they were playing spy, he cupped one hand around his mouth and waved his other arm wildly, trying to flag the pair down.

“Hey! Takato! Jeri!”

The two continued on their path, taking no notice of them and eventually turned up a set of stairs off to the side.

“Huh,” Masahiko frowned. “That was weird. It’s like they didn’t hear us or something.”

“Good because you almost blew our cover,” Mako whispered loudly back, almost like he didn’t understand the concept of whispering. Suzie couldn’t help but think he would do well in a play - he certainly had the energy for it.

“Let’s just go see where they are going,” she urged, pushing the two boys forward. She hoped they weren’t following some sort of  _ date, _ or worse, learn Takato was dating Jeri. She didn’t know what to do if that was the case. When she married Takato, would she just be the ‘other’ girl? Would there be some sort of tirade love affair going on? What if Takato had an evil twin?

“Fine, fine,” Masahiko sighed, rolling his eyes as he picked up his pace, eager to get Suzie off his back. Hurrying over to the stairs, he darted up them, followed quickly by the others. “Jeez… I don’t get it. There’s something  _ more _ going on here than what you said Mako. You never mentioned anything about younger versions of people suddenly showing up.” A pause and then he took out his cell phone. “We need to take a picture of this so that Akira will have something that counts as proof.”

“That’s a good idea,” Suzie acknowledged, digging her own phone out of her own pocket.

“Forget pictures, I’m video taping this,” Mako said, switching to the camera mode, creeping like the master spy he was to some sort of  _ bunker _ where the two had stopped.

Masahiko stepped to the side and into the brush, opting to stay out of sight since they were insistent on playing the role of spy. He felt a little silly for doing so, since they could easily make up whatever excuse they needed since the bunker wasn’t owned by an-

Masahiko jumped as the younger Jeri screamed suddenly and pointed at something ahead of her. The younger Takato palmed his face, looking as though all his worst fears were coming true.

The next thing Masahiko saw was Jeri flinging herself at a red dinosaur with bat-like ears and big, golden eyes.

His cell phone hit the grass with a dull thump as he forgot how to breathe.

“Cute!” Jeri squealed, and Suzie’s mouth dropped open. While the creature in front of her wasn’t exactly  _ cute _ , at least she didn’t think so, something in the back of her mind wasn’t so surprised to see the Digimon. In fact a name came with seeing the beast.

Guilmon.

_ Where … where did that come from?  _ She wondered, her phone clutched tightly in her hands. While she didn’t drop it like Masahiko did, she completely forgot how to use it, despite Mako pawing at both of them with his hand, a victorious whisper of, “I  _ told _ you! I told you I wasn’t lying!”

“This...This can’t be real,” Masahiko whispered. “It’s got to be a prop or something. Cardboard… Flashlight… There’s no  _ way _ that’s real!”

Yet, there it was, in spite of his protests, stubbornly refusing to be fake as Jeri stood back and then stuck a flower sticker on the reptile’s nose - a typical Jeri thing to do, and it convinced him that this  _ was _ most definitely Jeri and not...whatever else she could have been.

Masahiko abruptly began coughing loudly and doubled over. Finally remembering to breathe, he accidentally swallowed some saliva down the wrong tube.

“Your sister has balls of  _ steel _ man!” Mako giggled with glee, videotaping the entire exchange.  _ Finally _ , something to wave in his sister’s face. He would be sure to do his victory dance which annoyed her as well too. He deserved it. “Hot and brave, just my type!”

Just as he said that, the two figures burst into shards of … glass, for that’s all Masahiko and Mako could describe it as. However, for Suzie, another word came to mind.

Deleted.

“What....?” Masahiko’s thoughts were presently dragged away from Mako’s proclamation of attraction to his older sister by the sudden and abrupt shattering of the three. He stood there in shock for a moment before tearing toward the bunker, leaving his phone behind and wrenching open the rusty old gate.

“No… No, no, no, no,  _ no! _ What… What the  _ hell?!  _ They were just here! What the hell is going on here?!”

Masahiko couldn’t be said to be the most polite boy in the world. He certainly swore once in a while, when no one was around, mainly to play around or let off steam and...sometimes just to pretend to be an adult.

He couldn’t remember the last time he cut loose like this, and in front of  _ others! _

“Jeri…” He swung his head around desperately, hoping that it was all just an illusion. “That dragon or oni or whatever it was! It had to have done something to them! Takato… What did he do? Is  _ he _ why Jeri went to the hospital and...and…”

His mind was a whirlpool of emotions running out of control. He felt hot; he had difficulty thinking. Any second now, he would scream and start foaming at the mouth.

_ Oh kami, please let this be a bad dream… _ he thought deliriously.

“Guilmon,” Suzie said softly. “I … think its name is Guilmon.”   
  
“How did you know that?” Mako asked, turning off the video, just as surprised to see the three suddenly disappear, especially with no triangle this time to do so. Pocketing his phone, a horrified look crossed his face. “Don’t tell me IceDevimon talked to you too!”

“No,” Suzie shook her head, rubbing her temples. “It’s … just something I  _ remembered _ as weird as that sounds.”

“Guilmon…” Masahiko rasped, seizing upon the name. Already he was imagining some horrid monster out to get his sister. “And Takato was involved somehow…”

He slapped his side for his phone before remembering he had dropped it by the stairs. Rushing back over, he grabbed it and immediately began searching for his sister’s number. He hit the call button upon finding it.

“Come on, come on…” he growled heatedly while the phone rang. “Pick up already…”

Suzie and Mako looked at each other worriedly, not sure what to say or do. Neither got the impression of  _ danger _ from the dinosaur - although Mako was more likely to believe Guilmon meant no harm because IceDevimon said he did.

“ _ Hello? _ ” Jeri’s voice answered finally.

“Oh thank kami, you’re okay,” Masahiko breathed before launching into her. “What did Takato and…”

He turned back to Suzie briefly. “What was that... _ thing’s _ name you said was?”

“Guilmon,” both Mako and Suzie answered at the same time.

“Takato and Guilmon!” Masahiko all but yelled into the phone. “What did they do to you? I just saw the three of you vanish into thin air! What happened?”

There was silence on the line before Jeri finally answered with a very stunned, “ _ What?” _

_“Takato. Guilmon,”_ Masahiko repeated in increasing frustration. “Big red dinosaur monster. You were with them and then...poof! All three of you disappeared! What. The. _Hell?!”_

There was more silence on the phone, and Mako wondered if Jeri would even  _ know _ what Masahiko was talking about, or even believe him. Masahiko didn’t believe  _ him _ until a few seconds ago, and part of Mako reveled in being right, but the other part understood what it felt like not to be believed.

“Masahiko,” he whispered, gesturing to his phone. “I have the video. Why don’t you send her that because take it from me, you sound like a madman.”

However, Masahiko heard a sharp intake of breath and his sister do something very uncharacteristic of her.

She swore.

“ _ Shit _ .”

**###**

Rika wasn’t really paying attention to Jeri’s conversation on the phone until the smaller brunette suddenly swore, dragging her out of dark, swirling thoughts. Lifting her head up from their previous resting spot on her knees, she blinked slightly, almost as if she was surprised by the sun, the sound of the ocean - which had been roaring in her ears before - now becoming quieter.

“Jeri?” she asked, turning toward the smaller girl. “Did you just  _ swear? _ ”

“My brother spotted an echo,” she replied, ignoring Rika’s surprised question. “No... _ three _ echoes. Me, Takato and Guilmon. He says they disappeared right in front of him.”

Reaching up, she massaged her forehead. “I think I know where they are too. One second.”

“Are you at the bunker?” she asked, returning her attention to her phone. There came a flustered, agitated response from the other end, and Jeri nodded. “All right. I’m coming to you. Just...wait there and don’t do anything.”

Hanging up on his brother’s protests, she looked over at Rika sadly. “I’ve got to go. Do you want to tag along?”

Rika wanted to say no. She wasn’t in the mood with dealing with more  _ echoes _ , Renamon’s last moments playing like a broken record in her mind. Yet, Jeri’s sad face, even in her worst moods, always had a way of making her  _ slightly _ more sociable, if only because nobody with a heart could say no to Jeri Katou.

“Only if you don’t expect me to say anything and be there for anything more than keeping you company,” came the blunt reply.

“No worries,” Jeri replied, hoisting herself up. Dusting off her skirt, she held out a hand for the fire-haired girl. Rika sighed, taking the offered hand, letting Jeri help her up. There was a sudden spark of electricity the second their skin touched, although Rika pushed it out of her mind with ease, paying it no mind.

“I’ll keep you company then,” she acquisted.

_ It might be a good way to keep my mind off Renamon _ , she thought hollowly, not at all believing it for a moment.

**###**

_ Something is wrong, _ Renamon thought, her blue eyes staring up at the sky with a slight frown to them.

When she lived in the human world, she heard the expression, absence makes the heart grow fonder. So far as she was concerned, it held true with regards to her human partner, Rika, and it cut both ways. She could still feel her through the link that they shared, dim though it was, and often times irregular, no doubt due in no small part to their being in different dimensions.

Today there was a difference. The bond  _ throbbed _ from Rika’s end, as though she were in pain.

Renamon did not like that.

“What is going on in the real world, Rika?” she asked quietly.

“Between you and Guilmon, it looks like someone died,” came the voice of a chipper, if not annoying, rabbit-dog, Terriermon. Floating down from the tree where he was perched earlier, he wrapped a large ear around Renamon’s head, holding on to her tight with his small little paws. He had taken to riding around her and Guilmon’s head in the absence of Henry, but he tended to pick Renamon more for rides if only she was more human-like in stature than Guilmon was, and was more apt to give a Henry-like reply.

“Momentai.”

“Terriermon,” she nodded, knowing he expected the response. It made things feel a little more normal for the long-eared digimon, as he too missed his partner a great deal. “Is Guilmon all right today?”

She felt a pang of concern for the crimson reptile. Of late he became anxious, and often looked in the direction of the digital representation of the Earth hovering overhead. His anxiety...worsened recently to the point where he didn’t feel able to concentrate on raising the baby digimon, something that only served to upset him even more.

“Calumon is trying to cheer him up,” Terriermon said, his eyes glancing down. “He told me yesterday he wanted to go back to Earth. I reminded him of the firewall, but he kept insisting, saying Takato needed him.”

Renamon cast a glance off to the horizon, extending her senses. She quickly found him, once more staying in one spot, staring skyward. Calumon was indeed with him, though she sensed that he wasn’t having any luck improving his mood.

She tilted her head to one side, causing Terriermon to tighten his hold on her to keep from falling off.

“Perhaps...we should try,” she said carefully. “Guilmon has always had the strongest bond with his partner. It could very well be that our partners are in danger and need our help.”

She sighed and looked away. “But...yes, the problem with the firewall remains.” She turned her eyes up toward the Rookie on her head. “Perhaps if you attempted accessing the Juggernaut program Henry’s father installed in you once more…?” she suggested, not that she expected any success. Terriermon made regular attempts to do just that over the years, but he had no idea where to go with it, or how to begin looking.

_ “With our luck, it probably requires a password,” _ she remembered him quipping once.

“I can  _ try _ but what if it works? What about Primary Village?” Terriermon asked, gesturing around them. “It’s … not like I’m against the idea. Far from it. It’s just, we left our partners suddenly. I … I don’t want to do it again to little things with no helps of defending themselves.  _ You _ know how the Digital World is. I’m not sure how much it’s changed, even with all this reconstruction.”

Terriermon felt guilty about leaving Henry and Suzie. He felt sadness when the other Digimon left, each going about their own thing. Lopmon returning to her Deva post. Guardromon to the Geckomon village. Impmon, or perhaps better said, Beelzemon, riding around the Digital World helping wherever he could. Terriermon didn’t even know where MarineAngemon went. While he yearned for nothing more to return to Henry’s side, he didn’t feel like it was right to just leave these In-Training and Baby level Digimon here with no protectors.

Terriermon paused suddenly, looking at the sky, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. Within the last couple of days the data beams - which had been scarce for the last few years - suddenly increased in number. While before they might see one in the distance once every couple months, he counted three within the past few days.

“Speaking of which, is it just me or have there been more data streams roaming around recently?” he asked.

“There have been more,” Renamon agreed. “We have been fortunate that they haven’t crossed over to our area, but we may have to consider moving. We’re too far out in the open. Perhaps we can find that Togemon again. She discussed creating a school. Perhaps she would be fine with taking on some more students.”

She hated the idea of abandoning the children as well, but try as she might, she couldn’t shake her partner out of her mind, nor could she ignore the throbbing along their link, pulsating and painful, and coinciding with Guilmon’s change in mood. It couldn’t be a coincidence, she was certain of it.

“Yeah, that could work,” Terriermon mused thoughtfully, tapping his chin. “Plus I’m sure if anything will get Guilmon out of his funk, this is it.” He glanced down at her. “Shall we go ask him?”

“Yes,” Renamon nodded, though she doubted he needed much prompting. Turning, she bounded off toward the crimson dinosaur, finding him seated and tracing a claw in the sand while Calumon danced around him, trying to get his attention so he could work his fun-fu on him.

“Renamon?” Guilmon asked, looking up as she came to a halt. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything is fine,” the vulpine digimon said. “Terriermon tells me you want to find Takato. I believe that it is...time to finally do just that.”

“Your delivery is lacking, as always,” Terriermon chided, Calumon tilting his head, not quite sure what the Rookie Digimon were talking about at first before his ears expanded upon realizing they were talking about going back to the Digital World. While the In-Training Digimon had no partner of his own, he missed the human world greatly as well - especially playing with the tamer children and eating cream puffs.

“We’re going home?” he asked excitedly, before starting to bounce around excitedly. “We’re going home! We’re going home! We’re going home!”

“Not quite yet,” Renamon said to the tiny creampuff digimon. “First we need to do something about the children. Guilmon, do you think you can find the Togemon who passed by?”

“I think so,” Guilmon replied, getting to his feet and sniffing the air. “It’s an old smell, but if you give me a second, I can find it again.”

“Are we all going on a field trip?” Calumon asked, looking at Renamon who was the de-facto ‘leader’ of the group, if only because she was the most adult-like. Terriermon could have his moments, but like any child, Calumon knew to look to the vulpine for confirmation, even as Terriermon answered for her.

“Yes.”

“It will help the children cooperate,” Renamon said, lifting Terriermon off her head and setting him down. “Why don’t you inform them that we’re going on a… ‘field trip’ while Guilmon searches for a scent?”

“Yes,  _ Mama Renamon _ ,” Terriermon replied, giving a mock salute with his ear before running off, Calumon on his tail, already pumped for a field trip. If anyone was going to get the children riled up and excited, it would be those two. Calumon especially had the ability to get the other children excited, reaching them on levels none of the other three could.

Renamon smiled as the pair retreated before turning back toward Guilmon. He was up and moving now, testing the air with his nose questioningly.

_ Please hold on just a moment longer, Rika, _ she thought anxiously.

**###**

“...and that’s the story,” Jeri finished, looking back and forth between the group, hoping that her explanation sufficed. She tried to give them as much information as possible, but with the sheer amount of it, she feared that it would prove to be too dense for them to keep up. Masahiko was already in bad enough straits just from encountering his first echo. Just one look at him told her that he wasn’t doing any better for her explanation. If anything, she feared she only made things worse.

He sat there, staring down at his hands on the steps outside the concrete bunker, lost in thought. The whole world might as well not exist to him as the sheer unreality of what he had been told landed square on his shoulders. A polar opposite from her reaction when she first met Guilmon.

_ It could be worse, _ she thought.  _ He could be like Kazu and Kenta were when they first met Guilmon. _

Rika sat not that far away from Jeri, hidden underneath the canopy of tree that even Mako got the subtle hint not to approach her. Not that he was thinking about doing so, too engorged in the information Jeri had told him.

“So you’re saying I really  _ am _ a Tamer?” he asked excitedly, ignoring the fact the teenager had said he seemed to share the digivice was his twin sister. “And I  _ really _ am partnered with Impmon?”

While IceDevimon had insinuated as much, referring to Mako forgetting things, after the demon tried to kill Takato, Mako didn’t believe any of what the ice Digimon said was true. However, it seemed IceDevimon had mixed some truth in with his lies.

“So that’s where that pink card reader came from,” Suzie murmured almost to herself. She never recalled being interested in the Digimon games or cards like her brother was. “And those plushes … were real.”

She wondered why she had memories of Terriermon and Lopmon with everything Jeri told her, even though they were memories of them as plushes given to her and Henry by their father. With the brunette explaining things, she vaguely recalled Terriermon speaking to her once.

She glanced at Rika, slightly wondering why the girl didn’t say anything at all during this but brushed it off. Rika could get into moods sometimes, and her brother was the only one who could bring her out of them. It was what made them so  _ perfect _ for each other.

_ I wonder where Henry is anyway,  _ she thought, noting both girls were still in their uniforms. She shrugged it off. Probably visiting Takato - or attempting to at any rate. When the three of them stopped at the hospital, they were told to come back later, something, something investigation. Trials of true love was all.   

“I know this is a lot to take in,” Jeri continued, one hand going to her wrist again and massaging it, “but...this is what’s happening. And...now the echoes can be seen. I’m not sure how that’s going to affect things. We’ve been trying to figure out a way to  deal with Mnemosyne and the echoes, but...without our digimon…” Jeri trailed off and looked away, her hand tightening around her arm almost painfully. “Well… You know what happened to Takato. We’re all very vulnerable without our digimon.”

“I still don’t understand  _ why _ this Mnemosyne is doing this,” Mako said, puffing his cheeks out and placing his hands on his hips.

“I’m not entirely sure either,” Jeri said, shaking her head. “None of us do really. But we need to figure this out. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do anything, but...we have to try, or else Mnemosyne will just do whatever it wants to us.”

“What can we do though?” Masahiko asked quietly, tucking his arms around his legs. “No digimon, and Takato got throttled. We’re helpless like you said.”

“We’re  _ working _ on ideas,” Jeri pressed. “Look, I can take you to see Henry. He’s been working on an idea for a while now, and Rika has a cousin who works for a government agency that can help. We’re  _ not _ alone in this.”

Masahiko narrowed his eyes, his expression bitter.

“Sure feels like it when you shut out your family,” he replied.

“Masahiko…” began Jeri, her face darkening with sadness. “It...It wasn’t like that. Please don’t be like this.”

Masahiko drew his legs up to him even tighter, not saying a word.Suzie couldn’t help but understand his sentiments; it hurt to know Henry was battling some sort of thing messing with their minds, not even saying a word about it. Her mind wandered to her father, who took that job with that woman from the government. She wondered if this had something to do with this thing with Mnemosyne too, especially when Jeri mentioned a government agency.

“Would you have even believed her if she did say anything?” Rika asked irritably, suddenly speaking for the first time since all this started. “Up until recently the echoes were invisible. You had to use cameras to see them, and even then Mnemosyne would delete any evidence you collected. Are you seriously telling me you wouldn’t think she was crazy, rambling about a being which altered memories, or your entire life up until now being a lie, huh? That Digimon were real, and part of this world up until six years ago, but some alien made us all forget?”

Masahiko’s eyes flashed as he whirled about on Rika. “Shut up,” he growled. “You don’t understand anything. My sister… She…” He clenched his eyes shut, hot tears gleaming at the corners of his eyelids as his face flushed. Jeri grimaced, knowing what he was talking about.

“It’s okay, Masahiko,” she said. “I’m telling you now.”

“The last time you were ‘telling us now’ you almost weren’t  _ able _ to tell us!” he shouted suddenly, shooting to his feet. “What if you ended up like Takato?” Bursting into tears, he pressed his fists against his forehead. “Oh kami… Jeri… I...I don’t know what I’d do if that happened to you again.”

Her expression softening, Jeri went over to her younger half brother and pulled him into a hug, threading her fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry,” was all she could say.

Suzie grimaced, suddenly feeling very awkward, and Mako wondered if this was a conversation they should have later - when they had more time to process the information. That way he could rub it into Ai and Akira’s face. He was sure they would have questions too, and if he was honest, those two were typically the smartest out of their little group or at least would remain the most objective.

_ Especially Akira. It’s not like he’s a Tamer like Ai, Suzie and I, and it’s not like he has a sibling who is, like Masahiko _ , the boy thought. While some might consider it a reason not to tell their friend, Mako didn’t consider the possibility once.

Rika grimaced, understanding Masahiko’s feelings. She knew Jeri once tried to kill herself - the brunette heavily insinuated it what seemed a lifetime ago - yet she didn’t think of Masahiko’s concerns until he raised them, and once more Renamon disappearing into shards of data replayed in her head … but so did a different memory.

The one from the lake, with Jeri and Takato’s names stuck in the ground amongst a sea of sticks, representing the missing and the dead, and Rika’s heart clenched painfully. She always thought she could protect Jeri, but …

_ I couldn’t even save Renamon _ , she thought.

“Let’s go meet up with Henry,” Jeri said after a moment. “Are you okay with that, Masahiko?”

“Fine,” the boy grumbled, pushing away and wiping at his face. “Jeez… See what you made me do? You’ve made me look...so uncool just now.”

Jeri laughed lightly and wiped at his eyes. “That’s what big sisters are for,” she replied quietly.

**###**

_ Rika _ … Henry sighed, looking at his phone again, hoping that the red haired girl would return his (or anyone’s) call by now. However, even he knew not to hold expectations for that - she turned her phone off no doubt soon after receiving the first text or call, if not sooner.

It wasn’t like this behavior was unexpected - Himiko had texted him the full details of what happened. Henry wasn’t sure what she told Rumiko or Seiko; he was sure if they knew the full extent of Rika’s condition, they would be beyond worried for her instead of letting her be alone.

Still, perhaps her being alone might be the best thing right now, at least to process what had happened. Henry just wanted to make sure she was alright, and see if she wanted a shoulder to cry on or just have some company. Not to mention letting her family know - in particular Himiko, who was oddly agitated and worried about her disappearance - she was fine.

“ _ Rika will be fine _ ,” he recalled telling Himiko. “ _ She’s strong. She’s … just is in shock. You no doubt knows how she is about being left behind. Give her a bit.” _

Climbing the steps to the bridge, he paused and squinted his eyes.

_ Suzie? _ He wondered.  _ What is she doing here? Also, what is she wearing… _

Suzie was wearing faded, weather-battered clothing that resembled a military uniform of some sort. Her face was grimy and her hair looked to be in dire need of a good cleaning and brushing. Her eyes had a wild, frantic look to them, and she held a battered Lopmon in her arms. Around her, people looked at her strangely and with more than a little concern, and no wonder. It took Henry a moment to notice that she looked a bit...malnourished. Her cheekbones were a bit more prominent than normal.

Before he could process what was going on, a sudden explosion rocked the bridge and Henry felt a searing heat wash over him as the force of the blast threw him off the stairs and back down to the ground below. There were screams. Loud ones, and full of pain and terror. Black smoke billowed skyward as flames flickered.

Henry heard a loud  _ thud _ next and in his daze he looked to see his sister lying on the cracked steps in front of him, neck twisted at an awkward angle and eyes staring at him, unseeing. Next to her lay Lopmon, bits of data floating away from her.

A dark shape loomed behind the smoke. A gust of wind blew, causing the smoke to clear and revealing a  _ large _ shape, almost cone-like in structure except with a rounded head. Two arms, yellow with long, dagger-like fingers, flexed and a pair of demonic wings flapped behind it. The gaping wound of its mouth opened and let out a loud roar that sent chills running down Henry’s spine.

He knew what this thing was. He knew it all too well. An agent of the D-Reaper, the ADR-08 Optimizer to be more specific. In their first encounter with the monstrosity it took all of them together to put it down.

_ What… What happened?  _ he thought deliriously.  _ That… That never happened to Suzie! What is this?! _

Before he could continue with this line of thought, or even overcome his shock, a trinity of electric spheres bound together by a crackling chain of energy appeared just over the Optimizer and slammed into it, causing it to disappear in a shower of sparkling light.

There remained only the screams of people injured now, leaving a  _ very _ confused and horrified Henry.

_ That never happened…  _ he thought again, curling his fingers into the palms of his hands. _ That...never...happened! _

**###**

IceDevimon was there, holding him by his neck, cutting off all the air that his lungs were painfully gasping for. Those murderous red eyes glared at him as he raised his other arm, revealing that of Rika in the same position, eyes rolled up in the back of her head and hanging limply in his grasp.

“This is because of  _ you,” _ he growled at the boy. “This is all  _ your _ fault!”

_ “Rika!” _

Takato awoke abruptly and sat up, breathing heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. Without thinking, he immediately tried to get out of the bed that he didn’t realize as belonging to a hospital, only to cry out as the IV tube stuck in his arm tugged at him. Shakily, he began to pull it out and threw it down.

_ Something’s around my neck, _ he thought, realizing he couldn’t move his head very easily. He felt his heart clench up in fear, thinking it was IceDevimon’s hand, but as it didn’t feel frigid, he reached up and began to pick at the brace.

Distantly, he heard voices shouting something at him, but he paid them no mind until Ayaka was suddenly there in front of him, grabbing at his arms.

“Takato! Stop it! You’re safe! Everything’s okay now!”

“Ayaka!” the boy exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise. “How did you get...here?”

For the first time, he realized he was not in the park. Looking around, he found he was in a room, plain and with little color save for what Ayaka, Kazu and Kenta wore as they all looked at him in concern.

“Where am I?”

“In the hospital, Chumley,” Kazu said, standing now, about ready to push Takato down before Ayaka intervened. “IceDevimon nearly killed you. You’ve been out like a light since yesterday.”

“How are you feeling?” Kenta asked, looking like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to sit or stand, looking at Takato, eyes wide. “Are you OK?”

“Of course he’s  _ not  _ okay!” Ayaka snapped. “He got strangled. How would  _ you  _ feel?”

Kenta winced guilty, realizing the stupidity of the question, only for Kazu rounded on Ayaka angrily.

“Lay off him!” he snapped. “OK it might be a stupid question, but he’s concerned about him! We all are!”

“You don’t think I know that? I…”

“Stop it!” Takato burst out suddenly, causing Ayaka to look at him with wide, surprised eyes. “Just...stop fighting!”

Untangling himself from Ayaka, he tried to get around her, only for her to collect herself and step back in front of him.

“Where are you going?” she demanded, scowling at him.  _ Kami! Can’t this dork just settle down for even a minute? What do I have to do to make him stay put? _

“Rika… I have to find her! IceDevimon… He’s after her!” He took hold of his neckbrace again and attempted to pry it off. Again, Ayaka grabbed hold of him and this time began to push him back toward the bed.

“Chumley, the bastard is dead!” Kazu assured him. “Rika’s Men in Black cousin told us as much! He’s not going to hurt you - or anyone else - again!”

“Dead…?” Takato’s face scrunched together in surprise and confusion before becoming frantic again. Rika! Is  _ she _ okay?!”

Ayaka bit her lip, suddenly uncertain as to how much they should tell him. With the way he was now combined with his injuries… Ayaka didn’t want to contemplate what he would do. Takato had a habit of pushing himself above and beyond the call of duty, even when it risked hurting him even more.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” she decided finally. “Now will you  _ lay down _ already? We need to hook you back up before you give the nurses a heart attack!”

True to form, a nurse appeared at the door, followed quickly by another, and then another, all with worried expressions that quickly evaporated into confusion upon finding Takato standing out of bed and struggling with the copper-haired girl.

“Um… Is...everything all right?” asked the lead nurse, to which Ayaka nodded, but her angry expression spoke volumes.

“Someone just has a bad case of stupidity,” she grumbled. After explaining the situation quickly, the nurses put Takato back into bed and hooked him back up to his heart monitor. Ayaka tugged at the corners of his bedsheets, pulling them up to cover him more.

“Jeez… Of all the stupid… You  _ do _ need someone to look after you.” She shot a look over at the other two boys. “Did you let everyone know or were you just playing games on your phones?”

“Well neither of us have Rika or Henry’s number, but I texted Jeri. I’m sure she’ll let them know when she gets it,” Kazu shot back, Kenta making shushing noises, talking on the phone with someone - no doubt Takato’s mother or father.

“Rika…” Takato made another attempt to escape his bed prison, only for Ayaka to push him back down, this time with a bit more force to get it across to him that he would  _ not _ be leaving while she was there. She saw a flash of anger cross his face, but she ignored it.

“Ayaka…!”

“Rika’s out for now,” she interrupted, “but  _ you’re _ not leaving here. Doctor’s orders. If I have to find her, I will if that will make you feel better, but if you don’t settle down I’ll tie you to this bed to make you stay here.” Ayaka glowered at him. “Do you  _ know _ what you’ve been through or did IceDevimon give you brain damage on top of your...bruises?”

Takato met Ayaka’s gaze for one long moment before finally relenting - for now. “Fine…” he acceded.

“I just informed his parents,” Kenta said finally, shutting the phone. “I imagine they’ll be here soon.”

“Anyway, don’t be worrying about Firebrand,” Kazu agreed, folding his arms. “Y _ ou’re _ the one in the hospital, not her.”

_ Not anymore at least since it seems she decided to fuck right out of here when everyone’s backs were turned _ , he added mentally. Not that he was going to tell Chumley that after Ayaka  _ finally _ managed to get him to calm down.

“She’ll probably be back tomorrow,” Kenta supplied helpfully, although he wasn’t completely sure that would be the case now that he said it. “You can talk to her then, if that makes you feel any better.”  

“I want to at least  _ talk _ to her with a phone or something,” he grumbled. “I’d feel a lot better knowing she was okay.”

Ayaka’s brow knotted in annoyance at his focus on Rika.  _ He never stops thinking about her... _

“How about you just rest for now and we’ll see what happens in a bit,” Ayaka said, hoping that by then Rika would be better and her condition less apt to send Takato into another freak-out episode. “You’ve been through a lot after all. We’ve all been worried about you. Don’t give us a reason to have to tie you down, okay?”

Again, Takato gave no answer, save for closing his eyes. He looked tense and wired, clearly unhappy with the situation.

“Do you need anything?” Ayaka asked, tucking him in a bit more. “Something to drink? Eat?”

“I’m fine,” Takato replied, his tone even. Wincing at him, she looked as though she were about to say something in response - something biting - but she caught herself and, thinking better of it, she turned and left the room, her face flushing with irritation at the boy.

_ Gogglehead! _ she thought heatedly, her feet unsure if she were trying to run or kick the floor. With how she felt, it might as well be both. Approaching a vending machine, she took out some pocket money and punched each individual yen in before ordering a soft drink. Taking it out, she unscrewed the top and took a long swig before pulling away. It tasted refreshing, but it did little to soothe her frustration.

Taking a seat in a nearby chair, she tucked her head into her arms.

_ Stupid… Stupid, stupid, stupid…  _ she thought repeatedly, cursing the Gogglehead for being who he was. From the moment they entered high school, she knew he would end up in nothing but trouble. Just the condition of his uniform and his hair told her that much. Always rumpled. Always unkempt. Oh, he cleaned often enough, but it was clear that he thought little of himself, a vast difference from how he approached others. Thoughtful, courtious, always eager to help out when called upon. He was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he  _ tried. _ He rose to the occasion when he had to do it for someone else.

It annoyed her to no end. So much so that she took to fixing his uniform and berating him for how he let something so simple go neglected. She  _ had _ to get it through to him that if he didn’t take care of himself, he would fall apart!

She tightened her hands around her knees, realizing for perhaps the first time the sheer magnitude of such a task. Worse yet, the idiot didn’t even realize how fragile and vulnerable he was, even in spite of the fact that IceDevimon nearly killed him!

_ Gogglehead…  _ she thought, sniffing a little as she thought about the boy lying in that room, seemingly oblivious to his own mortality.  _ What am I going to do? If I can’t keep you out of trouble… _

A barely restrained, choking sob broke from Ayaka’s lips as she let out all the fears she had been holding within her.

_ Stupid Gogglehead! _


	41. Desolation

Exhaustion.

The only word which could describe an iota of how she felt right now, yet at the same time didn’t do it justice. Rika felt like Atlas, shouldering the world on her shoulders and Prometheus, cursed by the gods to have his liver eaten by an eagle during the day only for them to come back at night.

Between the shock of losing Renamon, the return of her memories and learning Henry was in the hospital due to an explosion which killed at least a dozen of people, sleep didn’t come to her last night. Each time she tried to close her eyes, to rest - a luxury she was quickly realizing she would not be afforded - images of Renamon shattering into blue data, Henry being carried away by the paramedics and the deep red sky haunted her mind, keeping her awake.

Her body tried to make up for what she lacked during school, yet Jeri kept nudging her awake, and while she couldn’t bring herself for faulting the small brunette girl who now sat by her side at lunch, Rika wished she’d just let her be.

Even now, weights pressed down on her eyes, sleep becoming a siren song which she could not ignore. In her lap, her food remained untouched, the thought of eating making her honestly rather queasy.

Once more her head dipped down, her eyes resting again for a minute …

Jeri watched Rika as her head dropped and her eyes closed, her gaze sympathetic. She knew Rika had not been taking well to the loss of Renamon, Takato’s assault at the hands of IceDevimon, and Henry’s hospitalization. Her conversation with Ayaka didn’t reveal much, but remembering how subdued the girl had been yesterday told her all she needed to know.

So she let Rika rest. They were on lunch break now, so she wasn’t going to be missing anything.

“Maybe you should go home,” she suggested quietly after a moment, popping some rice into her mouth. “You haven’t been doing very well today. You should...probably get some rest. You look like you need it.”

“No … I’m fine,” Rika mumbled, Jeri’s voice sounding like it was coming from the bottom of the well. With great effort, Rika opened her eyes, blinking slightly in confusion when once more the world around her was in grayscale. Momentarily panicking, she moved her hand to the side where she last thought she saw Jeri. Upon feeling something, her vision swimming, she looked down to see that she had put her hand on Jeri’s ever so slightly. Blinking blearily in confusion, she sighed and leaned against the tree for support, deciding to leave it there - an anchor. She noticed since yesterday she didn’t quite realize where she was, and if she was going to be honest, it was beginning to scare her on top of everything else.

“I’m fine,” she said more for herself than Jeri.

Jeri blushed at the presence of Rika’s hand atop her own, but she didn’t pull away or anything of that sort. Instead, she found herself turning her hand over and clasping it within her palm, giving it a soft squeeze.

“You’re not,” she said firmly to Rika. “But...when you get it in your head to do something, it’s hard to change your mind.” Jeri sighed heavily, continuing to eat with her free hand. “Well… Try to get some sleep, okay? I’ll wake you up when lunch is over, okay? Hopefully that will be enough.”

“Mn…” Rika mumbled, not about to argue with the potential relief finally allotted to her. “You really are an angel aren’t you?”

Once more she closed her eyes and her head fell to the side, resting on Jeri’s shoulder - which made a much better pillow than the hard bark of the tree. Her conscious, once more, began to fade to black, and this time, she welcomed it.

Jeri blushed as Rika crashed against her shoulder and glanced over at her, feeling a bit uncertain as to how to react. She felt her heart flutter in response to the sight of the girl’s sleeping face, something she had only seen a handful of times in the past. Back then, Rika always looked peaceful and calm, yet such was not the case here. Trouble continued to mar her face even as she slipped into dreamland. Her expression softening, she reached up and, quite unexpectedly, brushed her hand against Rika’s bangs, pushing them away from her eyes.

“Sweet dreams,” she whispered.

**###**

“After the explosion at Main Street Bridge, Shinjuku Police Department has confirmed that there is at least 10 dead and more than 20 injured. Volunteer workers are still searching the area for survivors, and relief efforts have been to clear the debris,” a woman with short dark hair said, standing in front of rubble - remains of a bridge which had managed to survive earthquakes, Digimon and the end of the world, yet the explosion yesterday took it down. “Officers are still investigating what happened, although according to eyewitness reports, a large monster-type creature was seen before the bridge was destroyed, although when officers searched for it, they couldn’t find it.

“This is hardly the first sighting of monsters across the city. Ever since the ‘Hazard Event,’ reports across Tokyo have been pouring in of sightings of these monsters. Sources have identified some of them as monsters from the popular game ‘Digimon,’ although this yet has to be officially verified.

“This is on top of a sudden influx of missing persons cases - now unofficially in the hundreds, yet growing by the hour - caused Chief Miyamoto Nagisa to officially declare Tokyo in a state of emergency this morning at a press conference-”

The TV in the small hospital room where all the Tamers had gathered suddenly went black, Kazu holding the remote up before lowering it, pushing back his hair and sighing deeply.

“Man … everything is just going to shit. First Chumley, then Henry … who is going to land in this place next?” he muttered to himself.

“Momentai,” Henry remarked, running a hand through his hair. He had some bandages marking his arms and face where debris and shrapnel had cut him. He looked haggard and distracted, obviously disturbed by what happened.

“Are you okay, Henry?” Takato asked, attempting to sit up in his bed, only for Ayaka to place a warning hand on his shoulder.

“I’m just…” The half-Chinese Tamer shook his head. “I don’t know. There was something about what happened there…” He licked his lips, contemplating his next words. “I didn’t want to say anything earlier because I thought I was still in shock, but… I think...what I saw was real. An echo that...I don’t remember happening.”

Rika - who had been quiet ever since yesterday’s incident - finally looked up at Henry.

Her brow furrowed ever so slightly as she uncrossed her legs, leaning forward in her chair. She was still trying to sort through her own memories, but there was one in particular the more she dug into it which seemed … out of place. The fact Jeri and Takato were sitting right in front of her right now only proved they weren’t dead. Although even in her memories, their bodies hadn’t been found … so even that was up for debate.

Even so, they hadn’t disappeared - not yet.

_ Who knows how long that’s going to be though _ , she thought miserably, pulling on her ear slightly, hearing the sound of the ocean once more.

“What do you mean?” Kenta asked, expressing the thought everyone had yet to speak out loud.

“I saw Suzie there,” Henry continued. “Only...she was older. She looked...looked like she had been skipping out on more than a few meals too.” He swallowed. “She was killed at the bridge yesterday. Her body was…”

He closed his eyes, remembering the paramedics as they zipped her up in a body bag, and a shudder passed through him.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said, pulling himself together. “But there shouldn’t be anything like that. We never lost anyone to the D-Reaper except for Grani.” He pressed a hand to his forehead. “Maybe my memory is more messed up than I thought. But...how do I explain that Suzie’s still alive?”

“Well, didn’t that Hazard thing hit?” Takato asked, ignoring Ayaka’s hand and sitting up. “I mean, that had to mess things up for Mnemosyne, right? Maybe he’s mixing up memories or creating new ones. Something like that.”

Rika frowned at that, her mind once more going back to her own odd memory. She didn’t say anything though; especially if it didn’t happen. While it felt so real, she didn’t want any more attention her than necessary. Especially right now when questions would eventually lead back toward Renamon’s death at the hand of her cousin.

Something she didn’t want to talk about.

“I thought Rika’s cousin destroyed Mnemosyne,” Kazu said, speaking about the one person Rika didn’t want to be mentioned right now. He looked around at the others, hoping to get some clarification before his dark eyes landed on Rika. “... Right?” he asked quietly, almost hesitantly.

Rika just grunted.

Jeri looked over at Rika worriedly, but so far the girl didn’t appear to be showing much in the way of emotion regarding the topic in question. Her fingers twisted around each other, wanting to touch Rika’s hand again, remembering how it felt giving comfort to her, but with an effort, she forced them to still.

“As far as we know,” Jeri piped in, making sure to keep her eyes from wandering over to Rika’s hand for the time being. “Maybe Mnemosyne was hurt or something. We don’t really know anything...do we?”

“Did we  _ ever _ know anything in all this?” Ayaka snorted derisively.

“I think instead of focusing on what we don’t know, maybe we should focus on what we  _ do _ ,” Kenta said, leaning back thoughtfully. “Or perhaps better yet, we believed Mnemosyne was in charge of the echoes, yet whether it was destroyed or merely injured, the fact remained shouldn’t the echoes be gone, not you know …” his sentence drifted off as he gestured toward the TV.

Luckily, Kazu finished his thought for him.

“Blowing shit up and killing people.”

The room was silent for a moment before Henry finally spoke.

“Something has changed,” he said. “Kenta’s right. Before this, echoes didn’t always interact with people. We couldn’t  _ touch _ them.”

“The D-Reaper ones always seem to be different like that,” Takato observed, to which Ayaka snorted.

“You have only the beach to compare to,” she remarked. “That’s hardly the ‘scientific method.’”

“Ayaka!” Jeri scowled before turning to Henry. “Maybe there’s something to that. Maybe there’s something about the D-Reaper that causes it to appear?”

“Again Jeri, we have only that one other incident to compare it to,” Ayaka repeated. “This could be a glitch or something for all we know.”

“One way or another, this is different,” Henry cut in, not wanting to divert the topic at hand for a pointless argument. “This is the first time that an echo involved something that none of us remember when we got our memories back. Never mind that Suzie is  _ still _ with us.”

“Unless Mnemosyne made a fake Suzie using an echo, or maybe an echo became real and Mnemosyne just let it go,” Ayaka grunted.

“Except that Mnemosyne isn’t here right now. Maybe it’s the D-reaper again if we want to bring in things that have been ‘destroyed,’” Rika snapped suddenly, speaking the first full sentence since the beginning of this discussion; the first full sentence since stepping in the hospital if one didn’t want to count her relief Takato was OK and awake. “We all know it’s perfectly capable of that!”

“Rika…” began Takato, sitting up and trying to angle toward her, something that was made difficult by the presence of his neck brace. “Take it easy. We’re just trying to brainstorm.”

He frowned back and forth between Ayaka and Rika. “Although some of us could show a little more tact when it comes to different opinions.”

Ayaka snorted again and folded her arms over her chest. “This is stupid,” she said. “All we’ve been  _ doing _ is talk about this and talk about that. Rika’s cousin is the only one making any lasting impact on things, even if they…” Her words tumbled as she caught herself almost mentioning Renamon’s death, something that had been agreed on would be kept from Takato for the time being. “...even if they’re bad,” she finished. “Either way, we’re not players in this at all. We’re just...what? People on the sidelines, watching two big fuckups going at it?”

“Ah, from the star quarterbacks to sitting on the bench,” Kazu sighed despondently. “How the mighty have fallen.”

“It’s not like we can do much without our Digimon,” Kenta pointed out, frowning slightly. He understood the frustration which seemed to boil under the surface of the room, yet the fact of the matter was, this time they were useless. “We’re just, well … we’re just kids. Maybe … maybe we should just leave it to Himiko and Hypnos. Before more of us gets hurt.”

“I hate to admit it,” Henry began, shifting uncertainly. “But we  _ are _ out of our league here. I don’t even think we can depend on the program I had been designing to help us anymore. I was writing it blind to begin with, and now the situation has changed far too much.”

He threaded his hand through his hair. “I don’t know.”

Takato frowned, looking down at his hands. For the first time in a long while, he felt that they were back to being what they had been; Tamers trying to solve a problem. It was a small glimmer, but he felt it. “We can’t just give up,” he said after a moment. “We’ve been in some pretty tough spots before. I know this is different but...so was the D-Reaper. So were the Devas. We  _ have _ to find a way.”

Jeri looked at Takato, eyes softening and a small smile crossing her face as she saw the boy he had been and thought long buried - the boy she and Rika once loved - emerge from his slumber.

_ It might be too late though, _ she wanted to say.  _ Without the digimon...what can we do? _

“What way is there, huh?” Kazu snapped, his own frustration beginning to meet a snapping point. The fact he lasted this long without losing his temper spoke volumes; it wasn’t that long ago he would have lost it by now. “Like Kenta said, we don’t have our Digimon, Chumley! The Devas were beat  _ with our Digimon _ . The D-Reaper? What did we beat that with again? Oh yeah! The Digimon! Tell me, when were we in a situation like this which we were able to solve  _ without _ our Digimon?” Kazu pretended to think for a moment before sarcastically answering himself. “Oh, that’s right! Never!”

“I said we’ll  _ find _ a way, Kazu!” Takato said firmly, his eyes blazing. “We had help from Hypnos back then. We might have other things to help us now. This stuff with the echoes…” He raised one hand, looking at it carefully. “A while ago...something happened to me. I thought I was dreaming at first, but...I...made a weapon appear in my hand once to save Renamon from IceDevimon. Maybe… Maybe that’s the key. Maybe that’s something we can  _ all _ do if we just wish hard enough like we had to do for the blue cards.”

His brow drew itself into a tight knot as he concentrated on his hand. However, after several long seconds, nothing happened.

“Only the Digital World answers to wishes, Takato.” Rika’s voice was tired, and a lot gentler than it was seconds earlier when she lost her temper. Each time she looked into Takato’s eyes, she felt her heart getting stabbed.

She did this to him. She put him in this situation. While she wanted nothing more to be in Ayaka’s spot, fussing over him, she felt like she didn’t have the right. She broke his heart and his body; it was best if she stayed away.

“This is the Real World. Only logic runs here - especially with the Firewall up,” she continued, sighing. Standing up, she pushed her hair out of her eyes, a flash of exhaustion once again making itself known in those deep violet orbs. “I’m going for a walk.”

If this conversation was going to mention Renamon or IceDevimon anymore, she was going to scream. She didn’t want to think of either, but right now, she didn’t think she was going to get afforded that luxury.

“Rika…” began Takato as she exited the room, starting to climb out of bed to chase after her. Ayaka squawked suddenly in surprise and grabbed hold of him. “Let me  _ go, _ Ayaka!” he growled, quickly breaking free from her grasp. His feet touched down on the floor and he started forward, only to accidently cause his IV fluid to topple over and hit the floor with a loud crash. Undaunted, Takato continued after the redhead, only for Jeri to step in front of him.

“Let her go for now,” she pleaded, her amber eyes meeting his crimson ones.

Takato gaped at her and looked at the others. “Why...Why is everyone just...giving up like this?” he asked. “Come on! We can do this. We just have to find a way, that’s all. Just because the firewall is up doesn’t mean it’s stopping  _ everything! _ The echoes are still popping up. Maybe we can use that!”

“Takato … sometimes, you need to understand when there is a lost battle,” Kenta said softly, helping Takato back to bed, only for Takato to shake him off angrily. “There’s nothing we can do. You need to accept that. You were in the thick of it the last time, so you couldn’t  _ possibly _ understand how it was for those of us who weren’t. You just need to accept it and wake up. Honestly, have you done anything at all worthwhile to stop any of this since the echoes first started coming around?”

Takato’s eyes narrowed angrily at that, and suddenly Jeri felt a dark, oppressive force in the air around the boy; an unseen miasma of hidden rage that she felt around him once before, years ago in the digital world.

The day Megidramon was created.

This time was different though. Before, Takato’s anger had been raw and red and out in the open. A vocal roar of pure animal rage. This time however, he was quiet; like a thunderstorm building up to unleash itself, clouds piling high in huge mountains of force.

The room suddenly felt cold…  _ Dark _ even.

Reaching up, Takato took hold of the IV still in his arm and he pulled it out with barely a wince. As it clattered upon the floor, his arms rose up to his neck brace and he took that off as well, throwing it to the floor. He turned his neck, now revealed with the black and blue bruises from IceDevimon’s attack, working out what stiffness in the muscles that he could feel.

“Takato…” Henry began, wanting to stop the boy before he did anything rash, however Takato’s red eyes swung over to him and he saw something in them that made his mouth shut with a sharp  _ click. _

“I’m going to solve this,” Takato declared. “One way or the other, I’m going to figure this out, even if I have to break the firewall again, and I’ll do it with or  _ without _ your help.”

Jeri felt her mouth go dry and she unexpectedly shrank away from him. Seeing this, Takato’s heart cracked a little, but he held firm. He was alone in this now. He could see it. They were all content to just give up and let their enemies roll over them.

_ A Tamer never walks away from danger, _ he thought, remembering Rika’s words from so long ago. He took a moment to reflect on the irony of the situation.

“I’m going to check out of here,” he said, going over to where his clothes were kept. Jeri, recovering herself, reached out to try and stop him again, only to halt when she saw something that made her gasp in surprise.

The floor where Takato had stood was damp, as if Takato had waded out into water, though none had been there before, but it wasn’t that which caught her breath. A shadow crawled away from it, extending from Takato. His shadow, but at the same time...not.

It was different. Longer. Larger. The shape of a knight with a cape billowing behind him.

A black knight.

“Good luck then, Chumley,” Kazu found the energy to say, although he felt scared himself. He had begun to move in to protect Kenta, fearing Takato would throw him against the wall. Unlike himself, Kenta wouldn’t be able to take it. “Keep doing that whole bunch of nothing you were doing before.”

Yet, he couldn’t help himself egging the boy on one more time. He was being stupid.  _ Selfish _ . There was courage, and then there was stupidity. Takato never quite seemed to understand which was which.

Takato shot Kazu a dark look that caused Ayaka to visibly flinch from her spot by the boy’s bed. She had  _ never _ felt anything like this from him before, and to be honest...it scared her. This was a far cry from the fragile Gogglehead who tripped over flat surfaces. This was someone who had every intention of going to war and not return until he brought back a head on a spike. Finding his things, Takato stormed past Kazu and went straight to the bathroom, closing the door with a sharp click so he could change.

Henry let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

“Okay…” began Ayaka.  _ “That _ was new.”

“That’s because you’ve never seen him really get angry before,” Jeri said, one hand clutching her arm where her scar lay. Her eyes dropped down to the floor and she unconsciously noted that the water was gone. Shaking her head, she started for the door. “Excuse me. I need to find Rika.”

**###**

Himiko stood in her darkened office, her expression one of utter neutrality as she listened to the group of men and women in front of her – projected by a holographic imaging system – read out her review. Inwardly, she was a different story. Wracked by guilt, frustration and doubt…and in particular… _ fear _ over how her actions would continue to impact her cousin.

She almost wished that she  _ would _ get fired, if only to end her involvement in events that risked her hurting Rika.

She couldn’t take that chance however. She needed to see this through all the way to its end.

_ “…disregard for the warnings of assembled team members resulted in the unleashing of an unknown…” _ A pause from the woman – the reading the report aloud.  _ “Computer virus?” _

“A digital network storm,” Himiko clarified, though she knew it wouldn’t make her sound any better.

_ “Yamaki’s insanity again…”  _ This from a balding man, the Chief Cabinet Secretary.  _ “Himiko, you were brought in to _ replace _ Mitsuo Yamaki and his expensive programs that led nowhere and did nothing except waste money and valuable resources. Under your management, you appear to have chased ghosts and wasted millions of yen that have ultimately resulted in network damage.” _

_ “She’s worse than Yamaki ever was…!” _ began another woman angrily, only for the first woman – the one who read the report – to raise her hand to quiet her.

_ “Continue, Chief Cabinet Secretary,” _ she said. The man nodded.

_ “Do you have any explanations for your actions beyond what is described in these reports?” _

_ Pursuing a computer virus and a potentially dangerous hacker wasn’t enough? _ That had been the cover story invented, and that the Hazard program had been meant to be an attack on said hacker that, unfortunately backfired. However, while that report had remained consistent, someone among the Monster Makers had given someone higher up in the chain of command a wakeup call. She suspected Babel, as he voiced the most objections during this project, but she didn’t hold a grudge. In retrospect, she felt he was right to.

A part of her wondered, if given the chance to rewind time, would  _ she _ argue against her own actions?

“No, I do not,” Himiko replied. “Except that I did what I believed was right at the time.”

_ “I see…” _ the Chief Cabinet Secretary leaned back, frowning at her. He didn’t give her a lecture about how what she ‘felt’ was right didn’t matter with protocol and procedure, and most especially where lives were at risk. Himiko knew the man, and he knew her well enough that she didn’t need the lecture.

_ It sure feels like I could use the reminder, _ Himiko thought, keeping herself composed.

_ “Hata Himiko,” _ he began, folding his hands together.  _ “It is this council’s decision that your continued involvement with Hypnos is to be placed under review. Due to your outstanding record, we will permit you the  _ dignity _ of continuing as chief of operations until such a time as we see fit. This is, however, to be a symbolic gesture. Further operations are to be run and carried out by Ms. Riley Ootori and subject to council approval. Is that understood?” _

“Crystal,” Himiko replied.

_ “Then this meeting is adjourned.” _

With that, the holographic representations of the government officials winked out of existence and the lights came back on. Himiko stood there for one long minute, not feeling at all the way she felt she should. She expected…relief? Anger? Fear?

She felt none of those emotions. Instead she felt…nothing; as though she had been drained.

The minute passed, and Himiko pressed the button on her desk that would fetch her secretary.

_ “Yes?” _

“Send for Riley Ootori and have her come up to my office. I need to discuss matters with her.”

_ “At once, ma’am.” _

**###**

Jeri exited the hospital grounds, finally managing to catch up to Rika as the fire-haired girl sat herself down on a bench, her emotional exhaustion crashing into her. Picking up her pace, she hurried on over, pressing her lips together into one thin line.

_ What am I going to say? _ she wondered, thinking on the heavy conversation in Takato’s room and the boy’s sudden determination – among  _ other _ things that she preferred to not think about – to keep going forward no matter what.

She drew to a stop in front of Rika and folded her hands in front of her.

“Are you all right?” she asked tentatively. She wanted to kick herself for asking such a question. Of  _ course _ Rika wasn’t all right. She lost Renamon after all. She could understand the heartbreak that caused, and for IceDevimon – Rika’s enemy – attacked Takato… Rika was experiencing her own D-Reaper right now.

She hoped that Rika wouldn’t fall into the same trap that she did.

“I’m fine,” Rika murmured, a bit surprised to see that Jeri had followed her out here, but found herself being OK with her company. She felt like she could expose more her weakness around the smaller girl, especially since it was rare for Jeri to try to pry the information out of her before she was ready. “I’m … just tired is all.” She tried to smile a bit, but it hurt, and so she stopped. “I guess my nap at lunch wasn’t long enough after all.”

“Sorry,” Jeri replied, setting herself down next to the girl. “Thirty minutes isn’t really enough, is it?”

She swung her legs, kicking at the concrete with the toe of her shoe before settling down. “Rika… Maybe you should just go home and get some rest. You’re not doing yourself any favors by pushing yourself like this.”

Rika was quiet for a moment. Jeri’s suggestion was the logical thing to do. If she was in the brunette’s shoes, she would be past insisting and no doubt be dragging the smaller girl home to rest whether she wanted to or not.

It was probably gods’ good grace Jeri wasn’t like her.

“I don’t know if I can,” she admitted after a minute.

“Because of Renamon?” Jeri asked softly, shifting her legs against her seat.

Rika turned and looked at Jeri, wondering for a moment how she learned before realizing someone must have told her. Ayaka probably, or Kazu. Maybe even Henry.

_ I hope nobody told Takato though _ , she thought, sighing softly, looking forward again. Knowing Gogglehead, he would worry more about her than the fact he just woke up and needed to rest. It was the last thing he needed to concern himself with while he was in the hospital.

“I … just see her eyes. Her in pain, and I’m powerless to do anything,” Rika said softly, choking slightly. “And with Himiko there … I just can’t.” She closed her eyes, shutting in tears which were threatening to fall again. “I’m so tired, Jeri, but there is no rest for the wicked.”

Biting her lower lip, Jeri reached out and took hold of Rika’s hand, wanting to offer comfort to her friend in her time of need. “That’s why you should get some rest. Take a timeout at least. If you need to talk to someone, there’s me. There’s Henry. There’s...Takato.” She hesitated slightly at Takato’s name, but she knew that despite whatever was going through his mind now, he would stand by Rika no matter what. “We’re there for you if you want us.”

Reaching up, she took hold of Rika’s head and cradled it against her shoulder. “Sometimes even the wicked get a little break.”

She wanted to smile at her little joke, hoping that Rika would see it and find her spirits lifted a little, but Jeri just couldn’t find it within her to do so. The moment was just...too grim.

Rika’s hand tightened around Jeri’s, seeking whatever silent comfort they could offer. It reminded her of lunch; while good dreams didn’t find her, neither did nightmares. Perhaps it was because she didn’t have long enough to sleep, but it was the longest she was able to relax today. To momentarily forget about everything and just let the darkness settle in.

“I know,” she murmured before sighing. “Your nickname really does suit you, you know.”

Jeri laughed lightly. “Angel and demon… You and me.” Taking a deep breath, Jeri held it for a moment before letting it out in a slow sigh. “So what are you going to do?”

“Dunno,” Rika answered bluntly before pausing for a moment. She was OK though with just sitting here, the ocean noises becoming quieter for a moment. She just wanted to fall into the quiet darkness, but she knew she couldn’t. She would have to go back to that oppressive hospital room, look at Takato’s face, pretending everything was alright when it wasn’t so he wouldn’t worry about someone he shouldn't.

Still, her body and mind screamed at her to follow Jeri’s suggestion, and she found herself asking,  “... Can I use you as a pillow again for a couple more minutes though?”

Jeri nodded. “Sure,” she said softly, and just like that they both sat there, a gentle breeze blowing over them while nearby birds chirped. It felt...nice, Jeri found, though the moment was marred by the situation. Jeri closed her eyes, wishing none of this had happened. That their partners were still safe and that they had no worries.

_ Mnemosyne… _ she thought, feeling a touch of anger flash through her, but she quickly brushed it aside. Later, when she was home, she would think on her anger, but not now. Rika didn’t need her anger.

Across the street, she saw Takato emerge from the hospital, garbed in his usual day clothes and, without even taking a look around, turned and started down the street. Jeri stiffened in surprise upon seeing him. She hadn’t thought he would be  _ serious _ about actually leaving, or that he would be successful in doing so without his parents.

Yet there he was, and the cloud of his anger followed him.

Distantly, she heard the sound of waves crashing on some black shore, faint...so very faint.

Feeling Jeri stiffen, the body language suddenly changing from what it was a moment ago,Rika creaked her eyes open and sat up, looking at Jeri before following her line of sight to see Takato storming away from the hospital.

She was quiet for a moment, unsure how to react, and unfortunately for Jeri, a dark cloud of rage began to form around the redhead. Still holding on to Jeri’s hand - the only thing keeping her from jumping out of the bench and possibly causing harm to the boy in her anger, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

Bringing up Takato’s number, she dialed it and pressed it against her ear. After two rings, he answered.

“Gogglehead, you better have a twin that is outside of the hospital,” she snarled, her own rage evident in her voice. “Otherwise you better start talking.”

As Jeri watched, Takato ground to a halt on the sidewalk.

_ “I’m going to solve this, Rika,” _ was all he said.  _ “A Tamer never walks away from danger, so I’m going to find a way to solve this stuff with the echoes.” _

_ “ _ I don’t fucking care what you plan to do!” Rika yelled in the phone, her voice growing in volume. “You’re hurt! You  _ just _ woke up from being in a two-day coma, and now you’re going to go decide to fucking play detective on something we haven’t had a goddamn lead on in months?! You’ve had dumb ideas in the past, but this takes the cake! If you don’t walk back into that hospital, I swear to any god that is listening, I  _ will _ drag you back and make sure you are handcuffed to the bed with 24-hour watch until you are actually discharged!”

Takato was quiet for a moment before replying.

_ “I’m a Gogglehead,” _ he said simply, resuming his trek.  _ “Bad ideas are part of the job, and I’m sure I’ll have worse eventually. Anyway, I’m fine. I’ve got to get going. I’ll...see you around, okay?” _

“Listen here you selfish son-of-a-bitch,” Rika cursed him out, the first time she  _ ever _ swore at him and called him something that wasn’t supposed to be taken in an affectionate tone. Letting go of Jeri’s hand, she began to quickly follow him, her exhaustion momentarily forgotten as she only had one goal in mind: stop Takato. “You are  _ not _ fine. In no world are you fine! You can’t lie to me. Do you ever think about what you’re doing and how this affects the people around you?  _ Do you?!” _

Jeri sprang to her feet, starting after Rika, worry once again appearing on her face. Rika’s sudden surge of emotion toward Takato  _ greatly _ concerned her, worrying what she might do to the boy if Takato decided to truly test her patience. He was angry enough to do so, unintentionally or not.

_ “You know that I did that too much,” _ Takato replied evenly, though he definitely sounded surprised at Rika’s anger toward him.  _ “That I thought about how what I do affects other people. How many times have you had to beat me over the head about it? Well this time, that changes. I’m  _ fine.  _ Fine enough to do something. It’s just bruises. The neck brace was just a precaution.” _

_ “ _ So you thought about it and didn’t care, is that it then?!” Rika snarled, just barely in the state of mind to know to pause at the crosswalk, glaring at it to change green before running across the street. Any considerations she had given to Takato in the past were quickly running thin. “You don’t care how your parents will feel when their son has just walked off? You don’t care how everyone feels that they waited around by your bedside for you to wake up, worrying about your dumb ass only for you to storm off in a hissyfit, throwing aside their concern? You don’t care how  _ I  _ feel that you were put there in the first place because IceDevimon targeted you trying to get to me?! I thought you were better than that!”

_ “Rika!” _ Jeri exclaimed, chasing after her. “Rika… Could you slow down? Hang on!” She attempted to snatch her by the arm, but the girl moved too quickly for her.

Takato had stopped again, now hearing Rika behind him. Turning, he met her gaze before replying. She was mad. Her eyes, he could tell at this distance, were  _ livid _ , and afire with pure, unbridled  _ rage. _ He couldn’t remember ever seeing her this mad, and he flinched unconsciously. Yet, for some reason, he managed to hold his ground.

“I’m doing this  _ because _ I care,” he answered as the pair drew close. “Rika… What IceDevimon did wasn’t your fault. It was  _ his. _ Please...stop blaming yourself for that.”

Rika didn’t answer right away, and finally she stopped in front of him, reaching out and grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him close so he was forced to look into her eyes. It was a small miracle that she didn’t punch him, her remaining hand clenched in a fist, her knuckles turning white as it shook. It seemed even now, she had some self control over herself.

“I don’t know what happened for you to decided it was a good idea for you to be a selfish bastard and leave the hospital, and frankly, I don’t give a fuck,” she snarled. “The only thing that’s stopping me from hitting you is because I care about your dumb ass. Now you have two choices. Either you come with me without resisting, or I stop holding back. Do you really want to test me right now, because fair warning,  _ I’m not in the mood for it. _ ”

“Rika… No…” Jeri whispered, taken aback by Rika’s sudden threat. For as long as she knew Rika, she had  _ never _ threatened the boy. Not to this extent anyway, and often had to go to great lengths to reassure him that he was safe around her. Lowering her hands from her mouth – having found themselves there in her shock – she tried to be the voice of reason.

“Let’s… Let’s not lose our heads here…” she began, only for Takato’s next words to interrupt her.

The boy was shaking, his own anger locked in combat with his growing fear at Rika’s rising rage. Yet his anger was stronger – his desire to do  _ something _ to solve their ever mounting problems was stronger than his fear.

He locked eyes with her.

“It’s because of you,” he said simply, his tone still even as he fought for control. “I’m doing this because I care; because it’s the right thing. Because no one else should go through this.” He drew his hands together tightly, his shaking starting to lesson as he felt a strange certainty fall over him.

“I’m not giving up, Rika. You can go ahead and hit me, but it won’t stop me. I’ll find a way to fix this, but I won’t wait. I’m done waiting.”

Rika’s fist shot forward, landing squarely on his stomach. If Jeri knew anything about martial arts - or how hard Rika could actually punch - she would have noticed the girl pulled back the punch at the last second, holding herself back, although the impact was still more than enough to knock the wind out of Takato.

Letting go of his shirt, as if in shock of what she had just done, tears began to drip down her eyes.

“Don’t make me lose another person I care about,” she said, her voice quiet, the normally strong voice full of confidence breaking. She fought to keep the tears back, but everything from the past couple of day that she had tried to keep at bay hit her like a semi truck once more, and in the back of her mind, she could see that horrible red sky where Takato and Jeri - and who knows how many others - were dead or might as well be.

Bending down so she was on the ground, she tried to gasp for air, but the tears made it hard, and for the first time ever since the day the Digimon left them, Jeri and Takato heard Rika cry.

Takato doubled over, the breath rushing from his lungs in one mad rush. Clutching at his stomach, he dropped to his knees, spots forming across his vision as he gasped for breath. Distantly, he heard Jeri give a shout of surprise, and then Rika started to cry. His heart cracked at that, and he looked up at her.

“Lose…?” he rasped, breath finally starting to come back in harsh wheezes. “What…?”

“T-Takato,” began Jeri, quickly rushing over to him. “Are you…?”

“I’m fine.” Takato drew in a deep breath, and the spots began to disappear. “What… What does Rika mean…?” He shook his head and looked at the red-haired girl, his crimson eyes begging her to tell him what was wrong. He knew  _ something _ was wrong from the moment she came in, but he hadn’t thought…

Something clicked. He realized he hadn’t seen Renamon in a while. She hadn’t appeared at her side following Rika’s punching him.

“What happened?” he asked, white shock flashing through his mind.

“IceDevimon,” answered Jeri, feeling that was enough for now. “He’s...He’s gone this time...for good...but...Renamon...didn’t make it.”

“No…” Takato’s shock threw him off balance. Of all the things to learn, he hadn’t expected that. Suddenly, white hot anger exploded from him, and in the next moment pain erupted from his hand as he struck the sidewalk with a loud  _ crack. _

He sat there, breathing heavily, his knuckles bleeding. He flexed his injured hand, relieved to find that was all there was to it before finally getting back up to his feet.

“No more,” he said firmly. “I’m going to fix this. Even if I have to break the firewall again to do it.”

Rika just shook her head, unable to speak, coughing between the tears. It was hard for her to breath, and Takato’s voice sounded like it was at the top of a well, and all she really could hear was an ocean. Her vision swimming, it seemed to her like once again everything was turning into a grayscale and the pavement into sand.

She was scared. Afraid. Powerless.

She couldn’t stop Takato. He was going to get himself killed, and she would be left alone again. She didn’t want him fighting for her. It was the  _ last _ thing she wanted. Why couldn’t he understand to leave well enough alone? Why did he insist on acting outside of logic?

“Don’t,” she managed to rasp. “Please. Stop it …”

Takato looked down at her for a moment, his face softening a little before he knelt down beside her. Reaching out, he took hold of her hand. For a moment, Jeri blinked, imagining that she were looking at a knight errant swearing an oath to a princess.

“I can’t,” he said quietly, giving Rika’s hand a soft squeeze. “I… Rika.” Tears began to flow from his eyes now, and he blinked, trying to force them to go away. “I hate seeing you like this. I just… I only want you to smile. If...If I ever do anything, I want you to do that. I…” He closed his eyes, and this time he didn’t try to stop the tears as they flowed down his face. “I’ll fix this, Rika. I promise. This is all I can do for you.” He met her gaze now, eyes wet. “I’m sorry.”

“Dumbass, you expect me to  _ smile _ as you go off putting your life in danger because you want to be some damned knight _?!”  _ Rika yelled, once again grabbing hold of the anger and pushing Takato away from her. She didn’t want his pity. She didn’t want his help. She just wanted him to be safe. Why couldn’t he understand that? “You expect me to be  _ happy _ ?! I don’t want you to do anything for me! Do you understand how I feel at  _ all?! _ ”

Takato flinched at her words, but remained resolute. All the same, he felt that horrible cracking in his heart only grow wider, her anger and sadness tearing at him.

“I’m...sorry,” was all he could say. In all honesty, he no longer knew how she felt. Everything Mnemosyne had done to them had messed things up between them. He wasn’t the same Takato he had been when all of this started, and neither was Rika.

_ Maybe… Maybe we really are strangers after all. It doesn’t change how I feel though. I just...want to make her happy, even if...even if I can’t be there for her. _

“You two are such idiots,” came the unexpected voice of Jeri, running an arm over her face. Turning toward her, Takato winced, seeing that she too was now crying. “You’re both trying to do something for the other but…you...you just can’t see…” She glared at them both. “You’re both idiots.”

“I always was,” Takato replied, frowning at the ground as he again got to his feet. “I don’t know anything. But...I can’t just let this go. I need to fix this. Or else...what will Renamon’s death mean? What will anything mean? We can’t just...keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

“You are doing what we just have been doing but stupider!” Rika yelled. “I don’t even know why I care about your safety because you clearly  _ don’t!” _

“Takato,” sighed Jeri with a slight sniff as she fought to regain control of herself. “Just...get going. I think you leaving the hospital is a bad idea, but...I’m afraid if you don’t Rika will just end up putting you back there with broken bones.” Amber met crimson as she looked at him. “Just...don’t do anything stupid. Please.”

“I… I’ll do my best,” he said before looking back at Rika. “I’m sorry.”

With great reluctance Takato forced himself to turn away - without a doubt the hardest thing he could ever remember doing save for letting go of Guilmon. He almost didn’t start walking, but somehow he managed to do it, feeling with every step like a traitor.

_ I’m going to fix this, _ he told himself, feeling like it was the world’s greatest lie.  _ You’ll see. I’ll find a way. _

A hand reached up and clutched Jeri’s hand tightly. Rika was still sitting on the ground, although her sobs had subsided almost as quickly as they came. However, in their wake, a hollow look now found a way into her eyes.

“He left me too,” was all she said in a whisper, her grasp becoming tighter as if she was afraid the girl next to her would be the next one to be spirited away.

Taking hold of Rika’s hand, she helped the girl to her feet.

“He hasn’t left you,” she said. “He’s just… Rika. You’re tired and you’re not thinking clearly. Let’s...Let’s get you home, okay? You need some sleep.”

“What’s the point?” Rika asked dully, allowing Jeri to pull her to her feet. “It’s not going to come, and I don’t want to go home. Especially if  _ she’s _ there.”

“You still should try to sleep,” Jeri reiterated. “Just...please. For my sake, okay? I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, okay? Will that help?”

Rika didn’t answer for a long moment, the feeling of Jeri’s hand the only thing which kept her remembering where she was. She felt like a tide somewhere was pulling her in, and if she let go of Jeri’s hand, she would be washed away.

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her free hand, she finally nodded

“Okay,” Jeri nodded in return. “Come on,” she said, urging her forward; toward home. 

If there was a place that could be called that anymore


	42. Tears on a Broken Shore

Mama and Himiko weren't home.

If there was such things as small miracles, Rika was sure this was it. While grandma was home, she at least left the two girls alone when Rika assured her she just was feeling sick. Even so, Rika knew the older woman didn't believe her - not completely. She was the only one Rika couldn't lie to. It was only by the gods grace her grandmother wasn’t nosy - not like how mama would be.

Especially if she caught wind of Rika’s plan to fall asleep with the sun still out, even if one didn’t take into consideration Rika very rarely took naps on purpose.

Between that fact, the sun and the fear of nightmares returning, being forced to see that horrible red sky, Takato’s unconscious form, Henry’s bandaged body and Renamon bursting into data again and again, sleep eluded her.

“Come on,” Jeri said, untangling her hand from her fire-haired friend as they entered her room. She immediately went over to Rika’s closet and pulled it open, wherein lay her futon. Taking it out, she unrolled it and patted it indicatively.

“Where do you keep your pajamas?” she asked, glancing around the room before finally settling on her dresser. “In there?”

"Yeah," Rika grunted, flopping on the futon, not wanting to let Jeri know of the dark thoughts crawling through her mind, though she felt for whatever reason she was laying on a beach.Head swimming, she noticed once again everything beginning to turn to grayscale and for a moment she didn't know where she was.

"Jeri?" she asked, sitting up, suddenly feeling scared, her hand gripping what felt like to be sand.

“Rika?” came the voice of Jeri as she returned to her, pajamas in hand and looking at her curiously, the sound of fear having caught her attention. “Are you all right?”

Rika looked around, aiming for where she thought she heard Jeri's voice coming from. Once again it was at the bottom of the well, and she couldn't see her.

She couldn't see anything she recognized.

Her face paled, trying to push down the rising anxiety attack.

“Rika?” Jeri continued, approaching her and sitting down beside her on the futon. There was something in her eyes that looked wrong; like she was seeing something else. Reaching out, she clasped her hand around her wrist, feeling a ping of fear in her chest. “Rika!”

The feeling of something, someone, grabbing her wrist sent her world spinning.

Using her other hand to hold her head, it took her a moment to reorient herself, finding herself staring into Jeri's concerned amber eyes.

"Ah…"

_ When did she…? _

“Are you all right?” Jeri asked worriedly, raising one hand to touch the tips of her fingers to the side of Rika’s face before bringing them up to her forehead, checking her temperature. “You looked lost for a second there.”

She wondered about Rika’s mental health. Between losing Renamon, Takato’s injuries and then getting into a  _ fight _ with Takato of all people (although a fight was a bit of an overstatement, she  _ did _ punch him), she could only imagine how she was doing on the inside. At the hospital she appeared to…deflate, and her words,  _ “He left me too.”  _ hinted at just the tip of the iceberg.

Rika was hurting inside, with no time taken to regroup. This was a dangerous time for her.

She knew that from hard experience.

"I …"

Rika didn't know what to say. How would she sound if she admitted she didn't know where she was? That she couldn't see her until she physically yanked her back? That the sound of the ocean roared in her ears, and the only thing keeping her grounded was physical contact?

Her hand tightened around Jeri's, and her eyes dropped.

"…I think I'm more tired than I thought."

“Get changed and get some rest,” Jeri said with a nod. “You’re under a lot of stress. Maybe when you wake up, you’ll feel a bit better. Maybe…Maybe even talk to Takato too.” Her eyes became downcast at the mention of the boy.

“You two really need to talk things over,” she said in a softer voice.

Rika looked away and didn't answer Jeri.

She didn't  _ want  _ to talk to Takato. He left her. He left her like dad and Renamon. She didn't understand. He  _ betrayed _ her.

Jeri frowned at her lack of response. “Rika. Look at me.”

Rika glanced at Jeri, but her eyes were dull and unresponsive.

“Promise me you’ll talk to Takato,” she said, once she had her attention.

"Eventually."

Jeri sighed. “I know  _ eventually. _ But when does that mean? He’s your friend, Rika. I know you two were both mad and I know Takato can be a bit…thick headed at times, but…” A pause, remembering what the girl had said earlier. “Rika… He  _ didn’t _ abandon you. I know that may be a bit hard to understand now, but…maybe…once you’ve rested and  _ talked _ to him without  _ punching  _ him…”

"I begged him to stay and he left me anyway!" Rika snapped angrily. "For his own stupid selfish reasons! I'm not misunderstanding anything! I have  _ plenty _ of experience with people leaving me, so yeah, I know it when I see it!"

“He did it for  _ you!” _ Jeri snapped back angrily. “Rika, I’m not happy about it either, but everyone – including  _ you – _ was looking to give up in that hospital and all he wants is to make sure that what Mnemosyne has been  _ doing _ to us is  _ never _ done again! We don’t even know if Mnemosyne is gone! It might find a way to wipe our memories again and this time make them gone for  _ good! _ If he gave up…”

Jeri clenched her eyes shut, shaking angrily. “If he gave up…” she continued in a harsh whisper, reaching up and clutching a fistful of Rika’s shirt in her hand. “…with all of that on the line…he would definitely be abandoning you, because there would be no going back, and he would have let it happen.”

Opening her amber eyes, she met Rika’s violet orbs defiantly, daring her to challenge her argument.

“He loves you, Rika,” she pressed. “Do you even know  _ how _ much he cares about you?”

"Jeri we can't do anything without the Digimon. Kazu was right for once with that. Hypnos has been doing more than we ever could. Himiko managed to destroy Mnemosyne, or at least managed to hurt him. Tell me, give me one instance when we did  _ anything _ worthwhile against the echoes these past few months," Rika said coldly, and for once, pushed Jeri's hand away that was clutching her shirt.

"If he cared, he would have stayed. He's injured, and you just let him walk off. The injuries he got aren’t going to heal over a two day period," she continued. "What he did was selfish."

_ “If he cared…” _ Jeri repeated, looking at Rika sadly. “You didn’t hear a thing I said, did you? He wants to do something. He said that he  _ could _ do something. He saved Renamon with it, remember?  _ From _ IceDevimon. He thinks that maybe we all can do something like that. Maybe if we could learn how to do it…”

Jeri placed a hand on Rika’s. “He wants us to hope again. To find a way again, just like he always used to do whenever our back was to a wall.”

She leaned toward Rika.

“Henry says that the D-Reaper echoes are out there and they can actually kill people. Our back is to the wall again, Rika. Either those echoes kill us when we’re helpless… Or we find a way to protect ourselves. Do you want to lose Takato like we almost did to IceDevimon? Like you lost Renamon?”

"Why do you think I tried stopping him?" Rika said looking away. "Plus if he drew on his power in his condition, he really might die. Remember what happened last time?"

She looked down, flexing her hand. She knew Henry and herself could summon it as well, that powerful energy, but the cost was too great. It couldn't even fully kill a champion. And to be that sick afterwards …

_ Why don't they understand? Why do they ignore my warnings? The real world isn't something you can overcome with a wish. _

“I do,” Jeri acknowledged with a nod. “Just like all those other times he’s been in danger. But…he used to have you and Henry there to watch his back. He’s safer with you two, just like you were all safer with your digimon.” She shifted and frowned slightly. “You were the one who taught him to never walk away from danger. He knows what it means to be a Tamer, and that’s…not easy. We risked it…every time we went out there. And sometimes… Sometimes some of us didn’t make it back.”

Her mind flashed back to Leomon, and a shadow fell over her face.

“But we did it because people depended on us. Takato knows that there’s so much depending on us now. On what we do…or don’t do.”

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Rika said, shutting down.

She was tired of listening. She was tired of caring. Nothing she seemed to do was right. Nobody seemed to be seeing her side of things.

There was not giving up ... and then there was  _ this  _ suicidal nonsense.

With the Digimon, it was different. Comparing the two situations was logically wrong, but for those who operated on feeling like feelings like Jeri and Takato, that didn't mean anything.

She pulled her hand away, emotionally and physically withdrawing from Jeri.

_ It was easier when I didn't care. _

Jeri sighed.

“All right,” she said, placing her hands on her lap. “At least…get some rest,” she said. Maybe then…you’ll know what to do.”

Rika didn't answer. Once more she could feel the awareness of her surroundings ebb away from her. This time, though, she didn't try to fight it.

Jeri’s eyes went wide all of a sudden as she saw her form flicker and then become translucent. Panicking, she hand shot out to grab her, only to pass through her body. With one final flicker, Rika vanished completely into thin air, leaving a distraught Jeri looking about her, terror rising in her heart and soul.

“Rika…” she began, her fear starting to find voice, and as she continued to repeat her friend’s name, her voice only grew louder. “Rika…  _ Rika!!!” _

She barely noticed when Seiko came running into the room, frightened by Jeri’s sudden exclamations of her granddaughter’s name.

"Jeri! What's wrong!" The old woman asked, fearing something had happened to her granddaughter, yet when she looked around she saw nothing.

That, somehow, scared her more.

"Where ... where is Rika?"

Jeri didn’t answer, her hands scrambling over Rika’s futon, as if that would be enough to find her…as if she had missed a spot. With great effort, she forced her mind to push aside the fear and terror.

“Himiko…” she whispered, suddenly realizing that Seiko was there. “Call… Call Himiko!”

Seiko didn't understand what her niece had to do with this, but she decided not to press it at this moment. If calling Himiko was going to give her answers, she would do it in a heartbeat.

**###**

Takato strode through the streets, his expression numb and his eyes distant. He barely noticed where he was going anymore. In his mind’s eye, he saw only Rika’s face; her anger and sadness written on it like a lightning bolt. Worse yet…

_ “He left me too…” _

Those words. Whispered words he barely caught as he left Rika and Jeri behind tore at his heart. He clutched at his chest, feeling pain in there unlike any he could remember feeling. The sound of loss ran deep in her voice, causing his view of the world to begin swimming as tears emerged from his eyes. Coming to a halt, he stared up at the sky where, somewhere, the digital world existed, and inside, their partners.

“My fault,” he whispered. “It’s all…my fault.”

Running his arm across his eyes, he resumed his trek, though he no longer knew where he was going or what he was looking for. It did nothing to set him at ease either, but he continued, knowing of nothing else to do.

As he traveled, he spotted a flash of red from out of the corner of his eye, and he saw a familiar face; Rika again, but younger, from when they first met all those years ago.

_ An echo, _ he thought, glancing over her. She was beating her head to the sound of whatever music was on her headphones. She listened a bit more to rock, or something of that nature in those days as he recalled, though her interests had changed over the years. Swallowing, his eyes tearing up again, he approached her and drew to a halt.

“Hey…” he said hesitantly, wondering what he would do if she turned out to be a sentient echo like Renamon. It appeared not to be the case as the girl continued to beat her head to her music. Biting the inside of his cheek, he looked to the side and then leaned against the wall next to her.

“That’s fine,” he continued. “I know you don’t like talking much. I just…”

_ What am I doing talking to an echo for? _

No answer came to him, yet talk he did all the same.

“I just… I want to say I’m sorry,” he choked out. “I wish I understood you better. I wish…I wish Mnemosyne didn’t mess with us as much as it did. I wish… I wish I didn’t walk away from you.”

The back of his head touched the wall as he closed his eyes.

“I don’t know what to do, and there’s no one else I can go to. I know what I said back in that hospital but…” He heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m just a Gogglehead. I never could do much except charge ahead. You and Henry… You were the real brains of the team. I was just a kid with my head in the clouds. I thought… I  _ really _ thought that as long as we worked together and didn’t give up, we could figure things out. But it’s like every time we turn around…we can’t.”

He opened his eyes and wiped at them.

“We got so used to fighting bad guys with our fists and winning that…I guess we never thought about what would happen if we stopped being a team, or that we might lose.”

He lowered his face, allowing shadows from his hair to cover his eyes.

“Am I wrong for wishing that…we never got our memories back now? What’s the point if we just hurt each other like this? I…”

His throat worked, swallowing back a cry of pain as he wept quietly. However, he couldn’t handle his silence for very long and a cry ripped free from his mouth.

“I didn’t want to leave you, Rika!” he exclaimed. “I care about you so much, but…but… Oh kami…”

His shoulders heaved and he forced himself to collect himself emotionally. Sniffing, he looked up.

“I don’t know what I’m talking about anymore,” he said quietly, his cheeks wet from his crying. “I’m just rambling now. I’m all messed up inside and…” His eyes dropped again. “…and I left you.”

That was all there was to it. He felt sick to his stomach. His father had always told him that a person did not leave those that they cared about, yet he did just that, and to the one person he cared about the most in this world next to Guilmon.

_ If I could, I would ask Mnemosyne to make the whole world forget about me. _

“Hey… Little dude,” came the voice of a man – a college age youth by the looks of things – as he pointed next to Takato. “That girl who was next to you… She just…disappeared into thin air.”

Takato glanced to the side and found himself nodding numbly.

“I know,” he replied, pushing away from the wall. “She was just a dream.”

He didn’t get very far however as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck. A hairs breath later there came a loud explosion behind him and a sudden burst of screams of terror. Spinning around, he saw a giant, pink-colored creature standing on legs that appeared to disappear at the ankles. A large, bulbous head flanked by tubules sat upon its shoulders upon which were mounted numerous,  _ mouth-like  _ formations that opened and closed as it stomped forward without care or regard for the humans in its path. Takato felt his blood grow cold at the sight, recognizing the monster for what it was.

A D-Reaper agent. A Paratice Head.

“Oh no…”

Tubules shot out from its body, the orb-like mouth formations opening, revealing blocky teeth structures, snatching hold of humans. As Takato watched, one of them bit down on its captured prey  _ hard. _ There was a scream and a spray of blood in the air. The body kicked and squirmed in its death spasm and then…stilled.

Takato stood there, shaking all over as memories from the war with the D-Reaper flooded him. The never-ending tide of agents that swarmed the city, and Jeri…forced to fuel its power through some bastardized partnership.

His shadow behind him deepened, and lightning danced around its edges before first shrinking beneath his feet and then rising over him like a black miasma. Takato’s eyes took on a crimson glow as a howl of rage tore free from his throat. The shadow swelled as the D-Reaper agent took notice of him, and a black lance began to form over his arm. Thrusting the shadowed weapon forward, he instinctively took aim. He could feel the memory of Gallantmon’s form imbedded in his body; the familiar sensation of power collecting at its tip, confirmed by the sign of electricity crackling along the point.

_ “Lightning Jou-!” _ Takato began, only for the shadow to flicker and then evaporate from his body, the electricity disappearing all at once. He gagged, stumbling forward. His stomach heaved as all the strength went out of his body all of a sudden and he collapsed to the ground, vomiting.

_ I… Wha…?  _ he gasped, trying to rally but finding himself unable to do so. He felt  _ drained, _ as though all the power in his batteries had gone dry.

His human body wasn’t good enough to handle the power, just like it had difficulties before when he saved Renamon from IceDevimon.

He  _ lacked _ something important. The other half of the equation.  _ His other half. _ __

_ I…can’t give up… I… _ he thought, looking up, only to find a D-Reaper mouth closing right toward him.  _ …I’m sorry Rika… _

As the mouth surged toward him, he found strength to raise his arms reflexively, and the shadow returned, forming over his arms and taking on a round shape…a shield. The mouth opened and…

A trio of orbs connected by lines of electricity spun at the Paratice Head and smashed into it, causing the agent to shatter into thousands of shards of sparkling data. Takato’s grey shield vanished and he dropped his hands to the ground. He gasped, trying to figure out what was going on…why he was still alive. His thoughts felt sluggish and disjointed. He heard the sound of sirens. His stomach churned and boiled. Exhaustion beat in every part of his body, forcing him to the ground the rest of the way.

His eyes rolling up into his head, Takato was dragged into unconsciousness.

**###**

Henry closed the door to his home behind him, his mother taking off her jacket as he did so. The two hadn’t said a word to each other since leaving the hospital, though the tense expression on her face spoke with far greater volume than she would otherwise. He didn’t even have to imagine what was going through her mind. The memory of the strange, half-starved Suzie lying on the broken ground, dead, more than told him all he needed to know.

“We’re home,” Mayumi called out as she headed toward the kitchen. She glanced over her shoulder at her son, her expression full of concern. “Do you need anything? Want anything?”

“I’m fine,” Henry said with a shake of his head, slipping out of his shoes and following behind her. He offered her a small smile. “Thanks again.”

Mayumi smiled in return, though it was strained and she rounded the kitchen table. Henry had the distinct feeling that, regardless, he would be getting something to snack on. It was a security issue, he knew, as she came within a hairs breath of losing her son today, and he didn’t begrudge her working out the stress in her own fashion.

_ Today was one heck of a day, _ he sighed, scratching at a bandage on his face, thinking back to the hospital and Takato’s declaration to continue carrying the flag for the cause. He wondered how he was going to do that and if he was right to keep doing so.

“Henry?”

Suzie peeked into the kitchen upon hearing the door open. Dad had said Mom was picking Henry up from the hospital today before he left for work, a tired, worried expression painted on his face. Suzie had visited him in the hospital yesterday, and while Mom asked her if she wanted to come with her, Suzie said no.

She learned yesterday she couldn’t stand hospitals; between the sterile smell, seeing dead and dying being rolled in and being forced to look at her brother, wrapped in bandages as he lay in a hospital bed, Suzie hoped she never had to take another step in one.

Henry arched an eyebrow upon seeing his little sister. “Hey,” he nodded, his expression firming, yet containing a tint of sadness and relief behind it. She was here… Still alive and well. He opened his mouth to say something, only to close it, unsure what to say.

Except...for one word.

“Momentai.”

“Henry … can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked, glancing back toward their rooms, looking forward again to see if their mother’s back was still turned before raising an electronic device just high enough for Henry to be able to see it.

It was her pink and white D-arc.

_ Alone _ , her eyes begged quietly.

Now  _ both _ of Henry’s eyebrows rose in surprise upon seeing the digivice. He didn’t need to see Suzie’s eyes to know that this was a conversation that needed to be done alone.

“Sure,” he nodded, feeling the tension in his body returning. He realized that a part of him had hoped that this wouldn’t happen; that she would remain separate from the situation with Mnemosyne.

Approaching her, he placed a hand on Suzie’s shoulder and guided her toward his room. He threw a glance over his shoulder at his mother, who busied herself with something on the kitchen counter and together they disappeared inside, closing the door behind them with a click.

“Okay,” he said quietly.

Suzie shifted under her brother’s gaze, her thumb running over one of the white buttons gently. The screen was black like it had been for the past six years, and suddenly, Suzie wished desperately Lopmon and Terriermon was here.

“... It was an echo which hurt you, wasn’t it,” she said finally, her voice cracking. It wasn’t a question so much as it was a statement. After all, eye witness reports claimed a monster was seen prior to the attack, and according to Jeri (and fragments of her own memories) the only thing which could fit that description was the Digimon and the D-Reaper.

She squeezed her D-arc closer to her chest, as if it would give her comfort, but still her heart beat rapidly. Even though Henry was standing right there, in front of her, the fact remained he almost  _ died _ .

“I don’t want you fighting any more,” she said, looking up at him, tears welling in her eyes. “Don’t make me lose you, Henry. I love you.”

“How…?” Henry looked up at her in shock. She  _ knew?! _

“Jeri told us - Masahiko, Mako and I,” she admitted. “We saw an echo of a younger Jeri, Takato and Guilmon, and when it disappeared, Masahiko lost it. Thought something happened to his sister. Freaked out and called her, and she explained everything to us.”

Henry leaned against his door, running his hand over his face.

“Suzie…” he whispered. “I…” Pushing away from the door, he quickly went over to her, pulling the smaller girl into a powerful hug, his body shuddering slightly as the memory of the echo of her lying dead on the ground returned to him full force. Every fear he had since she became a Tamer...the number of times she came close to death  _ echoed _ within, nearly drowning him, and he realized that he was actually crying. Without sound, but crying nonetheless.

Suzie stood in shock for a moment, but after a couple of seconds, her hands reached up, fingers digging into her brother’s shirt. Tears began to leak out her eyes as well, and she buried her face into his chest.

“Promise me!” she begged, choking up, her voice coming out with a slight hitch.

Henry clenched his teeth. The images remained strong, but in his heart came another voice. The voice of his father, who sent their digimon back to the digital world to defeat the D-Reaper. The voice of his teacher, who taught him how to fight. His own voice, who reminded him of the importance of the necessity to fight in the face of those who would take his life, the lives of his friends and family, or their freedom to live undisturbed.

The voice that wanted Suzie to be safe from all harm, even if it came at great personal cost to himself.

“Suzie… I saw an echo of you today… At the bridge. You… You were killed there. I…”

He tightened his grip around his sister, his eyes feeling white hot from tears. “Something is happening out there. I don’t know what it is…”

Opening his eyes, his gaze fell upon his pile of notes.

“Damn it…” he swore suddenly. “Takato was right. We can’t just stop here. We have to finish this.”

“Finish it how?!” Suzie demanded.

Pulling away, Henry went around his sister and over to his notebooks.

“I have work here… Work I’ve been building for years now. Maybe… If I can just figure out what I need to do... I can use that.”

He looked over his shoulder at the girl softly. “I can’t lose you,” he said quietly before his hands drew up into fists. “I  _ won’t _ lose you.”

“If you are fighting, so am I,” Suzie declared, jutting out her bottom lip and standing to her full height. She crossed her arms across her chest so he knew she wasn’t messing around. “I already promised Mako I would help him, so it’s not like you have a say in the matter. It just makes more sense if we work together.”

Henry frowned at her and stood up. “Do you remember anything about what happened to us in the past?” A pause. “Do you remember Lopmon?”

“Yes. I remember Terriermon too. And Guilmon. And Renamon. And Calumon. And Impmon.”

Of course most of her memories she did have were around Lopmon; everything else was what Jeri told her, but it was coming back to her a bit. She was sure it wouldn’t be long before she recalled everything. She had a penchant for remembering things, after all. It was how she was able to do so well in school despite doing minimal amount of schoolwork.

Henry nodded and sighed, running a hand through his hair, messing it up. He glanced away. “Suzie…” He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want you doing this.”

“And I don’t want you doing this either, so I just guess you’re just shit out of luck,” she shot back.

Henry turned his scowl back at her. “Watch your language,” he scolded her. “Anyway, I still don’t want you doing this. I…” He made a sound of agitation, remembering something Takato - Takato  _ again  _ \- had said to him back when they were in the realm of the Sovereigns, about how she was a Tamer now and that she was in the digital world  _ now. _ Complaining about what  _ should _ be and what he  _ wanted _ versus what  _ was _ had simply become irrelevant and, beneath those words, that they had to adjust.

Reality was unkind to them, and would not make allowances just because they  _ wanted _ something to be otherwise.

“All right,” he sighed. “I don’t know what you can do to help, but… I guess I can’t stop you now that you’ve set your mind on it.”

He looked up at her. “Just...don’t do anything stupid. Especially trying to impress Takato.”

Suzie put a hand on her chest and gave an insulted gasp just as Henry’s phone began to ring.

Digging his phone out of his pocket, Henry hit the reply button. “Hello?” he asked. “What’s going on, Jeri?”

“ _ Rika’s gone _ ,” the brunette’s voice came in a mad rush over the phone, her voice cracking, hysteria barely hidden under the panic. “ _ One minute she was there, but then she just disappeared!” _

“Hold on,” Henry began, adjusting his seating by his notebooks. “Calm down. What do you mean she’s  _ disappeared?  _ What happened?”

“ _ I don’t know!”  _ Jeri practically shouted over the phone, but there was a pause as she took a deep breath. When she resumed speaking, her voice was slightly calmer, but it was still shaking. “ _ She was there one minute … and then right before my eyes, she simply vanished. Like … like a ghost.” _

_ Rika’s gone to the digital world, _ he thought immediately, remembering how Suzie became a Tamer in the first place. Getting up from his seat, he brushed himself off.

“I’ll be right there,” he said, Suzie standing up as well, her lips pulling in a frown. She didn’t know what was going on, but just by listening into half of the conversation, it didn’t sound good.

“ _ I’m at Rika’s house. Her grandmother is calling Himiko,”  _ Jeri told him, and then her voice dropped down to a whisper. “ _ I should have noticed … she was acting weird all day. Now … now something bad has happened to her and I …” _

She didn’t finish the rest of her sentence as a sob broke out.

“We’ll figure this out,” he said. “Just stay there.”

With that, Henry hung up and frowned. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do once he got there, as it wasn’t as if he had any special equipment that could help them find Rika. At least, nothing beyond the digivice.

_ I hope this thing helps, _ he thought, clasping his side where his green-trimmed digivice lay. He looked over at Suzie.

“You said you wanted to help,” he began, his tone tense. He did  _ not _ like doing this. “Well...here’s your chance. I’m going down to Rika’s house. Jeri says she’s...disappeared. It might be like what happened to you when you became a Tamer.”

She nodded her head, not really remembering what happened.

“Do you need me and my D-arc?” she asked hopefully, somewhere in the back of her mind, despite the situation being the worst possible time for it, excited her brother was  _ finally _ stepping into action and saving his future wife.

And she was going to help.

“It might help,” he replied. “I don’t know if  _ either _ of our digivices will do anything, but two eyes are better than one. Now let’s go.”

He started for the door, already regretting the lie he would have to tell their mother just to get out of the apartment.

**###**

Water lapped at her bare feet, her toes digging into the white sand.

Rika stood at the shore of an expansive ocean, which seemed to go on for miles. While normally it would be sparkling blue, this ocean was dark and foreboding; like the sea when a storm was about to hit. Yet it was placid, not a single wave in sight. In the distance she could spot a lighthouse and instead of a golden light circling it and lighting up the waters, it was pitch black, like a shadow.

She turned around and looked behind her.

The shadows extended in every direction, making it hard to see anything. Not that she recognized anything she was able to make out at any rate.

_ Where am I? _


	43. Fractured Hues

Himiko exited the bathroom, a dull, lifeless look in her too-tired eyes and her toothbrush hanging in her mouth. She wandered into the kitchen in her underwear, a towel draped over her top and headed over to the coffee machine, beginning to set it up.

She had not been sleeping well. That much was obvious at first glance. Her hair stood in utter disarray, and her morning routine seemed to be stuck at multiple stages at once. Brushing her teeth while showering; trying to get her coffee  _ after _ attempting to hop into the shower… The hiss of the showerhead could still be heard via the open door, and the dryness of her hair indicated that, such was the state of her mind, she kept wandering back and forth between her routines and accomplishing very little.

She pulled out the empty coffee pot and attempted to fill her mug with it, only to groan upon realizing its emptiness once the two clinked together.

Himiko hung her head, feeling the salt just being rubbed into the open wound.

_ It’s all my fault, _ she thought miserably.  _ If I hadn’t… If I had just  _ listened _ to the Monster Makers… _

What was done, was done however. There was no going back now.

Her gaze fell on the calendar and she felt her expression darken even further. Had it really only been two days since Rika disappeared?

_ My sense of time is slipping, _ she noted.

“Maybe you should take off from work today.”

Seiko Hata entered the kitchen, smiling softly to Himiko. Out of all the women of the household, it seemed the older woman kept it together the most. It wasn’t that she wasn’t distraught over her granddaughter’s disappearance - she was - but Rika knew how to fend for herself, wherever she was. Rumiko and Himiko on the other hand … they were beyond themselves in grief and needed her to be strong during this time.

The police would find Rika or the girl - knowing her - would simply show up after a time on her own. Rika had the tendency to wander off all the time as a child. Seiko trusted -  _ hoped _ \- this would be another time where she would return as if nothing happened.

“Can’t afford to,” Himiko grumbled under her breath, adjusting her towel slightly. She looked down at herself, realizing she was not at all decent. She sighed mentally, realizing also that she was now so mentally and physically exhausted that she couldn’t even feel shame for her appearance.

“I’ve got to work on my part of this mess,” she continued, setting her coffee cup down and padding back in the direction of the bathroom, pausing just a moment to spit out toothpaste into the sink. “I need to be doing  _ something _ anyway, or else I’m going to go crazy.”

“I think taking a moment to collect yourself, you’ll be able to help a lot more people,” Seiko pointed out, following after her. “In the state you are in … can you really help anyone?” Her eyes softened, and she added quietly, “I’m sure Rika is fine wherever she is. This is hardly the first time she’s wandered off without announcing where she was going to anyone else.”

Himiko paused in her stride and held it there for a second before resuming walking. “Moment’s done,” she said. “Anyway, is this the first time Rika’s been gone this long without letting you know? Especially with everything showing up in the news?”

She turned at Seiko and narrowed her eyes. “Can you really look me in the eyes and tell me she’s done  _ that?” _

“Well to me, no. To her mother … yes,” Seiko admitted before glancing at Himiko, an unreadable expression in her eyes. “Do you know how long she was in the Digital World when she was a child?”

Himiko narrowed her eyes, not liking this reminder. With the sudden increase of echoes flooding the world, going above and beyond anything that could be contained by Hypnos, the memory wipes were being…well… _ wiped _ away, causing a number of panics. Panics, she knew, which would only grow in intensity as time wore on. Seiko, fortunately, adjusted quickly.

So far.

“I should have had that echo deleted it the moment I saw it in our house,” Himiko growled, thinking back on how she came home and found an echo of Rika at age ten with Seiko, shocked and surprised as memory of the scene returned in one mad rush. “I should have deleted it and then…”

She caught herself and ground to a halt. Raising a fist to the wall, she beat it twice, lightly, before leaning against it in exhaustion. She choked back a sob.

“I wanted to spare you all this…” she murmured, her shoulders shaking. Sniffing loudly, she forced her emotions to restrain themselves.

“Five months, in answer to your question…”

Seiko rubbed the back of Himiko’s back before pulling the younger woman into a hug. Despite Himiko not getting along with Rika - or Rumiko - at first, Seiko was suddenly reminded of the sweet little girl she was as a child before her mother took her life. Her brother never allowed Himiko to find her own way like she did Rumiko.

“You are not Atlas, Himiko,” Seiko murmured, giving the black-haired woman a kiss on the forehead. “I know you mean well - you always have.” A sad smile crossed her lips. “You just struggled with the proper way of expressing it - you and Rika have that in common. All the same … I know, and I’m glad for it. Even if it was just a fragment of the past … it reminded me that Rika has always been able to take care of herself. We had to have worried for five months when she was there if she was alive, and she came back to us. I’m sure she’ll do the same; I only hope it doesn’t take her quite as long.”

Himiko’s fingers curled into claws against Seiko’s back. Why… Why was she so… _ accepting _ of things? Why did she insist on not holding her to blame for anything that happened, even when it was likely her fault to begin with?

“What if…she doesn’t come back?” she asked bitterly. “What if this time she can’t? She…didn’t…have her partner here when she vanished this time.”

“She’ll come back. I trust her,” Seiko said simply like it was the most obvious thing. “She’s always been strong willed to the point of obstinance.” A wry smile crossed her lips. “It doesn’t mean I’m not going to stop looking or simply wait around for her to return. However if we think such things … isn’t that the same as giving up?”

Himiko pulled away from Seiko and started back toward the bathroom. “All the more reason for me to get to work. I have knowledge they can’t do without. I just hope our family doesn’t try and stick their hands into this mess just because Rika’s involved. I’ve got enough on my plate to worry about as it is without  _ another _ layer of politics.”

“One can only hope,” Seiko agreed with a grimace.

**###**

Takato stood there in the middle of a grey landscape. Every which way he looked there was shadow, save for one; a girl with red, vibrant hair and violet eyes. She was looking at him; saying something and at once he thought of her striking him in the stomach.

_ “You’re a coward!” _ he shouted suddenly.  _ “All you want to do is run away and hide!” _

He saw her face twist up in shock and anger, but this only seemed to cause him to escalate.

_ “Go on! Hit me!” _ He pointed at his face.  _ “You’ve always wanted to hit me, right? Because I’m a Gogglehead! Go ahead! Drive my teeth into the back of my throat!” _

_ No… No… _ Takato tried to clench his eyes shut, but they remained fixated on Rika’s face. He could feel the fire in his voice rising in intensity, goading Rika ever more.

_ That’s not me! Those aren’t my words! _

_ “I’ll  _ make _ you hit me,” _ he found himself growling, starting toward Rika, violence boiling in his muscles and with a scream Takato snapped awake. He sat there, in the hospital bed, breathing heavily for a moment while he got his bearings.

He tugged at his wrists, the handcuffs clinking against the bed guard - set there after he broke out of the hospital - and he found himself choking back a cry that was half despair and half anger.

_ I’ve got to get out of here, _ he thought desperately.  _ I’ve got to find her! Rika! _

He began to struggle against his bonds once more, but his cuffs did not so much as budge an inch. He cried out again with increasing frustration and his shadow began to warp…but only for a moment, snapping back to normal as he collapsed back into his bed, suddenly feeling exhausted.

He lay there, panting heavily, trying to focus.

_ Rika… She’s…gone… _ his mind muttered in its exhaustion, his heart breaking once more as he thought of their last meeting, her tears and her final words.

_ “He left me too…” _

He tugged at the bed guard once more before slipping back into the nightmare that never seemed to leave him.

The nightmare where he and Rika hated each other.

**###**

Ryo took a long slurp out of the slushie he was gifted by Daisy, listening to the Monster Makers babble on about … well he wasn’t quite sure. The only thing he managed to catch and  _ somewhat _ understand was that he had the same data signature as the Green Cards. For whatever reason, this excited them, and the atmosphere itself was very lively and brimming with energy.

“There. Do you see that?” Janyu looked over at Rob McCoy with an excited look dancing behind his eyes. “That is no accident. There’s definitely a repeating pattern in there.”

“Yeah, but the question is  _ what  _ is it?” Rob frowned, leaning forward and running a hand over his chin. “It looks similar to the digimon code, but it’s…different.” He shook his head in exasperation. “And what does it have to do with the boy? Why does  _ he _ have this code too?”

He glanced over at Ryo worriedly. In the time since the Hazard incident, Ryo had come to them, detailing what happened to him with the green card – what appeared to be an odd collection of fragmented events.

Still, Ryo couldn’t get caught up in the mood. He was still remembering Shibumi’s message.

“This is insane,” Rob muttered, earning him a clap on the back by Janyu.

“It’s fun though, isn’t it? It’s a puzzle to solve.” He leaned forward, grinning. “Speak to me, oh mysterious one.”

That he escaped Mnemosyne. That he had power beyond anything seen before and needed to be imprisoned … and most upsetting was the fact that he must have betrayed them in the past.

_ I wish I could remember _ , he thought, putting a hand to his head, pushing his hair back. While the second Green Card (technically the first) offered him more insights into his lost memories, most notably on the D-Reaper and how it was taken down (more things the Monster Makers found interesting), they didn’t give him further information on what he wanted. There was also no message from Shibumi as well. 

“This kid sure is a mysterious one, that’s for sure,” said Babel, taking a long drink of coffee. “You’d almost think he was a digimon himself.”

“A  _ human _ digimon! Can you  _ imagine _ that?” Janyu said excitedly before suddenly looking up at Ryo, becoming embarrassed by his excitement. “Sorry. I don’t mean anything by that. It’s just…this is  _ so _ exciting!”

“Don’t worry about it. I mean, I  _ was _ Justimon, or part of him,” Ryo smiled, flashing his perfect teeth at them before getting a flash of the annoyed teenager in his mind’s eye and his smile dropped ever so slightly.

He had heard what happened to the girl called Rika Nonaka. Kind of hard not to with her cousin working in Hypnos as well, and part of him wondered, worried, if this betrayal had anything to do with her disappearance.

Logically, of course, he knew that didn’t make sense, but when it came to logic, the Digital World tended to spit in its face.

“I wonder if that had anything to do with it,” Rob said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms together. “It’s too bad we don’t have any more data to cross reference.”

“None of this explains why the cards and this child so closely resemble each other,” said Aishwara Rai from her spot at her computer. “Is this kind of code necessary for sending the green cards from wherever they came from? Did  _ he _ come from the same place? What happens if we make our own…?”

“Can we make our own?” Janyu asked, raising an eyebrow. “We barely understand this code as it is. What good would it do if we don’t know anything about it?”

“We could at least give it a shot,” spoke up Daisy from by Babel, who mimicked Janyu’s arched brow. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll get a visitor from the other side or something.”

“That’s expecting a lot. Besides, it looks more like a variation of the digimon code. For all we know we could end up releasing some kind of ‘future digimon’ on the world or something.”

Ryo, who had now completely tuned out, noisily finishing the rest of his slurpee, suddenly became more interested again. He wasn’t sure how they could make green cards, but if Shibumi could do it, so could they, right? If they made more, the chances of him regaining his memories would increase, and he could learn what he did and  _ why _ .

“Well … it’s not like you can screw up things even more,” he pointed out, shaking his cup before tossing it in the trash.   

Daisy turned a grim, yet amused look at the boy and gave a dry chuckle.

“Don’t underestimate us or the universe,” she said. “The hole can always go deeper, and sometimes the universe will throw you the shovel and make you dig the distance just to prove it.”

“Fancy way of saying that he’s too young to really get how deep a rabbit hole can  _ really _ go,” Babel said, taking another drink from his coffee. “But hey. He’s got lots of time to learn, right?”

Ryo chuckled, feeling uneasy. The tide of the conservation made him feel even guiltier about hiding what Shibumi said about him to the rest of the Monster Makers. However, how could he defend himself if he didn’t know what he did?

“Well … you are the scientists,” he said casually with a shrug.

“Don’t make it sound like we’re gods or prophets,” said Daisy, her grim amusement slipping. “We’re just adults who’ve been around the block enough times to learn a thing or two. This whole mess has been…especially educating.”

She sighed and forced a smile on her face.

“Well… At least we can say we won’t be bored. These are interesting times we live in after all.”

**###**

Once again, he was home alone. Both of his parents worked, and with recent events, have been volunteering with the relief efforts. He had too, at least a bit. Handing out water to Red Cross workers, help with search crews for the increasing number of missing people each day (although he still kept a special lookout for Rika). Just whatever he could do.

It never felt like enough though.

His parents wanted him to focus on school, which was  _ somehow _ still going on through this as if a terrorist attack or natural disaster (consensus was still up in the air about that) wasn’t enough to shut it down.

_ If I just listened to Chumley from the beginning  _ … he thought, watching the news on television.  _ Maybe it wouldn’t have gotten this far. _

Even so he knew it was highly unlikely; he was never special. Not like Takato, Rika or Henry were. Or even Ryo.  _ They _ fought the D-Reaper.  _ They _ were the ones who defeated it. If they couldn’t find a way to stop it to get this point, there was nothing he could have offered to prevent it, and now, without their Digimon, there was nothing to be done about it. Hypnos seemed to be handling it well enough; he imagined death and property tolls would be a lot worse if they weren’t around.

Compared to the rest of Japan, the Shinjuku-Tokyo death tolls numbers were far lower, according to the news. Public relations from the government yesterday even held a press conference saying they would not only work to expand it to help the rest of the country but work with the European Union and other countries across the world in order to combat this threat.  

There came a light knock on the door, followed shortly by a buzz on Kazu’s cell phone. A message from Jeri.

_ Are you home? _

Kazu looked at his cell phone, then at his door, the first thought coming in his mind being,  _ why didn’t she just call before she came?  _ before  _ I hope that’s her and not a doors salesman or a serial killer. _

Warily pushing himself up, he texted,  _ Yeah _ before peeking outside of the small hole, relieved to find the small brunette. Unlocking the door, he swung it open and smiled at her, his stomach flipping uncomfortably, remembering what happened the  _ last _ time she was here and his parents weren’t home.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked. “Chumley escape from the hospital again?”

Jeri looked up at him as she lowered her phone, her eyes tired and without humor to them.

“No,” she said softly. “I just…I wanted to talk to someone who knows about…everything.” She paused and her amber eyes flickered up at him. “Can I come in?”

“Ah, yeah, of course,” he said, standing aside, gesturing for her to step in, half wondering why she was coming to him and not Ayaka, her childhood friend. Chumley he could understand - guy was either unconscious or in a maddened frenzy trying to escape, with the only reason Kazu agreed to the plan to tell him about Rika was that he wouldn’t be able to pull the same stunt twice being tied down and watched 24/7. Honestly, he still thought it a dumb idea, but everyone felt like he had a right to know.

“Make yourself at home,” he said, locking the door behind her - never can be too safe in these times.

“Thanks,” she said as she entered the boy’s home. She paused in the middle of the room, looking confused and uncertain, as if she were lost before finally heaving a heavy sigh and turning back to the boy.

“How…How are you doing?” she asked hesitantly, her voice quavering.

“I’m … doing alright. Still suck at school, but not that it matters. Been helping at the Red Cross and the like. If I could do that as a job, that would be nice, but … that relies on tragedy, ya know?” he shrugged, walking into the kitchen before glancing at her sympathetically.

Rika’s disappearance hit Jeri just as hard as it did Takato; the two were very close, best friends honestly it seemed. It seemed hard to believe when he first heard about it, but as memories slowly came back, in the fragments where the two were together, it appeared they got along on a level nobody else could quite reach with the famed Digimon Queen.

“Want anything to eat? Drink?” he asked softly.

Jeri nodded, her eyes becoming downcast. “If it’s not to much trouble,” she replied. “I…”

Jeri felt herself shudder and she hugged her arms around herself, closing her eyes tightly.

“Of course it’s not too much trouble,” he assured her, going to the fridge. “What do you want? We have some water, juice, beer … some cookies and snacks too of course.”

“Some juice is fine,” she said, following him into the kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, she continued to hug herself.

“Kazu…” she began. “Do you… Do you ever wonder which of them was right? Takato and Rika I mean…”

“Rika,” he said without missing a beat, Jeri telling them all what happened that afternoon after she left to go look for Rika when Takato ran off. Pouring a glass of juice, he set it down in front of her, joining her at the table. “I mean I get where Chumley is coming from I  _ guess _ , but from what you told me, Rika was right on the money when she said he was being a selfish bastard by running off by himself. I mean I said as much before he did, so I’m probably not the best person to ask.”

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

“They were all special, weren’t they? They can do what we can never could. When you are used to being able to do the impossible … it can be hard to adjust when you are at our level. I still say let Hypnos take care of it. We can help in other ways. Just because you aren’t the hero riding in on the white horse doesn’t mean you can’t do anything at all.”

Jeri looked away uncertainly. It wasn’t anything she thought would comfort her uncertain heart.

“They were special,” she acknowledged with a nod. “But…I…don’t know how to help though. I…” Jeri folded her arms on the table and leaned her head into them. “I’m so tired. I haven’t slept in two days, and I feel like I’m going crazy all over again.”

She gave a harsh cry all of a sudden. “Kazu… Why is everything falling apart all of a sudden?  I know there’s not much we can do without digimon, but…we  _ were _ a team! And now…”

Her voice trailed off, finding herself unable to continue as another wave of exhaustion, emotional and physical, washed over her. Yet when she closed her eyes, she saw Rika’s face, broken and lost in sadness, and Takato’s maddened despair.

“Now we’re alone…” she whispered with a sob.

Kazu scooted over to her, and wrapped an arm around her, pulling into a hug. Despite their horrible, messy break-up, he still loved her. Even if he didn’t, he wasn’t the type of guy who could just sit back and watch a girl cry.

“Hey … we’re not alone,” he assured her awkwardly. “And there is plenty of stuff we can do. Why don’t you volunteer with me after school tomorrow, and you can see what I mean. Uh … after you sleep first.”   
He paused trying to find the words to cheer her up.

“Chumley will be out of the hospital before you know it. He’s always been hard to keep down, I should know. He’s surprisingly strong, ya know, and even more stubborn. Dude can bounce back from  _ anything _ ,” he said, the words beginning to come out like a stream, rambling on as he hoped to find something to make her feel better. “And Rika will probably show up somewhere acting like she never left, mark my words. I was with her in the Digital World; I bet even without Renamon, she would have been able to survive. She was the only one who actually brought shit like a telescope. Plus I mean come on, her nickname is the  _ Demon Queen _ ! She’s probably fucking shit up right now as we speak.”

For the first time in two days, Jeri found herself barking a harsh laugh and she looked at Kazu.

“You’re sweet,” she said quietly. “I just…wish I could believe it. You…You didn’t see how she was before she disappeared. She looked so lost. Takato leaving… It broke her heart. I…I don’t know why I told Takato to leave. I should have…I should have made him stay. Made them make up. What…What was I thinking? If Takato stayed, Rika… She’d still be here…”

She passed a hand over her face, hitching a heavy sigh.

“I wish I could sleep. But every time I try, I get dreams about the two of them. About Rika especially. I keep finding her in my dreams…dead because she disappeared into the digital world. I found myself unable to turn the lights off last night for the first time since I was a little kid! It’s like…It’s like the darkness is different now. I keep thinking that there’s something there, waiting to devour me. My brain can’t relax!”

She gripped her arm tightly, flexing her fingers as she lowered it, trying to ignore her tattered emotions, stretched to their breaking point. She gazed at the scar tucked beneath her fingers. It itched badly.

“We can’t predict the future, Jeri. There is no way you could have known she would have been spirited away right in front of your eyes. Plus, if she’s really in the Digital World, I’m sure Renamon would be able to find her. I mean have you ever seen the way they look at each other? They have literally entire conversations without words. If she’s there, it’s definitely for the best after losing echo Renamon,” he said, rubbing his back, wishing there was a book on making girls feel better.

“Maybe…” Jeri whispered, releasing her grip on her arm and leaning against Kazu. “I just wish…wish that we could all be together again, like we used to do.”

She took a deep breath, taking in his scent before reaching up and taking hold of his hand, squeezing it softly. She felt the darkness retreat a little at his warmth. It wasn’t much, but it was a start at least.

She thought about her words; about her wish that they all be together. It felt so far away now, like an impossible goal, but here was a reminder that anything was possible. After so long a time, Kazu returned and he softened a bit as well. Even if he didn’t contribute much, it was at least a sign that eventually shadows passed and they could live as they did before. Changed, but not for the worst.

_ We… We used to be together… _ she thought quietly, giving his hand another squeeze.

“I’m sorry about what happened before,” she said softly. “About…About when we broke up.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her, feeling awkward - and hopeful - though he shoved that feeling down; she was grieving for gods sake. He learned once pursuing a relationship when she was on a rebound was a bad idea, and whatever  _ this _ is could only be worse. He could just hear Ayaka saying he was taking advantage of her, and for once, he’d have to agree.

“Things happen … we’re friends now, aren’t we?” he added, tangling their fingers together all the same. If he was offering her comfort, that wasn’t taking advantage, right? It was just being a good friend. Jeri held hands with a lot of people. It wasn’t like it  _ meant _ anything.

“Friends…” Jeri murmured, her hand tightening around his again, a pained expression crossing her face. “I…keep going back to that day,” she continued. “I was so happy that you came back to us you know. I almost thought…” She paused, biting her lip. “We were both pretty stupid then…weren’t we?” she finished, a note of sadness in her voice.

She looked up at him, amber eyes searching his before she, hesitantly, reached up and brushed her lips lightly against his.

“Sorry,” she whispered, pulling away and settling her head on his chest, basking in its warmth, feeling comfort and safety spread over her like a soft blanket.

_ She just kissed me. She just kissed me. She just kissed me _ .

His mind was repeating that over and over again, his mouth making an, “uhhhh” noise, not quite sure what to say or how to comprehend the fact she seemed to hint at wanting to get back together with him. He slapped himself mentally across the face.

_ Dumbass, remember what you just said! Do. Not. Take. Advantage. Of. Her. Turn her down. Tactfully. Let her know the Kazunator is still here, but if she wants to date again, it will be when she’s no longer a hot mess since we are  _ not  _ having a repeat of last time. _

“Well … we did start dating on some pretty terrible circumstances. So looking back to have things end up that way … probably wasn’t that surprising,” he said slowly, trying to figure out a way to turn her down without actually having to say it out loud. “It was kind of like this … but you know … not as terrible.”

Hopefully she would get the hint. She wasn’t Chumley after all who couldn’t read subtext to save his life.

Jeri squeezed his hand again. “One of these days we should learn how to deal with that,” she said, adjusting her head against his chest. “It would make the future a little easier. And maybe…we’ll be faster apologizing.”

She could feel the steady drum beat of his heart against his chest. It was cozy sounding, if a bit anxious all of a sudden – though she supposed she could guess why. She wanted to be lulled to sleep by it, but her brain saw Rika’s face again, and she tensed up in response.

She didn’t want to go a third night without rest.

“Kazu? This might be a bit forward of me, but…may I spend the night here with you? I…” She bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to go back home. I just…want to be with a friend tonight. If…If it’s not too much trouble I mean.”

“...Sure,” he agreed, hoping he had the strength to say no to Jeri Katou if things started to go any further. “You can stay.”

For the first time in what felt like a long while, Jeri Katou smiled.

“Thank you, Kazu,” she whispered, squeezing his fingers tightly once more.

**###**

The room was dark except for the glow of a computer screen and what little natural light was peeking through the closed blinds. Every so often there would be a clack of keys would fill the silence of the room.

On the computer screen was a multitude of tabs, about 90 percent of which were news sites. Reports on monster attacks, their locations and the constantly evolving information being released not only be the government but public institutions. Panic wasn’t only gripping the city of Tokyo or the country of Japan, but the entire world.

A notification appeared at the bottom left of the screen - a police media report. Another person went missing. The cursor crossed over the screen, clicking it and pulling it up.

It was just like a million others. A young girl - age 10 though looking at her photo one could peg her as older - disappeared without a trace. Nobody knew where she went. She was last seen at her home in  Hokkaidō , and if anyone had any information to call the police.

“Another …”

The window was minimized to show a spreadsheet. The size of it was huge, and to the untrained eye, a complete mess. There was country names in one column going down vertically and dates going across horizontally. In the areas intersecting, there was two numbers - one in black and one in blue. In the Japan section, under 4/19/08 was 21/ 103 . The blue number was changed to  104 .

“I’ll have to investigate it later …”

That and hundreds of other cases. The back-up was becoming quite ridiculous.

There was a sigh, and the news was once more pulled up again. Flipping through the articles, was important to read every single account of the incident; after all some news organizations managed to get or simply report a detail another didn’t, and in these times every single detail was important. Still no new information showed up.

Overall though, all this new information managed to lend credence to a new theory. An interesting one, yet incredibly troubling if the hypothesis was true.

Opening a voice recording program on the computer, a feminine voice began to talk once more.

“It seems the Dark Ocean has managed to gain power separately from the Digital World despite it being a sub-entity. Just how like the Digital World needs the Human World in carefully measured amounts to maintain its ecosystem, the Dark Ocean relies on humans to increase its own power. Since the kidnapping of Rika Nonaka two days ago, I fear that Dragomon or one of the inhabitants will wish to use her for her power like they attempted with Kari Kamiya. If this comes to pass, there could be a ripple effect seen not only in this world but adjoining ones.”

The recording ended with a click of a button and with a flick of a hand, disappeared somewhere into cyberspace.

Ayaka Itou leaned back in her chair, blowing a strand of copper hair out of face. Turning her head slightly, she stood up and pushed away the blinds and looked outside, pressing her lips together in a thin line.

“A storm is brewing …”


	44. An Empty Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is finally caught up to where we are currently. Now we may return to our weekly, sporadic updates.

Akira leaned against the gate of a concrete bunker, scowling down at the ground while Suzie, Ai, Mako, and Masahiko conversed with each other about the sudden rash of events, getting each other up to speed. Akira barely heard any of it though, his mind far away and somewhere else. Memory flickered through his mind from when he answered the home phone – it still struck him as odd that the house continued to have such a relic – and found himself speaking to a  _ very _ distraught woman, sobbing about  _ their daughter _ going  _ missing! _

All in all, between the sudden appearance of monsters that Akira was forced to admit were real and the disappearance of a family member that only now emerged into his life, the past week had been a very unnerving one.

Across from him, Ai watched the boy worriedly, deeply concerned about how quiet he had become recently. She opened her mouth to say something, but the sudden pang of her heart drew her up short. Looking away, berating herself for being afraid to say something to the boy she liked – to simply  _ ask _ what was bothering him – she nonetheless elbowed Masahiko next to her. Hard.

Masahiko winced, rubbing his arm, wondering if she was aiming for her twin brother and missed, turning to her to ask her what her damage was only to be met with a finger pointing toward Akira.

Masahiko frowned slightly upon seeing his best friend removed from the others. While Akira was never quite as  _ engaged _ in things as he and Mako were, Masahiko could tell when something was bothering him.

“Yo, Akira. You alright man?” he asked as Mako asked Suzie,

“What about tracking? Can they  _ track _ other Tamers?”

Akira looked up at Masahiko, frowned some more and then looked away, shifting his position against the gate.

“I’m fine,” he muttered. “What’s this about tracking other Tamers?”

“We’re discussing the digivices, remember?” Ai prompted, feeling a little more settled now that the ice had been more or less broken.

“Oh… Right.” Akira scowled, his attention obviously elsewhere. Running a hand through his hair, he heaved a heavy sigh. “What about them again? Sorry. Just...had some things on my mind.”

“Rika - you remember Rika, angry redhead, right? The one which went missing four days ago now. We’ve been trying to see if we can use our digivices to open a gate to the Digital World since that’s where we think she went but …” Suzie shrugged helplessly.

“And I was wondering if it was possible to track her through her D-arc,” Mako explained, looking down at his and Ai’s D-arc. Unlike the rest of the Tamers, they hadn’t played an real significant part the first time the Digimon came. Mako didn’t have any memories - even now - of fighting those awful monsters, but he did feel like they were familiar; faces he saw on TV. It had happened six years ago when they were just four, so it was no surprise he supposed he couldn’t recall anything like Suzie did.

“I don’t think it is,” Suzie said, turning her attention back to Mako. “Beside, I don’t think she has it with her. It’s not like they’ve been very useful in alerting us to when the echoes will appear.”

The Chinese girl sighed and looked down at the device in her hands, pressing one of the buttons, bringing up a compass which just spun without settling in any particular direction.

“What about your brother?” Ai asked as Akira continued to look distracted. “Doesn’t he know these things better than anyone? Didn’t you say that he had all those notes or something?”

_ Brother… _ Akira thought, his mind going back to the conversation with the woman from the phone - Rumiko, the mother of Rika who he was now certain was his sister; the girl he had never met until the picnic. He grimaced, thinking about that moment and how they had been more like two ships passing each other in the night then.

_ I can’t even call it that anymore now, _ he thought.

“I think he made some sort of program to predict where they would come or something?” Suzie shrugged. “That’s just the echoes. As for tracking, I can give him a text and ask, but I feel like if we could he would have done it by now. I mean even if he keeps denying it, he and Rika are going to get married some day. I’m pretty sure he would have thought of this if it was possible.”

“You’re obsessed with your brother marrying that girl,” Akira grumbled irritably. “When are you going to realize the possibility that maybe - just maybe - those two don’t actually like each other and leave it at that?”

Akira felt the anger rising and he struggled to keep it under wraps, but Suzie’s odd behaviors and obsessions - particularly with Rika now - were starting to get under his skin.

“Of course they like each other!” Suzie protested hotely as Masahiko face palmed, wondering how they got on this topic  _ again _ . It wasn’t anything new that Suzie was convinced Henry would marry Rika or herself would marry Takato. He had just learned to ignore it. What surprised him though was that Akira suddenly getting annoyed by this. “You don’t see the way they look at each other! You don’t even  _ know _ her or my brother!”

“OK, OK, let’s just calm down and save the shipping talk until after we find Rika,” Masahiko said trying to placate everyone.

While there wasn’t much the five of them could do against the echoes (although they would occasionally help with Kenta and Kazu after school volunteering with the latest relief efforts) they could at least help look for the sudden influx of missing people. Rika in particular was their main concern; for Masahiko it was because since her disappearance Jeri had been a complete mess. He was afraid if he didn’t find her, his sister might start hurting herself again.

Akira muttered something unintelligible under his breath and folded his arms together, while Ai continued to look at him in concern for a moment longer before lifting the purple-trimmed digivice that she and her brother had.

“Does anyone know of another way to find Rika or any of the missing people?” she asked. “I mean, if these are useless, than what can we do now? We don’t even know when those monsters will pop up.”

“There must be  _ some _ way,” Mako grumbled pressing random buttons on the purple D-arc now, hoping something magical would happen.

Nothing did, however.

“Maybe they’re connected to the echoes,” he continued none the less. “It’s not unusual for people to go missing, but this amount is insane. It seemed to happen with the same time with Hazard Event, so maybe they are linked?”

“But how does that help us?” Masahiko asked, slightly frustrated. They were getting to dead end after dead end after dead end. “Not to mention some of the people who are missing are victims of the monster attacks which rescuers haven’t found!”

“None of this is helping us,” Akira grumbled, pushing away from the gate suddenly. “Seriously, what are we even  _ doing _ trying to solve this…whatever it is? We’re just a bunch of kids with a couple bizarre tech gadgets that don’t do anything.”

“Akira…” began Ai, reaching out toward him, but Akira brushed her off.

“I mean it!” he exclaimed suddenly. “What’s the point? We…”

Clenching his eyes shut, for the first time that Ai could ever remember, she saw hot tears starting to form in the boy’s eyes. All worries swept away from her and she went over to him, pulling him into a hug.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, patting him on the back of his head. “Akira… You’re…You’re freaking me out here.”

“N-Nothing!” Akira insisted. “I’m just… I…” He thought of the conversation his father had with Rumiko, what he could hear of it anyway once he passed the phone over to the man. Rumiko, he found, could be quite loud when angered, and she certainly gave the man quite the earful for not keeping abreast of events once Rika vanished.

“I just…feel so…stupid and useless here,” he finally choked out. Pulling away, Ai pressed a hand to the boy’s cheek and held it there, smiling softly.

“I don’t think so,” she said quietly.

“Yeah. I mean it’s frustrating but that doesn’t mean we can give up,” Masahiko insisted, standing up and walking next to Akira’s side putting a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. It was weird seeing him like this; he didn’t even think he saw him cry before. “We may not be Tamers like the twins or Suzie … or even my sister, Takato, Rika, Henry and the other two, but that doesn’t mean we’re  _ useless _ . The minute we give up we lose. We can’t afford to lose.”

Akira glowered as he blushed, not at all comfortable with his sudden display of vulnerability. “The ‘never give up’ speech is all wonderful to hear, but we need a little something more than that to fight monsters and find my sister,” he grumbled, at which Ai’s eyes went wide, her hand going to her mouth.

“Sister…? You… You’ve never mentioned… I thought you were an only child.”

Akira stepped away and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “It’s Rika, okay? Look, can we…not talk about that right now? My family has a messy history that I don’t want to get into.”

He shook his head, casting away the sound of waves crashing upon a distant shore. It was so odd how that had picked up, but he had no idea where it came from, save that it always sounded… _ louder _ when he was upset.

“Let’s just…go back to talking about how to find her.”

“Wait, what,  _ sister?” _ Suzie exclaimed as Masahiko offered thoughts along a similar line of,

“You never told me you had a  _ sister _ let alone Rika!”

“Rika’s an only child though,” Suzie exclaimed, dragging her hand across her face, just as shocked as the other kids that the two were related. She had known Rika for a couple years now (well longer than that technically), and not once was there anything to suggest she was anything but an only child. “Not to mention during the cherry blossoms you two didn’t exactly act like you were siblings. Or knew each other.”

“Hey, I just realized then everyone is either a Tamer or related to one!” Mako exclaimed, quickly bouncing back from the fact Akira apparently was related to the fiery Tamer they were trying to find.

That’s when the twins and Suzie’s D-arc suddenly started to act up. Beeping angrily, the holographic compass once again appeared, spinning before pointing into the direction of the city.

“... I think we got our first lead,” Masahiko said, breaking the stunned silence. “Let’s go check it out.”

**###**

Himiko took a long drag from her cigarette, before breathing out, watching the smoke float upward. She knew it wasn’t exactly smiled upon to smoke indoors, but with things as they were recently, the old habit which she had long ago managed to kick was the only thing which kept her calm.

Obsidian eyes flickered back down and she picked up the device she had been working on building; a portable way to destroy the echoes. They appeared so much it was hard to keep track of them, and if she could perfect it, they could send it to other departments across the city. If it really worked well, it would go country-wide and even internationally.

A bitter smile crept across her face at the thought. A long time ago, a device built by her going to international markets was her dream. Now though … now she couldn’t care at all about it. It wouldn’t bring back Rika. No amount of fame would.

Putting the gun - at least that’s what everyone who saw it kept calling it due to its similar appearance - she picked up her own pet project. This one was more of something she had roped Janyu’s help into; at least with the coding. Her hypothesis was that if she could lock onto Rika’s unique data signature, they could find out wherever she was. The problem was how did one get in a data signature into track and second of all where would they get such things for missing people.

The biggest hurdle though was getting this piece of junk to work as well.

That’s when the alarm went off, causing her to jerk in surprise and almost knock over her 10th cup of coffee - quite literally the only thing keeping her awake as of recently.

“What the hell,” she muttered to herself, throwing the tracker back on her work table and forcing herself up to go check out what it was  _ this _ time.

**###**

“I’m detecting an unusual germination energy pattern,” came the voice of Tally from above as Riley’s hands moved over her own control panel below. Although she no longer needed to do the same work that Tally and her own replacement in the chair – a young woman by the name of Yuki – old habits were difficult to break.

Besides. She reasoned that three heads were better than two.

“I’m trying to cross reference it with any information we have in our archives. Whatever it is, it’s not a virus attack or an echo. It looks…” Riley frowned, a memory tugging at the corners of her mind and she winced, remembering Himiko’s reports. “It looks like the same signature as the ‘Wild Ones’ that our archives reported we were dealing with six years ago. Yuki, activate the Yuggoth program and have it target the signals.” Dropping her voice to just under her breath, she muttered a curse. Things were bad enough with just the echoes, and  _ now _ of all times digimon had to reappear?

_ This is literally the worst… _

“I-I’m having trouble getting Yuggoth to engage, Ms. Ootori,” Yuki reported shakily, not handling the stress of her new position well. “I’m coming up on some issue with the system. Some kind of list…”

_ List? _ Riley wondered before realizing what she was talking about, just as the door to the main control room opened behind her.

“What’s the alarm now?” asked a slightly irritable Himiko Hata, doing one last drag of her cigarette before throwing it in the trash can after properly putting it out. “ _ Please _ tell me it isn’t another massive accident which requires another public address.”

Riley turned toward Himiko and frowned slightly, nodding to her in greeting.

“We may have to,” she replied. “We have what appears to be multiple digimon signatures about to bio-emerge and who knows what kind of damage they might do once they get here. We could take them out, but we seem to be having some trouble because of your ‘do not delete’ list that you put on Yuggoth.”

“What?” Himiko’s eyes widened. “There is only one data …”

She looked at the data signature, her hand going to her mouth. She had seen enough echo appearances to know what they looked like, and this was not one.

“I … I’m going out there. If that’s … that’s real … then...” she whispered before backing up a few steps before sprinting out the door.

_ “Himiko!” _ Riley shouted after her, but it quickly became clear that the woman would not stop for her, position of authority or not. Biting back a curse, she took out her cell phone and began dialing a number. It took her only moments for the receiver to pick up.

“I want vans on the road and copters in the air  _ now!” _ she ordered.

**###**

The grey mist loomed around them as Renamon breathed the air of Shinjuku once more. It was subdued, no doubt to the presence of matter and data reorganizing themselves and producing false proteins, but the acrid, hot smell of concrete and industry was unmistakably there. Beside her, Guilmon tested the air with his nose while Calumon peered around them atop his head, eyes big and wide. Terriermon’s ears rose up from his spot on the dinosaur’s back; the Rookie having become a willing taxi for the pair.

Still, something was off. Even though it smelled like the human world - something she was afraid she would never see again - there was something tingling in the back of her mind something wasn’t right. Like she was missing something. 

“We’re home,” Guilmon reported with a laugh. “I told you I’d get us here!”

“I never doubted you,” Renamon smiled softly, deciding to push it out of her mind for the time being. The important thing was to find Rika and make sure she was doing alright; the surge of feelings she had been getting through their link while in the Digital World left her worried. Especially that surge of despair a few days ago.

The fog began to lighten as it became less dense. Already they were seeing the vague shapes of people begin to emerge. Soon enough they would be visible, leaving Renamon with the question of what to do. Did they hide once more or would Hypnos and, more importantly, their partners already be here to greet them?

Much, Renamon suspected, changed after all.

“Man, I bet Henry is going to be so surprised when he sees me,” Terriermon giggled excitedly, the excitement quickly spreading to Calumon who jumped off Guilmon’s head and ran off - hoping to get some cream puffs - only to be stopped by Renamon who seemed to read the In-Training’s mind.

That’s when a black van broke through the fog, honking cars and yelling pedestrians clearly not happy somebody had the audacity to do so, and the window rolled down to show a woman with short black hair smoking a cigarette none of them recognized.  

“So, it was you,” she breathed before jerking her head toward the sliding door. “Get in. I’m from Hypnos. Things are tense right now, and I need you to trust me on this.”

Renamon narrowed her eyes at the strange woman, suspicion blooming in her mind, yet she sensed no deception or threat from her. Guilmon sniffed at the woman and glanced over at the vulpine digimon.

“Renamon?”

“Why should we trust you?” she asked, a part of her wondering if this woman, if she were who she said she was, was simply here to get the digimon back to Hypnos just so they could be sent back to the digital world.

“Because,” she said taking her sunglasses off her face to show a pair of obsidian eyes. “I’m your partner’s - Rika Nonaka - elder cousin. Plus I’d rather not argue about such semantics with the current situation as it is now. I’ll explain everything when we get back. For the moment, I  _ need _ you to come with me.”

Both Terriermon and Calumon looked to Renamon. Out of the Digimon, Renamon seemed to have the best sixth sense - besides Guilmon when it came to his own partner.

Renamon thought for only a moment, taking note of the increasing light and detail of their surroundings. “Very well,” she said, starting toward the van. “Guilmon?”

“Okay!” the dinosaur chirped, confident in Renamon’s decision as he trotted over to the van and jumped right in the back seat, Calumon and Terriermon right behind him. Renamon approached the window where Himiko sat and locked eyes with her – azure with obsidian, considering Himiko for a moment.

“You recognize me,” she said after a moment.

“It’s a long story,” the woman said throwing the passenger door open, the fog quickly receding. They didn’t have much time left. Terriermon and Calumon made themselves quite comfortable in the back seat before Calumon found the controls the air conditioning to the back area and decided to play with them.

All the Digimon were in the van when the fog receded and Terriermon pressed his nose against the tinted glass and gasped.

It didn’t look at all different from when he lost saw it; which wasn’t exactly a good thing since the last time they all saw it the D-Reaper had done a horrible number on the city. He may not know everything there was to about human culture, but the rabbit-dog assumed they would have picked up in the span of six years.

“What happened?” he asked, looking up front toward the woman as they began to drive away.

“Like I said,” she repeated. “It’s a long story.”

**###**

_ I need you to meet up with me. Bring Takato. ONLY Takato. _

Himiko’s text to him was vague as it was ominous. Yet he didn’t question it, feeling - dreading - it had to do something with Rika’s disappearance for what other reason would she just want him and Takato? Though that didn’t exactly make sense either, but he felt it would be revealed in short order. The one thing he had learned about Rika’s older cousin was that while her initial communication skills were as lacking as her younger cousins, everything tended to clear itself up within short order.

The biggest problem was that Takato just got released from the hospital this morning. He doubted his mother would allow him to just  _ leave _ so easily, but he had a lie (which he hoped wasn’t completely false) which hopefully should allow her baby boy to leave the house.

Taking a deep breath, he walked into the bakery, the door jingling as he did so. Takehiro was manning the cash register, and Henry let out the softest sighs of relief. Takato’s father would be easier to reason with than his mother.

Approaching, he gave an apologetic smile.

“Hey Mr. Matsuki, is Takato still here?” he asked, leaning against the counter.

Takehiro glanced up at Henry and then looked over his shoulder in the direction of Takato’s room.

“Yeah, he’s in his room right now.”

Frowning, he turned back to Henry, worry knotting his features. “Henry…is he all right? I know what the doctors said, but…he looks like he’s dealing with something and he won’t talk to us about it. Just about made his mother burst a vein trying to get him to say more than a handful of words to us.”

“He’s probably just worried about Rika,” he said honestly before looking sheepish. “It’s actually the reason I’m here. The police want to talk to us again to see if they can figure out where she went or what happened to her. See if they missed anything.”

Takehiro nodded, although he frowned slightly. “I take it they were too ‘busy’ to send an officer themselves? Or give us a call?”

“Well you know how many missing people cases there are. They're stretched thin as it is,” Henry shrugged before awkwardly pointing up to Takato’s room. “So … can I go uhm …”

“Yeah…” Takehiro said knowingly. “That’s what I thought. Go on. I’ll say something to Mie. Just don’t keep him too long, okay? She’s out right now, but she’s pretty upset enough as it is.”

“I won’t. It shouldn’t take  _ too  _ long,” he said.

_ I hope. _

Without waiting for Takehiro to change his mind, Henry pounded up the stairs and knocked on Takato’s room.

“Takato. It’s me, Henry.”

There was a sound of rustling and then the door slid open, revealing the boy. He looked a little rough around the edges. His wrists were rubbed raw where the shackles had held him down at the hospital and a faint hint of hair stood above his lips, indicating the growth of a mustache. His hair was likewise in disarray and in spite of the ‘rest’ – much of which ended up requiring sedation to keep him from hurting himself trying to escape again – he looked as though sleep had been the furthest thing away from him.

“Uh… Hey…Henry,” he greeted exhaustedly. “Um… What’s up?”

“Himiko texted me telling me to meet up with her and to bring you. Just you. I don’t know what it’s about, but I told your dad the police want to question us about Rika,” he said bluntly. He was worried about Takato’s physical - and mental - condition, but he didn’t doubt that the boy would follow him if there was the slightest chance Rika was involved somehow.

Takato’s eyes lit up a little at that. “Rika’s cousin wants to see us?” He slid the door a little wider now. “Do you think it has anything to do with Rika?”

“Probably. Let’s go,” he insisted.

Takato nodded quickly, appearing to become a little more alert now.

“All right,” he said. “Let’s go.”

**###**

Calumon hopped around the room, his ears withdrawn.

It was quiet and nobody was talking. The woman who picked them up - Rika’s cousin - was smoking a long white stick which smelled funny, and Riley - Calumon recognized her from six years ago - was sitting next to each other, but neither were saying anything. In fact, for whatever reason, both seemed to be mad at each other, and despite his best attempts, neither wanted to play and the only person who did (Tally, if he remembered correctly) was shooed away and told to ‘do her job.’

Renamon stood in the corner of the room, arms folded over her chest, observing the situation until the sudden click of the door opening revealed two boys that she recognized, Henry and Takato. Pushing away from the wall, she unfolded her arms, nodding to them with a small smile on her face. Before she could say or do anything, there came a sudden, eager cry and Guilmon was bounding over to Takato, who couldn’t seem to decide what to be surprised the most by; the unexpected sight of their digimon partners, Renamon especially, or Guilmon who now leapt into the air and tackled the poor boy who gave a loud squawk.

“Wha…? Guilmon! What the…?! How… Ack?”

_ “Takato!!!” _ Guilmon exclaimed, drowning the boy in a wave of tongue baths.

“Henry!” Terriermon yelled happily, flying over to the boy and reclaiming his proper perch on his head, giving the boy - who had grown a  _ lot _ taller since they were separated - a huge hug. “I bet you missed me, huh?”

“Terriermon…” Henry choked, before squeezing the rabbit-dog Digimon tightly in his arms who promptly complained he couldn’t breathe. When Himiko texted him, deep in his heart, he was preparing for the worst - all they got was bad news lately - but this … this was more than he dreamed of.

However, there was one person missing, and it was the only person Renamon cared about. Once more the feeling of something missing quietly became a some _ one _ .

“Where’s Rika?” she asked quietly, taking a hesitant step forward, hoping that the girl would just pop around the corner and say she was there. To not worry about it. Yet she would  _ know _ if she was nearby, and with a sudden horrifying realization which came crashing down on her like a frigid waterfall, she realized she had no idea where she was.

Renamon  _ always _ knew where Rika was.

She stared at Himiko, then Riley before finally landing on Takato, noting that of the two, Takato’s changes appeared to be the most extreme, but not normally what she noticed as consistent with the boy’s personality. As Guilmon let him up, she saw a flicker of emotional distress in those red eyes of his, and an exhaustion lying even deeper within.

“ _ Where’s Rika _ ?” she asked again, although this time it wasn’t a request. It was a demand.

“Sit down. Like I said in the car ride over … it’s a long story,” Himiko said softly, clenching her hands together.

**###**

“And that’s the gist of it,” Himiko said, putting out the third cigarette she had lit up - and smoked through - since she started talking. Her voice was tired and had cracked several times during the story - especially at her hand in the death of the echo-Renamon’s death which eventually lead to Rika’s mysterious disappearance. “So you’ll have to lie low for a while. I know you are used to doing so, but still … I’m sorry.”

She took one more drag of her cigarette before snuffing it out.

“Any questions?”

“A few,” Renamon began, her brow furrowing. Outside, she was the portrait of restraint, but inside she could feel every muscle in her body tensing up, eager to leave this place and begin searching for her partner. “But to start, have you learned  _ anything _ with regards to Rika’s whereabouts? Where she might have disappeared to?”

Himiko shook her head.

“I’ve been working on a device which can track digital signatures of missing people, but I’ve run into several … complications,” she said, pressing her lips together.

“Like making it work?” Terriermon offered helpfully, only for Henry to knock him on the head with a hiss of, ‘ _ Terriermon!’ _

“Moumantai,” the Rookie Digimon complained, rubbing his head, but looking quite pleased with the reaction all the same. He had missed this, missed Henry, and with the tension in the room as it was, it needed some Terriermon-brand wit to cut through it.

“He does raise a good point,” Renamon said, not satisfied by Himiko’s initial response. “What kind of complications?”

“...Getting it to work,” Himiko said after a moment of awkward silence and Terriermon couldn’t help but giggle. The situation was dire, but despite being a smartass, he seemed to hit the nail on the head. “I’m creating a device based off a hypothetical idea I developed while working with echoes. While the idea I have is somewhat verified by your appearance and how it came up in our system, the fact of the matter remains I’m trying to create something assuming my hypothesis is right, which leads to many complications. The biggest of which is the Digital World and all the annoying variables it can cause which spit in the face of logic as we know it. This isn’t even taking into consideration of some other scientific theories I’ve been looking into-”

“And in short, it takes a lot of work she’s doing on her own free time because her job is something else,” Riley said, shooting Himiko a look letting her know in no uncertain terms she wasn’t exactly pleased with her insubordination earlier. While she felt bad for her and understood her concern for her cousin, the fact remained Himiko Hata was being paid to help find a way to deal with the echoes in a more efficient manner and work with the Monster Makers to find more information about Mnemosyne and the Digital World in case it, or something like it, comes back.

“That’s still in testing,” she replied testily.

“What’s still in testing?” Terriermon asked only for both women to respond at the same time,

“Classified.”

“Moumantai,” he grumbled.

Renamon frowned, her tail flicking irritably at the dead end.

“So nothing that can help,” she said, deciding not to count on this device which Rika’s cousin was trying to develop to be done anytime soon to be any real help in locating Rika. While it could be helpful for others in similar situations if it was ever completed, Renamon didn’t exactly care about that momentarily.

Rika was her only concern.

Takato frowned alongside Renamon.

“All right,” Takato said. “We’ll just have to keep looking for her the old fashioned way.”

“I’m here,” Guilmon reminded. “Maybe my nose can turn something up.”

Takato smiled and patted his partner’s head. “Thanks boy. But…things have changed a lot since you guys were here. Somehow I don’t think a cardboard box is going to work anymore.”

“Are we going to be kept here?” Renamon asked Himiko. As the woman was doing the majority of the talking, she assumed that she was the one in charge in place of Yamaki.

“Well  _ I  _ have no intention to as long as you stay out of sight,” Himiko said looking at Riley. After all, the woman was in charge now.

“Ah-huh!” Guilmon bobbed his head up and down exuberantly. With a smile, he crossed a claw over his chest. “I promise I won’t cause any trouble.”

Renamon’s tail flicked as she glanced at Terriermon warningly.

“Why are you looking at me?” Terriermon huffed, insulted, Calumon giggling, quickly catching on to why the vulpine Digimon was looking at the other Rookie.

“Gee, I wonder,” Henry said sarcastically.

“Didn’t I suffer through enough Princess Pretty Pants to ‘keep out of trouble’ before for you to trust me by now?” the rabbit-dog asked, putting one paw on his chest and looking quite hurt at his partner.

_ Princess Pretty Pants treatment? _ Riley found herself wondering before deciding she didn’t want to know. The tone of the digimon indicated something considerably uncomfortable.

“You  _ have _ become considerably freer without your partner’s influence to curb your behavior,” Renamon pointed out. “You were a bad influence on many of the children.”

“Children?” Takato asked, arching an eyebrow. “Wait, you two…?” He pointed at Renamon and Terriermon indicatively. “You’re…together? You’re  _ parents?! _ But…I thought…digimon don’t have parents.”

“We don’t and we didn’t,” Renamon sighed while Guilmon laughed.

“We set up a Primary Village,” the boy’s dinosaur partner explained. “We wanted to raise digimon just like you guys did us!”

“Oh…” Takato blushed, suddenly becoming embarrassed. Renamon chuckled, wondering how Rika would have reacted to this little moment.

Her humor vanished upon thinking of her missing partner.

“Well?” she prompted Terriermon. “Shall I stuff you in a tutu for Henry’s sister or will you cooperate and behave?”

“This is blackmail,” Terriermon complained, folding his little arms. “Would Suzie even dress me up now? She’s probably the same as Henry was when we first became partners.”

“Yes,” Henry answered without missing a beat.

“... Fine, I’ll  _ behave _ ,” Terriermon grumbled, muttering under his breath about the abhorrent lack of trust everyone was showering him with before bringing up another question which needed to be addressed. “What about Calumon though?”

While Calumon didn’t purposefully get into trouble - not like Terriermon - he seemed to constantly find himself in it one way or another. Before he could take care of himself, but with everyone on high alert, the question hung in the air. 

“Jeri can look after Calumon, right?” Guilmon asked, remembering how the digimon and Jeri connected so well previously.

“Um… We can look into it,” Takato replied before looking at Riley and Himiko. “Jeri’s a friend of ours and is also involved in this. She can do it.”

“I am well aware who Jeri Katou is,” Himiko said with a sigh.

She hoped, however, Jeri was up to the task. Calumon - who had grown bored again and was now flying around the room participating in some game he just invented five seconds ago - seemed like something which could be either really good or really bad for her. Her information on the In-Training Digimon was painfully lacking except that at one point it was the reason the children went into the Digital World in the first place.

She took another cigarette out of her pocket and lit it up.

“Renamon, if you can do me one favor; please don’t show yourself to Rumiko until I get back from work this evening and explain things.” Like Rika had done in the past, Himiko tried to keep Seiko and Rumiko away from the knowledge of the girls connection to everything which was going on. And again, Seiko had found out while Rumiko still was left in the dark.

“Very well,” Renamon nodded. Presently she saw no reason to reveal herself to either member of Rika’s immediate family. Although she held a great deal of respect for Seiko Hata, the uncertainty surrounding Mnemosyne’s attack on their memories left things…uncertain.

“We should take Calumon to Jeri. The question is what to do about Guilmon. He can’t pretend to be a stuffed animal like Terriermon or Calumon, nor can he hide in the shadows like Renamon, and I’m not quite sure if he should stay his old home in the park, or if that’s even safe …” Henry said thoughtfully, frowning. There was always the possibility of him staying at Hypnos, but he doubted Takato or Guilmon would be exactly happy about that.

“I can work out some transportation,” Riley said. “It’ll be faster and safer for you for the time being. We can arrange for Guilmon to sleep here at nights…”

“Ohhh… But I just got to see Takato…” Guilmon whined, his ears drooping. Renamon frowned and folded her arms together.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Guilmon?” she asked, to which Guilmon’s ears rose up perkily.

“Oh yeah!”

“Forgetting what?” asked Takato. In answer, Guilmon’s form shone with bright light before shrinking down to a small, red ball with a stubby tail, four short legs, and his usual, bat wing-like ears.

“Guil…Gigimon?!” Takato stammered. “Wha…? But how…?”

“The Catalyst was returned to the digital world,” Renamon supplied. “And as Guilmon has shown an…unusual ability to digivolve at times even without your presence…” She remembered Guilmon’s odd transformation into Growlmon during their attempts to locate Takato, Henry and Terriermon in the digital world. “…I felt it would be a useful ability to learn to control should we return to the real world.”

“Well, that solves that problem at least,” Riley said, grateful she wouldn’t have to detail anyone to put together makeshift bedrooms in Hypnos for the digimon…or feed them for that matter. She at least had an odd memory about them being heavy eaters.

“Yay! Now let’s go play!” Calumon exclaimed, bouncing up and down, excited to see Jeri again. He hoped she was happier than the last time he saw her. Bouncing around everyone in the room, he continued his chant. “Play! Play! Play!”

**###**

Jeri ran a towel through her hair as she finished drying off and then went over to the medicine cabinet. Frowning slightly, she took out a pad. Attaching it to her underwear, she slipped on the undergarments and grimaced, clenching her side as a shot of pain once again made itself known. She took some Ibuprofen 30 minutes ago, and she knew it should be kicking in soon, but gods it seemed to be taking longer than normal.

Jeri sighed, continuing to get dressed, feeling as though the world hated her right now. Turning to the mirror, she began to tie up one end of her hair into a tiny ponytail. Her expression was downcast. Every part of her felt unhappy for one reason or another; her body due to the aches that currently racked it, and her heart. Her heart that now held two sets of eyes that seemed to stare at her; violet and grey.

Rika Nonaka and Kazu Shioda.

She felt her heart crack a little, thinking of Rika…missing, and then how she went to Kazu for comfort yesterday. Things went…a little differently than she had thought and not at all as she expected. Different in how her search for comfort took on the form of trying to rekindle the initial flame that had been between herself and Kazu, and not at all as expected as the boy politely refused her advances, taking special care about her and she parted the next day, feeling awkward and uncertain and wondering why she felt she was betraying both him…and Rika.

_ Kami… _ she thought miserably.  _ What am I going to do? I just…I just wanted to forget for a little while and…and instead I…tried to… What…did I try to do? _

She raised her scarred arm and held it with her other, cradling it like a baby, wondering what her biological mother would say to her about this before the knocking sound from her stepmother rang on the bathroom door.

“Jeri?” came Shizue’s voice from the other end. “You have some friends here to see you.”

“I’ll be out, Mom,” Jeri called. Taking one last look at herself, she adjusted her underwear to something a little more comfortable, and then exited the bathroom. Hurrying down the stairs and paused at the bottom, her breath catching in her throat as she spied the friends waiting for her. Takato…Henry… Henry with  _ Terriermon! _  An echo? Jeri had no time to wonder before her eyes fell upon the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl who looked to be the spitting image of Rika, only with longer hair. Jeri nearly broke into a run to hug her before the hair color brought her up short.

“Who…?” she began, pointing at the strange girl before remembering Terriermon’s presence. “And…another echo?”

“Jeri!”

There was no time to react or look around to see who called her name before an energetic white ball attached itself to her face.

“You got bigger! Prettier too!” Calumon cooed excitedly, having no idea how much of a sweet talker he was. Nuzzling her face, he giggled gleefully. “Eskimo kisses!”

“Wha…?” Jeri squawked in bafflement, taken off guard by Calumon’s sudden and abrupt Eskimo-kiss filled appearance. “C-Calumon! How…? Hold…”

Grabbing hold of the rambunctious ball of sugary fun, Jeri pulled him back, blowing at strands of her hair as she tried to make sense of it all. She scowled at Henry.

“What’s going on?”

“The Digimon came back,” the Chinese boy said simply as if that’s all there was to it. Calumon, however, seemed intent on continuing to drag the girl’s attention back toward him.

“Did you miss me? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

Tears welled up in Jeri’s eyes, and all of a sudden she crushed the tiny digimon close to her chest, snuggling their faces together.

“Of course, silly,” she wept, though for the first time today it was from happiness. “Everyone’s…finally…finally together again…”

“Not all of them,” Takato said, shifting uncomfortably and running a hand over the back of his head. “Not…Not just Rika. Some of the digimon didn’t come back.”

“They’re not deleted though!” Gigimon chirped,  suddenly hopping up from out of Takato’s hood. “We just separated a while ago to do our own things to help the digital world!”

“We were hoping you can look after Calumon,” Henry explained as Calumon gave her his patented adorable look; quite literally the only thing which could be even cuter than Jeri’s own adorable look.

“Of course!” Jeri replied a little too quickly before frowning slightly at Calumon. “Although… You’ll have to stay quiet and still a lot more than you’d probably like to…”

“He will,” The blond-haired girl said, stepping forward and giving Calumon a hard look. “If he ever wants to play again.”

Calumon looked horrified at that. Stay quiet? But where was the fun in that? How do people have fun without making noise? And if he didn’t, not being able to play again … it was too horrible to think about.

“What did I say earlier? Blackmail,” Terriermon complained, crossing his little arms before looking sympathetically at Calumon. “I understand your pain, Calumon. Renamon’s a big meanie, isn’t she?”

“Terriermon-”

“Moumantai, Henry. Jeez have you been doing those breathing techniques Chou-sensei taught you? Since you really should start again,” the Rookie complained.

“I probably should,” Henry muttered under his breath.

“Renamon…?” Jeri tilted her head at the girl, confused. “I…don’t understand. Renamon…”

“I have a transformation technique,” Renamon replied. Taking a quick look around to make sure they were alone, her form shuddering and changing, briefly taking on her more familiar, warrior-kitsune appearance before snapping back to the human shape she wore now.

“That… That is…” Jeri blinked. “Renam…” She caught herself before continuing.  _ “Rena. _ That is amazing!”

“Thank you,” the ‘girl’ bowed politely with a smile. “It is good to see you again. We will have to catch up later however, as I’ve been told there’s still a great deal that I need to catch up on and do. Such as finding Rika.”

Jeri blinked, shifting her hold on Calumon.

“I want to come with you!” she said urgently, eliciting a worried look from Takato, though he said nothing.

“Actually I was hoping to ask you some questions first,” Renamon said carefully. While she didn’t mind the puppet-loving girl - though it seemed she no longer had said puppet - coming along, Renamon didn’t want to waste time treading old ground. Jeri was the last one to see her, and perhaps something the girl noticed might give her a much needed clue. “I was told you were the one who was the last person to see her before she disappeared. Was there anything surrounding her disappearance which stuck out to you?”

“I…” Jeri hesitated as she ran through the memory of that awful day once more in her mind. “She…became ghost-like before she disappeared,” she replied, almost seeming to shrink into herself. “She was…upset too. She…” Her eyes flickered over to Takato worriedly before touching her scarred wrist.

“I…I don’t know if this is connected but…I’ve seen enough crime dramas with my parents to think that even the smallest bit might help. I…”

Once more her eyes flickered over to Takato, and the boy blinked before his eyes hardened, knowing what was on her mind. Their eyes met and after a moment his expression softened, feeling that hot lump forming in the back of his throat.

_ It’s my fault anyway, _ he thought.

“It’s okay, Jeri,” he said with a nod. “You’ll tell it better than me anyway.”

“Sorry Takato…” Jeri bit her lower lip before continuing. “Rika and Takato… They had a fight. Takato was trying to leave the hospital and Rika didn’t want him to. He insisted, and she hit him for it. She…” Her voice cracked a little. “She felt that Takato abandoned her.”

Jeri didn’t miss the pained look that crossed Takato’s face at that.

“This was just recently after seeing myself die as well, correct?” Renamon asked, her face completely passive, although on the inside, irritation and fear for her partner was growing. The timeline Himiko had explained lined up too perfectly with the surges of despair she felt from Rika.

“Yes. And Takato had recently gone to the hospital due to the echo of IceDevimon nearly killing him,” Henry added, recalling fruitlessly trying to convince the redhead what had happened was  _ not _ her fault. His brow furrowed slightly at thought.

Thinking back on it, he had thought for a moment Rika seemed translucent, and was slow to respond to anything. He thought it was a trick of the light, and explained it away as consumed by guilt and grief, but something about it nagged him now.

“Man, even in death that guy does  _ not _ give up, does he?” Terriermon complained, only for Henry to hiss another, ‘ _ Terriermon!’  _ at him.

“Was there anything else which you noticed?” Renamon pressed. “Did this ghost like phenomenon happen to her prior or to anyone else?”

“I…” Jeri paused, thinking back on events. “I don’t…think so. But… There were some…weird things happening. Like…this sound of an ocean. And in the hospital, Takato’s shadow…changed.”

Takato stiffened at that. “Changed? How?”

“It looked like it turned into Gallantmon, only…you know…it was your shadow. You were also leaving water stains on the floor, but…” She wrinkled her nose. “Funny thing is, they all disappeared. I thought at first that maybe it was the light and the situation making everyone upset, but…” She shrugged.

Takato frowned at this. “Water stains…” he murmured, the gears turning in his head. “Water stains and… _ ocean sounds…” _

“Takato?” Gigimon asked from his spot on his partner’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just thinking, boy. I’m starting to get a  _ really _ bad feeling about this…”

“She also seemed really out of it at the hospital, and for a moment I thought I could see through her. It took forever to get her attention. I thought she was just upset at what just happened, but …” Henry admitted, his heart going to his stomach.

“I feel like I’m missing something,” Terriermon complained, looking between the two boys, vexed. He didn’t like being left out of things. When he was left out of things, bad things happened, and not always necessarily just Princess Pretty Pants.

“Same,” Renamon said, her frown becoming more pronounced as she crossed her arms. “Explain this bad feeling of yours.”

It wasn’t a request.

Takato shifted uncomfortably. “This will…probably sound crazy, but with how digimon showed up exactly like in the card game and the show I was thinking how with all the signs… What if Rika’s in the Dark Ocean? Or  _ a _ Dark Ocean?”

“I don’t know what that is,” Renamon answered bluntly.

“Clearly it’s an ocean that is dark,” Terriermon quipped only to shut up without Henry having to hiss at him; if only because the death glare Renamon was giving him put the fear of god into him.

“In the show it was some kind of dimension for evil digimon,” Takato explained. “We didn’t see much of it, but when it did appear it…well, it was like a beach overlooking an ocean and everything was grey. Well, except for the light coming from a lighthouse. That was all  _ black. _ There was something about that place that corrupted things. One of the characters, Ken, his digivice was transformed into the  _ Black _ Digivice that prevented digivolution, and he eventually became the Digimon Emperor. There’s a lot of other stuff there too, but the way Rika disappeared sounds a lot like what happened to Kari in the show. It was like the Dark Ocean was… _ calling _ her.”

He frowned. “Calling  _ all _ of us…”

_ Only it got to her first…because of me, _ he thought, but he kept it to himself.

“So … the Dark Ocean is part of the Digital World?” Renamon asked, remembering her dreams suddenly. They were vague and rather hazy, and the clearest part of them was the strong feelings Renamon just  _ knew _ were Rika’s. Defiance. Spite. Some hatred. They were more common when she was younger, but it would make sense why those feelings would come back if she was there.

“Too bad we didn’t know about this considering we were  _ just _ there,” Terriermon complained.

“Kinda,” Henry explained. “It’s never fully quite explained in the show, but it seemed to be a  _ part _ of the Digital World yet a separate entity.”

Renamon didn’t quite get it, but right now she didn’t care about the semantics of the situation. There would be time in the future to discuss this oddity when Rika was back. Right now only one thing mattered.

“How do I get there?”

Jeri’s eyes suddenly went wide with alarm at that, but she quickly berated herself for feeling that way. Rika was Renamon’s partner after all so it only made sense that she would want to go to such a place to rescue her.

_ Would I… Would I do the same thing? _ she wondered, thinking about how she went straight to Kazu for comfort, suddenly feeling shame. She glanced down at Takato’s wrists, signs of his struggles to escape the hospital so he could search for Rika.

Takato raised one hand to the back of his head to scratch it, and Jeri’s eyes followed it, lingering on the boy’s face as he spoke.

“I…don’t know. I’m sorry, but the show was never clear on that either. It kind of looks like you had to ‘fall’ into it by accident, or it tempted you…or called you. Ken managed to create a portal but only because he had a link with it. Takeru… I don’t know. He was around a beach and saw an image of Kari calling to him, and that pulled him in…I guess?” He glanced away, wishing he had more to offer. “I guess, you just have to be at your lowest to get pulled in or maybe for the person on the other side to be calling for help. That’s all I can say.”

His brow setting itself in a determined line and he looked back up. “The beach might be a clue though. Maybe there’s something there we can use. Maybe the Dark Ocean has a link to places like oceans.”

At this, Jeri blinked. “M-Maybe? Oceans in stories are always mysterious and dark, and if the digital world…if it’s about wishes and dreams…what about…our nightmares?”

Renamon, Henry and Calumon promptly looked at Takato. Renamon because she recalled he once dreamed of her and Rika before even meeting them, and felt out of everybody, he was the one most likely to have a connection to it. Henry because Takato had the strongest connection to the Digital World in that area. Calumon because he thought they were playing a game and wanted to join in.

Takato arched an eyebrow at them. “Um… Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you have the strongest connection with the Digital World.”

“Because you dreamed of Rika once before.”

“You blinked! You lose!”

“Dream?” Jeri asked, wondering what they meant by that.

Takato, for his part, could only look at Calumon in bafflement before frowning. “The dream… It didn’t mean anything in the end. It was just weird…brain babble.”

“Hang on,  _ what _ dream?”

Takato hesitated at Jeri’s question and looked over at the vulpine digimon, as if seeking permission. Seeing this, Jeri’s cheeks puffed up irritably and she glowered at the two of them.

“Why do I get the feeling that secrets are being kept from me?”

“It’s not like that!” Takato exclaimed, trying to placate her. “I-I mean, it sort of is, but…”

“Rika threatened to beat him up if he ever talked about it,” Gigimon supplied helpfully, to which Takato breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks boy.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“It  _ still _ doesn’t explain anything,” Jeri scowled.

“Yeah, especially since Rika isn’t here right now to beat you up,” Terriermon pointed out helpfully.

“Terriermon!” Henry admonished, feeling like he would lose his voice by the end of the day trying to get Terriermon to behave. His partner clearly didn’t waste any time at all in causing trouble for everyone.

“Momentai.”

“Long story short, Takato saw our battle with a Lynxmon. He brought it up when asking if Digimon disappear without warning. Rika said no and then threatened to beat him up over mentioning it again. The end,” Renamon said simply, not in the mood to linger. “Back on  _ track _ , have you had a repeat of this experience by any chance?”

Renamon  _ really _ hoped so.

Takato started to shake his head, but then paused.

“I…I’m not sure. I’ve been having dreams, but…they’re weird, and I’m not entirely sure if any of it is because of whatever the doctors used on me to make me sleep.” He rubbed his wrists, wincing as he did so. “They’re not good dreams either. They’re not like the dream I had of Rika where I was floating. In them I…was saying some pretty awful stuff to her. Like… _ really _ bad stuff. Things that Rika would crack my head open over if they came from me.” He paused and looked at Renamon. “You too I think.”

“I highly doubt Renamon would need to once Rika got through with you,” Terriermon pointed out.

“Like what?” Renamon pressed. “What can you remember of the dreams?”

“Everything was grey,” Takato said. “I could hear the ocean, and I was trying to…get her to hit me. To…hate me.”

Jeri clasped her hands together at that. She was familiar with self-loathing, and understood Takato well enough to know that he felt  _ very _ responsible for Rika’s disappearance.

“That’s all I remember,” Takato said finally, flapping his arms uselessly. “Sorry.”

Renamon scowled, feeling that this conversation revealed nothing that would be of any use to them. “You mentioned going to the beach before, like the character in your TV show did to find their friend…”

Takato bobbed his head up and down. “I don’t know if it would help, but we have to start  _ somewhere!” _ He glanced over at his partner. “If Gigimon can just catch Rika’s scent or something…”

“Takato, I don’t know if that will work,” Jeri cut in. “Not everything in the show lined up with the reality of the digital world.”

“I’m just thinking up ideas,” Takato replied, feeling a bit attacked by Jeri’s words. “Henry said that everyone tried just about everything else, so why not check it out?This doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“Except if we go it can’t be today. It’s a couple hour train ride and it’s getting late. We’ll skip school and go tomorrow. Nobody will know we’re gone and we can spend tonight getting ready and looking into any other information. Jeri raised a good point earlier with the mythology angle; we already know that the Digital World takes nods from mythology - Renamon’s a perfect example,” Henry explained. “It might give us a clue, because Jeri is right. Not everything in the show lined up with the reality of the Digital World. It wouldn’t hurt to go to the beach, but we need some sort of plan before we go.”

“You mean besides just going there?” Takato asked, suddenly sounding like Terriermon.

“I think he means in case we all get pulled into the Dark Ocean,” Jeri supplied helpfully. “Although…I’m not sure how much we could prepare. We could try leaving letters to our parents again, or letting Himiko know…”

Renamon narrowed her eyes, thinking about the woman that was Rika’s cousin. “Leave Himiko to me if that’s what we’ve decided on. I…don’t like the idea of waiting however. I can get there quickly on my own…”

“And risk losing you just like we did your echo?” Takato asked, only to instantly regret saying those words, feeling a sharp pain in his heart in memory of the other vulpine who now joined the echo of Leomon in death.

Renamon’s eyes flashed at the boy, as if in anger.

“And should something happen to her in the meantime while she’s in that place?”

Takato flinched at that. “I…I was just thinking of how Rika would react if she lost you. I’m not saying I have any better ideas. Believe me, I  _ want _ to find her and bring her home. I’ve been doing nothing but looking for her…freaking out…”

He paused and turned toward Henry. “Why should we wait until tomorrow? Yeah, it’s a couple hours away, but that’s nothing really for us. In fact, if we digivolve Terriermon to Rapidmon, we can get there and back  _ really _ fast!”

“I can’t carry you all. I can carry one, maybe two,” Terriermon said dryly.

“It’s not if we don’t get pulled in the Dark Ocean because once we get pulled in I’m positive Renamon can find Rika perfectly fine. The problem is we don’t know what we are looking for. Like I said, Jeri’s right when she said not everything lined up with the Digital World perfectly and quite frankly, we can’t count on a deus ex machina to suddenly light a path like we’re in some sort of  _ anime _ ,” Henry said, pinching the bridge of his nose, getting annoyed, wondering how all of them failed to see what he was saying. “Which is why I said we should look into old stories of mythology because the Digital World has proven to take heavy influences from it. I mean Renamon is a kitsune! Her mega form is based off Princess Sakuya of Konohana. Mnemosyne is a god of memory! If we go there right now, we’re just going to be walking up and down the beach not having a plan of attack. That’s just going to be a waste of time. That’s why we should spend tonight researching any stories we can find on what the Dark Ocean could possibly be based off of not to mention  _ how to get out. _ ”

“I don’t think those stories are really going to help us much,” said Takato, starting to sound feverish in his tone. “Look. Rika’s out there  _ now. _ She needs our help! I’m sure her cousin wants to help too and she can have the Monster Makers build another arc just like they did last time! All we need to do is have a way to talk to her once we find Rika!”

Renamon frowned. “Takato, perhaps…waiting would be a good idea.” It galled her to say that, but Takato’s passionate insistence on charging blindly into the unknown bordered on the dangerous. “The last time we went to the digital world, Leomon and I expected a digital world that was not at all like what we encountered, and the communications device didn’t always function. Even the arc wasn’t certain to bring us home.”

Takato looked at the vulpine digimon, shocked by what she was saying. “Renamon…”

_ He won’t listen, _ she thought, amazed at how he was handling events. His emotions were wild and frantic, barely held in check.

That made him a liability.

Her eyes locking with his, they glowed softly, and Takato staggered. She felt him struggle for a moment, but his spirit, exhausted and still addled by drugs, quickly caved under her pressure and he slumped forward, only to be caught by Renamon’s arms.

“Takato!” exclaimed Gigimon and Jeri in horror at his unexpected collapse.

“He’ll be fine,” the vulpine digimon said. “He is still quite tired it seems. Adjusting her grip on the boy, she gazed at his face thoughtfully before turning to Jeri. “His desire to find Rika is very much the same as his desire to save you back when you were held by the D-Reaper,” she noted, to which Jeri blushed profusely.

“A-A lot changed since you were gone…obviously,” the brown-haired girl replied. “Rika and him… It’s…complicated.”

“They are…in a partnership?” Renamon asked, catching the meaning behind Jeri’s words. However, the look in the girl’s eyes told a different story, causing her to frown slightly. “I see… Yes. A complicated story indeed, and one I shall have to hear. But not now.”

She lifted Takato into her arms. “Conduct your research. Hopefully he’ll be better tomorrow.”


	45. Crossing Bridges

**** Kazu finished shoveling some broken rubble – fragments of pavement and concrete – into the wheelbarrow and nodded to the worker who promptly took off with it to dump it out. Turning away, Kazu gazed around him for a moment, sweat crawling down his face while the muscles in his arms grumbled at him for the labor he demanded of them. He ignored their complaints for now and to shut them up he turned his gaze over to the sight that had for a change propelled him into action.

Across from him stood a smoking hole in a building, four stories tall, and it was hardly the only damage in the area, but it was the most obvious. Though the fires had been put out, smoke still curled from the gaping wound of concrete and steel. Dropping the tip of his shovel back down, he resumed his work, but the dark injury to the building still bothered him. A dark, sad expression crossed his face and he looked over at Kenta, who was doing as he was, shoveling concrete into a wheelbarrow.

“Hey, Kenta,” he began quietly. He paused, before changing his mind on what to say. “How’re you doing over there? You holding up okay?”

Kenta wasn’t used to physical labor and if he was to be perfectly honest, he rather be helping out with the victims who were found then shoveling through the rubble. He felt there, at least, he was making more of a difference. He could see the results of his labor when he gave someone suffering some water, the look of relief on their face when given warm food and the happiness a child showed when offered something as simple as a teddy bear.

Here though … it seemed like an exercise into the pointless. With each shovel of rubble they removed, more remained underneath. And it didn’t exactly help there was knowledge there would be no doubt more the next day.

Still, at least he felt like he was doing  _ something _ here. While he was worried about Rika - and the countless others which seemed to be disappearing - he found himself agreeing with Kazu; they didn’t need more people spending time walking around the beach pointlessly when they weren’t even sure what they were looking for  _ especially _ with Rika disappearing in her own home.

Turning to Kazu, he wiped the sweat from his brow, taking a momentary break.

“Yeah … I’m doing alright.”

Despite Kazu joining the group and seemed to be returning to his old self, things were still … weird between them. An invisible rift despite things seeming to return to the same old routine except without the countless putdowns. So that was … something.

Kazu nodded at him, sensing some of the tension between them. Grunting, he threw some more rubble into the wheelbarrow, pressing his lips together tightly. Thoughts of Jeri came to mind, but he pushed them aside. She had been so strange that night…which was hardly surprising.  _ Everyone _ was acting out of sorts even before Rika disappeared.

“Good,” he muttered, slamming his shovel into the next round of rubble. “I…I’ve been feeling kind of worried about…”

Kazu paused, scowling as his shovel didn’t pull back as expected, feeling as though he hit something. Something that wasn’t rock or even dirt, but soft and yielding. Frowning, he gave a sharp tug and pulled away. His face went pale when the shovel blade came away bloody.

“Oh… Oh crap. There’s someone under here.”

“Shit, seriously?” Kenta asked, dropping his shovel and rushing over to where Kazu was and looked down.

Sure enough someone  _ was _ under there, and though he couldn’t see much of anything, they didn’t  _ look _ that big. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.

“HEY WE HAVE SOMEONE UNDERNEATH HERE!” he yelled, alerting some of the other relief workers who were nearby before turning to Kazu. “Quick, help me get this off her!”

Grabbing hold of the rubble, Kazu helped his friend get it off. They worked quickly, revealing the body of a young girl, looking no older than Suzie did at 9. Her face was pale and her eyes stared skyward, unseeing, and Kazu could see the slice in her side where his shovel had impacted her.

“Shit…” Kazu said, nearly losing his lunch then and there. With great effort, he forced himself to keep moving until, at last, the remainder of the rubble was gone just in time for the relief workers to arrive. Staggering to the side to allow them room, Kazu coughed and then promptly emptied the contents of his stomach on the ground, his sides clenching and unclenching violently as hot acid spilled out of his mouth.

“Ugh…” he groaned, holding his ribs.

Kenta didn’t throw up, although that was because he had nothing in his stomach  _ to  _ throw up. He had emptied his lunch earlier when they found a dead dog crushed to death. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel nauseated though.

Staggering over to Kazu, letting the professionals handle this, he handed his water bottle to him.

“This will help,” he said, swallowing what bile started to come up. Dragging a hand over his face, he looked out over the destruction. While it wasn’t uncommon to have to rebuild after the latest disaster - typically earthquakes but of course there was the occasional tsunami or hurricane - at least there was knowledge it would stop after a certain period of time.

With this … who knew when it would stop? What was worse, at least as Kenta was concerned, was that there was no known enemy to fight against. Sure there was Mnemosyne, but if it was a player still, it was long removed as a power one. Not to mention, the more Kenta thought about it, from what the others talked about, it seemed Mnemosyne was actively trying to  _ prevent _ this.

_ Wonder what it knew  _ … he thought with a sigh.

Kazu hesitantly took a swig from his friend’s water bottle and gasped harshly. “Sorry if it…tastes funny… And for the indirect kiss.” He grimaced at his joke, not finding it at all funny, given the circumstances, but he felt he had to try to lighten the mood somehow. Turning around, he saw the relief workers shake their heads as they checked the young girl over. He didn’t need to hear what they said to know that she was dead. She hadn’t reacted at all to getting hit, and later retrospection would have him remember that while there had been blood, she hadn’t bled like a living person would, or even someone of the recently dead variety.

_ She’s been cold for a while, _ he thought, wiping his mouth.

Memories, still fuzzy ones, of his brief time as a Tamer, floated through his mind, and he looked down at the water bottle in his hand.

“I bet if MarineAngemon were here, things would be fixed up pretty quick,” he said, remembering at least that much of Kenta’s partner. Those healing hearts seemed…rather necessary, now more than ever. “Kami, I feel useless.”

“Yeah … same,” Kenta agreed, taking back the water bottle. He wasn’t bothered by the ‘indirect kiss’ so much as he hoped there was no vomit backwash. “...I wonder why our partners, the rest of our partners, didn’t come with Renamon, Terriermon, Guilmon and Calumon.”

“They probably had the digital world to save or something, wherever they were,” Kazu grunted. “Guardromon was like that. He was more of a good guy than me after all.” He wiped a hand over his mouth again, his eyes taking on an angry look.

In the past, Kenta might have said something like Kazu was a good guy. Convince his friend that he was better than he gave himself credit for. Instead he said,

“I hope they’re OK.” A pause. “How do you think the others are doing in their beach trip?”

“Probably not finding nothing,” Kazu sighed irritably. “I mean, yeah, I can sorta see where Chumley and the rest are coming from but…” He shrugged. “It’s such a long shot I don’t think anything’s going to come out of it.”

He shook his head, thinking of how Takato looked previously, the mustache and small bits of stubble dotting his chin in a haphazard fashion, and that delirious, tired look in his eyes…

He still didn’t know what it was Takato saw in Rika, but he could understand how deeply he had been shaken by her vanishing.

_ It’d be like how I’d be if Jeri pulled a disappearing act, _ he thought, scratching his head. Before sniffing. Memories came to the forefront again, and he pushed them roughly to the side.

“Maybe they’ll find her,” he said after a moment. “I wish they would. Much as I hate to say it…the team…isn’t complete without the Demon Queen. Every team needs at least one person like her around to kick butt and take names, and she does that pretty well.”

He glanced briefly at Kenta before amending, “Besides…you know. The whole thing about worrying over someone because they’re gone.”

“Well at least you can pick up the tact she left behind,” Kenta said dryly. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to Kazu’s ability to say something kind of insulting without being completely conscious he was doing so. Picking up a rock, he glanced at where the workers were beginning to put the lifeless body in a white bag and threw it to the side.

“Still … even if she comes back, it’s not like things are going to change. We don’t even really know what’s going on even now or how to even defend ourselves against this. What will we do when malicious Digimon come through? I mean sure … Renamon, Terriermon and Guilmon could take care of things like they did in the past, but they’re going to be stretched thin with the echoes. Not to mention will people even  _ understand _ they’re on their side,” Kenta said, before stopping, realizing he was starting to ramble.

Kazu scowled. “I feel like I should do what Chumley does. Say that everything’s going to be fine and we’ll find a way just because he says we will. I kind of blew my wad on that though by not agreeing with him.”

He glanced at Kenta thoughtfully. “What about you? Even with all the stuff that’s going on…what would you say? You think we got a chance getting out of this mess?”

“Hell if I know,” Kenta shrugged. “This isn’t some story where real life always prevails. Sometimes things just … suck. It doesn’t get better. Not to mention, things aren’t ever going to be  _ fine _ ever again. People are  _ dead _ , Kazu. Suffering. I mean look around us! Even if we manage to get Rika back, even if we manage to find a way to stop this mess, nothing is going to be  _ fine _ ever again. I mean it's like telling everyone after War World II things were  _ fine _ because the war was over. To think so is stupid and quite frankly dickish to everyone who has lost something or someone. That’s what I think.”

Kazu eyed him for a moment before making a  _ tsking _ noise. “Great. Now you’re sounding like either me or Ayaka. Maybe I shouldn’t have come back. I’m a shitty influence.”

“Well that would just leave Ayaka to influence me, and let’s be honest, she’s worse,” Kenta replied, giving him a slight smile.

Kazu snorted. “I’ve been out of the loop. What’s she done that’s worse? She seems like the only sane person in the group so far. Next to Henry that is. He seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

“Well she got Rika into a drinking contest …” Kenta trailed off. “I’ll let your mind imagine how well  _ that _ went over.”

Kazu snorted again. “Starting to wish I had been there for that one. That must have been fun to watch. What started  _ that?” _

“Ayaka and Rika getting into another fight and Rika not being able to turn down a challenge more or less,” Kenta said, really not wanting to say it started because he wanted to get piss drunk after his own fight with Kazu. “Turns out Rika can’t hold her liquor.”

Reaching over, he clapped Kenta on the shoulder. “Chumley, here’s a once in a lifetime offer. I want you to be honest with me, and feel free to be colorful about it. How far up my ass did I have my head?”

“...Pretty far,” Kenta admitted after a minute. “I mean you always had a pretty big ego, but … well … I think you would have given Seto Kaiba a run for his money and  _ won _ .”

“That bad, huh?” Kazu chuckled. “All right. I’ll freely admit it. I sure have been a jerk, and…” He glanced at Kenta and grimaced. “I’m not good at saying it…”

“It’s only three words, Kazu.”

“I thought it was just two,” Kazu said, furrowing his brow.

“One is actually two words smashed together,” Kenta pointed out.

“You’re such a nerd,” Kazu chuckled. “I’m sorry.”

Kenta smiled at that and reached up and clapped his hand on Kazu’s shoulder.

“Good to have you back, buddy.”

**###**

Ryo entered the lab for what had to be the millionth time since arriving in Shinjuku, finding Henry’s father, Janyu, waiting for him with a wide smile on his face.

“Thank you for coming Akiyama,” he greeted. Ryo forced a smile on his face.

“Well, it’s not like I have a whole lot of choice if I’m going to get this stuff figured out,” he replied. “Are we running more tests again?”

“In a way,” came Dolphin’s voice from the computer. “We’ve managed to whip something up based on all of the information we have so far. We’re still not getting the signal from the source of Mnemosyne, but with our systems back up and running we found we can still send a signal out and pick something up in return, and what we got was…”

He pulled out a Green Card. “…this!”

“Where’d that one come from?” Ryo asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We made it, more or less,” Janyu explained. “See, we found that while we still needed to send a signal, apparently there’s an unusual phenomenon that can give cards like these a reality just by way of desire. Normally we see this kind of thing in quantum mechanics…”

“But it’s only on the micro scale,” came Curly’s voice, entering the room with a cup of coffee, having picked up on the gist of the conversation. “This is a macro-event and normally doesn’t occur.”

“I don’t mean to ruin this moment for you guys,” Ryo cut in with a slight grin that he didn’t feel on the inside, “but could we speed this up a little?”

“Sorry,” Curly said, taking a sip. “Anyway, Janyu? You were saying?”

“Right,” Janyu chuckled. “In short, we’ve created our own Green Cards. We need you to slash them so we can see what sort of data they have.”

“Um…sure,” Ryo nodded hesitantly as he took out his digivice, remembering what happened the last time he did this.

_ Hopefully I don’t get another message telling me how badly I’ve destroyed the world or something, _ he mused as they plugged his digivice into their computers. Handing him the Green Card, Janyu stepped back, allowing him space to do the deed. Ryo looked at the card thoughtfully for a moment, angling it so that the dinosaur insignia embossed in its surface became visible for a moment before disappearing once more. Finally, he slashed the card through his digivice’s slot. Sparks flew and he staggered, his vision of the world suddenly  _ lurching _ and…

Changing.  _ Changing! _

The world was different now. The city was a broken, destroyed wreck, and the sky was a nasty blood red. This by itself  _ should _ have worried him, yet for some reason it felt…oddly normal. Like something he was long used to.

There was fear instead about something else. Something that chased after him and the others he was with; a girl who looked familiar and with them were two digimon, a long-eared Lopmon and a massive, barrel-shaped, rust-colored robot - Guardromon.

The girl’s face was gaunt, as though she had skipped out on a few too many meals, and the Lopmon she carried looked to be in no better condition. Guardromon himself appeared to be rather badly damaged, with cracks running along his metal armor, exposing circuits and wires. He had only one arm, yet his eyes retained a determined expression that refused to admit defeat.

Even though defeat was all they had in store for them by this point.

“Kazu…” Guardromon said, and Ryo found his lips moving without his permission.

“I know, bud. End of the line.”

As if on cue, a creature with a form that looked like a blanket draped over a pair of sickles with a crude, Halloween-pumpkin shaped mask came into view. The blades rose and fell along their wiry arms, like snakes preparing to strike. Ryo recognized it immediately. It was an agent of the D-Reaper. A  _ Pendulum Feet. _

“Lopmon…” Suzie’s voice quavered, only for the rabbit-digimon to shake her head.

“Too…tired…” she whispered. Ryo –  _ Kazu – _ stepped in front of her.

“Get out of here. Guardromon and I will take care of this clown-mon.”

“Kazu!” Suzie hissed. “You can’t! That thing can fight an Ultimate and Guardromon…”

The  _ Pendulum Feet _ D-Reaper agent suddenly flew at them, blades spinning in the air. A missile whistled from Guardromon’s remaining arm, only for the Reaper agent to dodge and twist in midair, avoiding the collision. It surged in the direction of Suzie, and Ryo –  _ Kazu – _ leapt forward, knocking the girl out of the path of danger…only to cry out in horrible pain as he felt something  _ slice _ into him. He spun in midair, and struck the ground with a meaty  _ smack _ before rolling to a stop.

_ Rolling. _

That should have been his first clue about what was going on. However, such was the shock and speed at which the violence had occurred that he barely registered what was going on just then until he came to a halt, just in time to see his now headless body slump to the ground, his right arm slumping off his shoulder with a sick, wet noise. The Pendulum Feet continued on unabated, taking no notice of the dead Tamer, driving into Guardromon now, blades slicing at him.

Ryo opened Kazu’s mouth in a lungless scream and in the next moment he found himself struggling to get up from off the floor of the lab, gasping for air.

“He’s fine!” exclaimed Janyu, backing away from him. “Everyone get back! Give him some room!”

Ryo sat up, fighting through the spinning room to get his bearings.

“What… What happened?” he stammered. He felt sick to his stomach. He couldn’t remember feeling quite  _ this _ bad.

“You collapsed on the floor,” Curly explained, her eyes set with worry. “Your brain took in a massive amount of information all at once; more than it could easily process. I’m sorry. We thought we had compensated for this.”

“No problem,” Ryo grunted, climbing to his feet while the three Monster Makers eyed him carefully.

“You should go to the nurse’s office,” Janyu said. “That looked pretty bad. What happened? What did you see?”

Ryo shuddered. “Kazu… I saw Kazu getting killed.”

**###**

Despite spending the entire day at the beach with 13 pairs of eyes looking, they found nothing.

No leads. No clues. Nothing.

It was about 3 p.m. when it was Ayaka who finally suggested going back. While there was some push back - especially from Jeri and Takato - an agreement was finally reached after much arguing that nothing was to be found. Their trip to the beach was a dead end.

On the way back, Jeri had been quiet, which considering the circumstances, wasn’t too uncharacteristic Masahiko supposed. What  _ was _ uncharacteristic of her was that any attempts to engage her in conversation were met with curt, if not passive aggressive, answers.

He supposed her being angry was better than, well the alternative. Last time she got this depressed, he almost lost her. He rather have her passive aggressive remarks than have her bottle everything in.  

In his mind’s eye, he thought back to a time when he had been heading downstairs to ask their mother a question, only to hear her scream the most frightening, blood-curdling shriek he could ever remember hearing in his life. Even today, his blood ran cold just thinking about it and he shuddered, but even  _ that _ hadn’t prepared him for what he found when he spotted his mother standing in the bathroom door, face going pale.

Nothing could have prepared him for that bloody hand puppet, the pale face that hung above a slashed up wrist of red, and eyes staring up at the ceiling, empty and vacant…

Masahiko had to restrain himself from bursting into tears thinking back on those memories. Even today he could hardly live with them.

“We’ll find her,” he said quietly as they walked down the winding roads toward their home, Calumon riding on his head.

“Hm,” Jeri replied simply. She was hardly in the mood for much talking, not after the complete and total failure of the search at the beach. She staked so much of her hopes on finding something… _ anything _ that would end in discovering a clue. Takato had even mentioned how in the TV show, TK’s character saw a floating ghost of Kari that allowed him to travel to the Dark Ocean, but they didn’t even find so much as that.

So far, it seemed, when it came to seeing Rika, that area remained Takato’s domain and Jeri found herself hating him for that.

_ No… _ she thought, clenching her eyes shut at such dark thoughts.  _ I don’t want to think that. Oh please don’t let me think like that. It’s not Takato’s fault… _

That was what she told herself over and over, yet a wicked voice deep inside her had to ask, what if he was holding something back in the hopes of somehow using this to get back together with her?

Jeri shuddered at such thoughts and buried them as deeply as she could, but that changed nothing as they remained, watching…waiting, and alongside them was Ayaka and  _ her _ words about the uselessness of the whole search.

Jeri didn’t want to think about that either. She had been about ready to throttle her childhood friend for voicing them.

“I’m sure we will,” Masahiko pushed, this time more forcefully. He wouldn’t let her push him out. Not again. Not after last time. “We have a general idea where she is now, right? We’re in a better place than we were a few days ago.”

At this, Jeri turned and glared at her younger brother, feeling her anger shoot through her like a lightning bolt, illuminating all the monstrous things she kept hidden in the dark. They seethed, ready to  _ pounce… _ Eager to rip and tear so as to vent their buried frustrations.

She hated feeling that way. She knew it was wrong. Masahiko was only trying to help. Taking a deep breath, she tried to settle herself and again bury her emotions.

Increasingly, it felt like she was standing amidst a graveyard of her feelings, only to find their corpse-white, decayed hands clawing their way out of the ground like ravenous ghouls.

“Going to the beach didn’t help,” she replied bluntly, turning away. “We wasted our time. Time we  _ needed.” _

“Well it’s not like we knew it would be a waste,” Masahiko said, flinching, Calumon’s ears withdrawing as he too cowered before Jeri’s sharp gaze. The little In-Training had never seen  _ Jeri _ angry before - the others, yes. The brunette, no. Honestly, it scared him a bit.

Reaching out, Masahiko took his sister by the hand.

“I’m sure between Renamon and Takato, we’ll get more clues. Plus her cousin is some sort of Digimon government worker, right? I’m sure it’ll be a matter of time,” he tried again.

Jeri quickly tore her hand away from her brother’s grasp at the mention of Takato. “Maybe if Takato gets some actual  _ sleep _ for once,” she said bitterly, “instead of needing someone to dope him up so we could actually get some better clues.”

There was that flash of anger again directed toward Takato. The amount of convincing it took – over and over it felt like – to get him to agree to sleeping instead of wandering around all hours of the day and night in search of Rika was grating on her nerves.

“I don’t think Himiko even  _ wants _ to find Rika,” she continued. “Those two definitely don’t like each other. She has no reason to help find her.”

“Jeri, listen to yourself! I know you’re upset but everyone is doing the best they can!” Masahiko snapped back. “Everyone is high strung because this is pretty upsetting. Not to mention, aren’t Himiko and Rika family? I’m sure even if they don’t get along, her cousin would try to do everything in her power to get Rika back. I mean Akira doesn’t even  _ know _ his sister, and he’s trying!”

Jeri missed a step at that and stopping, turned toward her brother.  _ “Sister?” _ she asked. “What do you mean by that? Are you saying  _ Rika _ is his sister?”

She had wondered why Akira had been a part of their little outing in the first place, but was content so long as they had an extra pair of eyes to search with. Was  _ this _ the reason why he turned up with Masahiko and his friends?

“Yes. Apparently they share the same father. He didn’t want to talk about it saying it was complicated,” Masahiko said. “But that’s not really important. What I’m trying to get at is everyone wants to find Rika too.”

Jeri scowled and resumed their trek.

_ It sure doesn’t feel like it sometimes, _ she thought bitterly.  _ It’s already been too long.  _ Way  _ too long! _

It was an unfair thought, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. Almost everyone else had a way to help find Rika except for her it seemed. Even Henry, although he had no direct means, had knowledge of computers and the digital world that far surpassed hers. While she… She had nothing with which to contribute it seemed.

“I just… _ want _ her back already,” she said finally. “I hate the waiting. What if… What if we never find her again?”

She found that to be a far worse fate than if they simply found her body. At least with a corpse, the questions were solved. With nothing, Rika could be  _ anything! _

“I’m sure she’ll find us!” Calumon, for the first time, spoke up. The tension between the siblings was getting to him, and the In-Training Digimon wanted to there to be smiles, not frowns. If he had some cream puffs, he was sure that would do the trick, but without any on him at the given moment, he would just need to get by cuteness and positivity. “She found me, then everyone in the Digital World, remember?”

He put a single finger to his mouth thoughtfully.

“She always appeared when I was in the most trouble…” he trailed off thoughtfully. “So maybe … I just need to create trouble and she’ll appear!”

Jeri looked at Calumon in sad apology before reaching up and picking Calumon off her brother’s head, holding her close and giving him a tight hug.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I’m being a jerk. Please don’t cause any trouble. I just…wish we found her already. It was bad enough seeing her break down the way she did because of…because of Takato. Seeing her disappear was…just…awful.”

Calumon smiled and leaned forward and gave her some Eskimo kisses; Masahiko smiled as he watched the In-Training work his magic. While the little Digimon only came yesterday, Masahiko could see that Calumon had a way of getting her to open up. Even if he didn’t completely remove the dark cloud hanging overhead, at least he made it more bearable.

“We’ll find her,” Masahiko repeated himself, putting a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Just you wait.”

Jeri smiled hesitantly at her younger brother, but it didn’t touch her eyes.

“Thanks,” she said, feeling as though she were lying.

**###**

Takato and Ayaka made their way down the streets, Takato with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie while his eyes held a kind of heavy focus to them, seeming to be ignorant of the copper-haired girl who was by his side, lost in his own thoughts. Thoughts full of the girl he cared deeply for and her absence from the world.

His eyes narrowed slightly and he grated his teeth. Gigimon, who had nestled himself in the boy’s hood, peaked out, sensing his distress before looking over at Ayaka, uncertain as to what to say or do to help his partner.

Takato, it seemed, had changed a  _ lot _ since they parted ways.

It wasn’t like he was the only one frustrated, although Ayaka’s frustration came in a different form. While she was worried about Rika (just because she dislike the girl didn’t mean she was heartless or wanted anything  _ bad _ to happen to the infamous  _ Demon Queen _ ), she was positive she was handling herself better than Gogglehead was right now. He hadn’t been out of the hospital for a day, and he somehow managed to become more of a pain to look after than normal. She had found herself babysitting Gigimon on the beach more than his Tamer did, and he almost bit her head off when she said what nobody else would: this was a waste of time.

Honestly, she didn’t really know what about Rika could elicit this sort of response from  _ this _ many people. Henry of course was her best friend and Jeri a bleeding heart. The kiddos were probably just wanting to be part of something, and the Digimon … well Renamon made the most sense and she supposed as a Tamer they would all be worried about their friend’s partner.

Still, nobody had such an adverse reaction as Takato did. She wasn’t even sure he remembered what a razor was; she already knew he didn’t know what a comb was. She supposed she should be glad he knew how to dress himself, for however long  _ that _ lasted for.

“Why do you care about her so much?”

It was tactless, and Ayaka knew that, but she was tired beating around the bush.

Takato drew to a halt and turned his frown at Ayaka, seeming to remember that she was with him before glancing away, resuming their trek.

“Because…” he began, struggling to put it into words. “Because…I do.” His face dropped a little, revealing the emotional exhaustion that he was barely keeping in check. “I’ve been through a lot with her, and she’s saved my life a lot. You might understand if you saw her back then… He paused, remembering that they met briefly following the battle with the snake Deva. “Well… You did…but it’s not the same as being with her…in the digital world…on the front lines… Seeing her at her best and her worst and seeing her try to do as much good as she can.”

His eyes turned up, losing himself in memories from when she returned with Impmon, determined to bring him home even if it risked missing the arc. “She didn’t give up…even when everyone else was ready to. Back then…she was the last to quit. I always admired that about her. And when she biomerged into Sakuyamon for the first time…”

He closed his eyes, remembering the fear as he saw her throw herself with Renamon toward the chaotic mass of the D-Reaper, risking everything to prove to Jeri that they could choose their own destinies. And the sound of her voice when she emerged triumphantly in her Mega form…

“Words can’t describe it,” he finished finally.

“But that’s when she was 10 … she’s 16 now,” Ayaka pointed out, still a bit frustrated. “She’s different from what she was  _ then _ .”

She didn’t understand. Was he still holding on to feelings from when he was 10? Mnemosyne messed up a lot of things beyond just their memories; they had been twisted and perverted to things they never were. Still, as far as she was concerned or seemed to witness from her own broken recollections was that Mnemosyne never made them into someone they weren’t.

For example, Kazu was always an ass. Rika always was a firebrand. Takato always was sensitive. Kenta always was a wall flower. And Jeri … Jeri always hid behind a smile.

“Huh?” Gigimon perked up. This was news to him. “But I thought Takato had feelings for Jeri.”

Clearly a  _ lot _ had indeed changed.

“I did,” Takato said, reaching behind him to scratch Gigimon’s ear. “Ayaka, my feelings for Rika… They came later, when we didn’t remember anything. We just kept meeting…finding each other and…things clicked between us. Even though I never thought so. Well…except for this time.”

He pressed his lips together, his heart aching painfully at her rejection. It wasn’t going to go away anytime soon, in spite of his sincere wishes that it would do so.

“It’s  _ not _ something I can just forget like turning off a light switch. But even without that…I’ll still care. Because she’s my…best friend.”

“I’m not your best friend anymore, Takatomon?” Gigimon asked worriedly. Pulling him out now, Takato hugged his partner closely.

“She’s my best human friend,” he amended. “You’re still my best friend ever. Just like Renamon is to Rika.”

“So is this why you’re doing this?” she asked gesturing to his ill-put together state to make it clear she wasn’t talking about him looking for Rika. “Pushing yourself? You should be  _ resting _ . If you two are best friends, she would understand.”

Ayaka hoped at any rate; she, of course, had heard what happened after Takato stormed out. While she could - for once - understand the girl’s frustration, the copper-haired girl wanted to strangle the boy herself for putting himself in harm’s way, she felt that the action would cause Takato to re-evaluate his relationship with Rika.

Clearly not.

Takato sighed. “I know. I’m a Gogglehead. I just…can’t help it sometimes.” He chuckled suddenly, and it was a laugh resembling the resigned amusement of the condemned. “You know…Rika came up with that nickname long before you did. It was practically the first thing she said to me.”

He drew to a halt again, hugging Gigimon close to him still. “Sorry. I just… I don’t know what to do a lot of the time. I know I should sleep. I know Rika would understand. I just…” He pressed a hand to his face. “It’s my fault what happened to her. I…”

He sighed and dropped his hand. “Great. I’m not even making any sense anymore am I?”

“Nope,” Ayaka told him bluntly. “Because it’s not like you - or anyone - knew how fucked up in the head she really was if this Dark Ocean theory of yours is really true. Hindsight is 20/20 and you aren’t do anyone any favors by beating yourself up over it.”

“But I  _ should _ have!” Takato exclaimed suddenly. “She’s my best friend and I let her down. Just…Just like I let down Jeri.”

Wiping an arm across his face so as to brush away the tears that were already forming there, he set his eyes in a determined gaze. “I can’t do that anymore. I’ve been nothing but a coward for years. Hiding from how I feel; being too afraid of hurting people. I don’t care if Rika never…never wants to speak to me again. I just…want her to be home and safe.”

He turned back to Ayaka. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t like her, but…this is something I have to do.”

Ayaka reached up with her hand and cupped Takato’s face and brushed away some of the tears which he didn’t quite get with her thumb. It was a gentle motion for the girl whose roughness was only exceeded by the girl she called, ‘Firebrand.’

“Just because she’s your best friend doesn’t mean you’ll ever know everything about her, trust me,” Ayaka said quietly, memories flicking back to learning Jeri tried to kill herself. She had been shocked when she learned; she never knew how miserable the brunette was and she hated herself for years afterward for not being there when her childhood friend needed her to be.

It took a long while (with some help from Jeri, which Ayaka felt incredibly guilty over since she was the one suffering the most) to accept what happened  _ wasn’t _ her fault.

“You probably never will, and when stuff like this happens … you can’t blame yourself. If it makes you feel any better, if your dreams from earlier were spot on, she’s probably fine,” Ayaka continued. “So when she comes back, or we find her, whichever comes first … just … be there, OK? Don’t feel like you need to go out of your way to prove anything.’

“Ayaka…” Takato blushed at the girl’s surprisingly soft gesture while Gigimon looked between them uncertainly.

“Ah… Do the two of you like each other too?” he asked, trying to grasp what was going on between them in light of all the changes he had learned of in so short of time. At once Takato’s blush grew to fiery proportions and he pulled away from the copper-haired girl awkwardly.

“N-No!” he exclaimed. “It’s not like that!”

The moment ruined, Ayaka dropped her hand and shoved it back into her own pocket, almost angrily.

No. It wasn’t like that. She wondered if it ever would be. She was here, but Takato was oblivious to things right in front of him. He was that way with Jeri too. How Rika managed to capture his attention like this was beyond her.

“Yeah. I’m not Rika after all,” she said bitterly.

Takato blinked, catching something in the way she said that. “Um… Are you okay?” he asked, confused. “You sound mad all of a sudden.”

His mind raced, trying to figure out what might have set her off. “Was it something I said?”

Ayaka turned and glared at him. She wasn’t sure how she came to like someone this … this  _ dense _ . She tried so hard  _ not _ to, especially seeing her childhood friend’s struggles not to mention it felt weird crushing on the guy Jeri fancied for what? Six years?

Still, something about him got to her, despite her denials up and down to herself and to certain annoyingly cute brunettes, and not for the first time she wondered  _ what _ it was. She knew from the beginning he was interested in Jeri and then Rika. It wasn’t like it was something she planned; if she could help it Takato would near the bottom of the list if for those reasons alone.

However, it seemed her emotions didn’t get the fucking memo.

“Gogglehead!” she snapped before stomping away.

He could find his own way damn home.

“Ayaka!” Takato exclaimed, chasing after her.

“Careful Takato,” Gigimon warned. “She smells  _ angry!” _

“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had to deal with someone mad at me,” Takato winced. “But thanks.”

Running in front of Ayaka, he held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Ayaka, what’s wrong? What did I do? Just shouting  _ Gogglehead _ at me isn’t going to help me figure things out you know.”

_ She’s…a lot like Rika sometimes, _ a part of him thought but he pushed it to the side for now.

“I’m not in the mood, Takato,” Ayaka growled. What was she supposed to say?  _ I think against quite literally every ounce of better judgement I thought I had, developed feelings for you? _ Not a chance. “So I suggest you take whatever subtle hint you  _ can _ read and leave me alone!”

“But  _ why?” _ Takato asked, starting to feel a little bit frustrated now. “Ayaka, you always do this! You never talk things out with anyone every time you get mad about something! For once I’d like to know just  _ what _ I did  _ wrong! _ I know it’s hard for me to figure out because I’m a Gogglehead, but why is it always so hard for you to just  _ tell _ me?”

Gigimon peeked out from Takato’s arms, looking at Ayaka who smelled positively  _ livid  _ with his Tamer.

_ Oh boy… Takatomon’s going to get punched… _

“Takato, do you  _ want _ another girl to punch you within a week? Is that it? Or do my wishes not matter because I’m not Rika?” she snarled. “Because I can be  _ jussttt _ like her, but not in the way you’ll like.”

“Maybe I should just start a business of girl’s punching me for not understanding them,” Takato replied, lowering his hands. “But okay. Fine. Have it your way. I just…wanted to know what I did wrong and how I could do better, because I sure  _ not _ going to by myself.”

“Oh what a surprise! You not understanding how a girl feels!” Ayaka responded sarcastically. “If you want to make things better, start with getting a fucking clue. God, even  _ Kazu _ is smarter than you. You two are buddies again, aren’t ya? Ask him for tips.”

“How a girl feels…?” Takato gaped, feeling as though a puzzle piece had just slid into place. “Ayaka… Do you…?” He shook his head. “No… No way. You… Are you trying to say that you…like me?”

It felt as though thunder just crashed in his head, leaving him stunned with the revelation. All at once everything made sense. Why Ayaka always bothered him with his uniform, sometimes fixing him up, or helping him…being by his side so often when he had been in the hospital. His heart clenched painfully at the knowledge. It made him feel even  _ more _ like a scumbag.

_ Why…? Why is it all I do is hurt people…? _ he thought miserably.  _ I’m nothing but bad luck… _

Ayaka turned red. She wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment, frustration or the mounting desire to hit Takato. Or all three.

“This is why I told you to leave well enough alone,” she growled, tears of frustration and sorrow beginning to pool in her eyes and she wiped them away hurriedly. She didn’t want his damn sympathy. “Don’t bother answering. I know how you feel, and you’re a real shitty liar.”

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Takato said, awkwardly raising a hand to comfort her, only to hesitate and drop it, uncertain as to whether the gesture would help. “I’m…sorry.”

There didn’t seem to be much more to say. What  _ could _ he say?

_ This was where Rika was back then, _ he thought, remembering how she had to reject him. He closed his eyes, wishing desperately that he could do something to fix this.

“Do you want to hit me anyway?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, but I’m not going to. Because I’m not Rika.”

Yes. She wasn’t Rika. And she never would be.

**###**

Suzie crashed on her brother’s bed with a heavy flop, earning her a slight frown as Henry followed in shortly afterward, Terriermon in his arms. She didn’t care that she was annoying her brother by inviting herself to his room and hogging the bed. She was tired and her room was one over, which might as well be one room to far for her exhausted, hurting legs.

“Today was such a waste,” she grumbled as the door closed with a click. She had every reason to be annoyed. Takato paid zero attention to her, they found nothing with regards to Henry’s future fiancé, and worse yet…

She missed Lopmon terribly now.  _ Very _ terribly, and Terriermon’s presence only served to reinforce this painful reminder.

“Who’s bright idea was it to go wandering around on a beach and only find nothing?”

“Your prince,” Terriermon giggled, finding the fact Takato seemed to have multiple girls interested in him, including Suzie, delightfully amusing. While he knew a lot of things changed over the six years they were gone, the fact the resident Gogglehead becoming such a lady’s man would have never been something the Rookie Digimon would have ever guessed.

The fact the boy was  _ completely _ oblivious to this only made it better.

“Terriermon,” Henry warned, receiving a “ _ Moumentai _ ,” in response from his partner before the older boy turned to Suzie. “It was worth a look, even if we didn’t find anything. It’s not like we have a lot of other leads to go on.”

Honestly, he didn’t expect the trip to yield much fruit either, but he went along with it because Rika was his best friend too and  _ someone _ needed to keep an eye on Takato and Jeri. It ended up being a good call considering he and Renamon had to stop a fight between Jeri, Takato and Ayaka from breaking out.

Suzie grumbled under her breath, not wanting to say anything disparaging about her sweet ‘prince,’ but at the same time clearly wanting to voice her displeasure about the entire outing. She could agree that they didn’t have any leads to go on, but…

_ This still felt like a complete waste, _ she thought, curling her hands on the bed sheets, pulling at it before lightly punching the bed to work out her frustrations.

“If only Lopmon were here,” she muttered under her breath before rolling over and giving Terriermon an accusing glare.

“Where’s Lopmon?” she asked heatedly. The question came up before, but they didn’t have the time to really go into any details. “You said she ‘left.’ Why? Did you make her by being annoying or something?” Sitting up, she pulled Henry’s pillow into her arms and propped her head on it, pouting angrily. “I thought you were  _ cute, _ Terriermon. You always were whenever we played.”

_ Everything changes but everything stays the same _ … Terriermon thought with a slight grin.

“She went back to serving Zhuqiamon. I mean it’s not like we had much of a reason to stick together in the Digital World,” Terriermon shrugged. “Except for the four of us, everyone went back to what they were doing before. I mean, what else could they do? Impmon though has been traveling around trying to fix it up, make amends. I’m sure though she’ll come back sooner than you expect.”

After all it wasn’t like they hadn’t sent out word best they could to the remaining partner Digimon. Neither Renamon or Guilmon wanted to travel around the Digital World looking for them, especially when they felt their partners in danger. Now that they were here, Terriermon couldn’t fault them for that judgement call.

Suzie looked as though she were about to cry. Her partner left the others to go back to serve a digimon that had tried to kill her and the others –  _ especially _ Takato. Burying her face in Henry’s pillow, her shoulders shook.

“It’s not fair…” she moaned, kicking her feet at the air and rocking back and forth on the bed. “I thought she would want to come back to me. She could do that if she were with you guys and she  _ left!” _

“Suzie …” Henry sighed, rubbing her back. He didn’t know what to say to her. It was a miracle Terriermon came back, and he couldn’t assure his sister a second one would happen. Terriermon’s eyes softened guiltily as well; he didn’t mean to make her cry. Again.

“It’s not like she left the second we arrived,” he said quietly. “We all stayed together for about a year but the more time passed … we started to drift away. We couldn’t always just be together and waiting, ya know? Besides, we stayed in touch which is why I said she’ll probably be back. We sent out word to everyone. Just watch, she’s going to break through the barrier and come here and carry you around on her shoulders just like she used to.”

Suzie continued to hold tightly onto the pillow, not looking up.

“You…think so…?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion.

“I know so,” Terriermon said, patting her head just like he used to do to her as a child, Henry still rubbing her back. “So Moumentai, OK?”

“Okay…” she murmured, raising her face back up. Tears touched the corners of her eyes and she wished that, in the absence of her partner, that Takato at least were here to help her feel better. Oh, how she  _ wished _ he would pick up on all her hints, but the boy was annoyingly dense when it came to her attentions. “So…what do we do now?”

“Continue to look for Rika and figure out what’s going on,” Henry said, gesturing for Terriermon to get a tissue and for once the rabbit-dog complied without a fuss, fetching it and using it to dab Suzie’s tears away. “We’re working together now, right? So we should put our heads together.”

“But I don’t know what I can do,” Suzie protested. “I’m not like you and Dad you know. I’m not into computer stuff the way you guys are.”

“Just wing it. That’s what we did in the past,” Terriermon said easily. “Worked like a charm then. I don’t see why we should reinvent the wheel.”

“Terriermon, we can’t just  _ wing _ it,” Henry pointed out, getting slightly frustrated at his partner. “We don’t even know what we’re up against!”

“We’re up against Echoes, aren’t we?” Suzie pointed out. “But yeah… We can’t just…wing it. How many fights did you guys get into and almost  _ die  _ in before going to the digital world because you kept winging it?”

“Not  _ that _ many,” Terriermon huffed, crossing his arms. “Less than 10.”

Suzie’s eyes were about to pop out of her head at that, but before she could say anything, a low knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

“Henry?” came the voice of Janyu from the other side. “Are you in?”

“Yeah, come on in!” Henry yelled back, shooting a look to Terriermon to continue to be a stuffed animal, the Digimon grudgingly complying. While he knew their father worked at Hypnos and was right in the middle of this, he didn’t exactly feel like explaining what Terriermon was doing here when he wasn’t sure how much he knew.

The door clicked open, and their father stepped into the room, nodding to Suzie and then Henry.

“Ah, good. I’m glad to see that you’re both here and…” He hesitated, spotting Terriermon in his ‘doll mode,’ frowning slightly at him. “…and…I see that what Himiko told me about the two of you is true,” he finished, closing the door behind him. He pointed at Terriermon questioningly. “He’s not an echo? He’s a real digimon?”

“Uh …” Henry wasn’t quite sure what to say, not terribly surprised Himiko told his father but wishing he knew exactly what she told him. However, Terriermon had no such reservations when it came to talking.

As usual.

“That’s right!” Terriermon said, quickly breaking out of his ‘doll mode,’ gleeful to continue to talk as much as he wanted. Staying quiet was even harder than staying out of trouble, even if the two were typically one in the same for him.

“I see,” Janyu nodded, taking one of Henry’s seats and setting himself down in it. “And here I thought my ‘memories’ were a result of my getting older.”

He sighed, massaging a leg, the muscles within bothering him more with every year now. In spite of keeping up with his tai-chi, his body was no longer what it used to be and it let him know it.

“So… Himiko has…told me a lot of things, such as your algorithm that you had been working on… On…paper?”

“Yes,” Henry said simply. “I didn’t want Mnemosyne to find it. Security was worth the hassle.”

“Points for original thinking,” Janyu chuckled. “From what we saw of this…Mnemosyne, it seemed to overlook hard copies for some reason. Not a particularly bright artificial intelligence even though it had considerable power.”

Adjusting his glasses, he looked back and forth between his two children.

“I honestly don’t know what to say, but… Henry, I know you won’t like this, but I want the two of you to stop whatever it is you’re doing and stay out of this. My friends and I are working on a solution, and as it stands we have the resources and experience needed to deal with this.”

“No.”

Henry didn’t need to think about it. He couldn’t just sit back, especially since he knew none of his other friends would. Renamon had a calm head for the most part, but with each day of Rika being missing … not to mention having to deal with Jeri and Takato who were just as destroyed about it. He could only imagine the difficulties she would be going through back at the Nonaka household without her partner there.

Even if he didn’t feel like he needed to look after his friends from making sure they didn’t fall apart and lose more people to the Dark Ocean (if their hypothesis was correct), Rika was his friend too. Not to mention, they had done just fine in the past without Hypnos help.

“Yeah, you tell him!” Terriermon said gleefully, more than happy to egg his partner on to stand up to authority.

“Even if you have the resources and experience needed to deal with the echoes, the fact is, when it comes to the Digital World  _ only _ us Tamers can handle it. Not to mention, I’m not just going to stop looking for Rika.”

Janyu sighed. “Henry…”

“He said  _ no, _ Dad.”

Suzie had bristled at their father’s words, but bit her tongue on responding, preferring Henry’s more even, more  _ tactful _ response. However, upon seeing that he didn’t have as much patience – even though his response was remarkably restrained compared to what she would have said instead – she found that she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“I  _ didn’t _ say that you should stop searching for your friend,” Janyu said, clearly unhappy with this sudden bout of rebellion from his two teenage children. “But whether or not you’re able to deal with the echoes, I don’t want you getting involved with them. Things are hard enough as it is dealing with them. I  _ don’t _ want you getting hurt when we delete them. Please Henry… Suzie… Don’t make me worry about you like last time.”

Suzie’s lower lip twitched, aching to say something in response to that, but her respect for their father held her in check and she glanced over at Henry, wondering what his response would be. She wasn’t going to just sit by when she wanted –  _ needed –  _ to find Lopmon, regardless of what their father said. And Rika… She  _ liked _ Rika! And Rika was Henry’s destined fiance. There was no way she would just abandon her.

“You’re  _ way _ too late for that,” Henry said, keeping his voice level. “Not to mention, we fought the D-Reaper at a much younger age and came out on top. This is nowhere near as bad as that.”

“Moumentai. I’ll look after them, just like before,” Terriermon said, not about to disagree with Henry. Especially since he didn’t want to be told not to fight like before either; that was horrible until finally Henry eased up on it.

Janyu frowned at the two rebellious Tamers before sighing again, running a hand through his graying hair.

“Henry… I don’t think you realize what it does to me…or what it would do to your mother by doing this. Suzie… I…remember seeing you disappear right in front of me, and then something happened in the digital world that nearly caused it to destroy itself. That  _ Hazard _ sign… And then the D-Reaper…” He shuddered. “Henry… Suzie… We all worked together to defeat the D-Reaper, but this time there’s no direct enemy that you’re needed to fight. We have a means to keep the Echoes under control when they appear. This is no longer the way things were when the Devas were around.”

He looked up at them. “I don’t know if I can get you to listen to me, but it is my wish that you  _ don’t. _ If I have to, I will touch base with my superiors and something can be worked out like we did with your friend Ryo. I’m certain Terriermon is powerful enough to protect you, but…you two can be a bit rash. Can you promise me that you won’t get hurt?”

“Dad!” exclaimed Suzie suddenly, shooting to her feet as the pain from her earlier walk lay forgotten in the heat of the moment. “Do you really think we can promise anything?! Those Echoes out there are blowing up bridges! One of them nearly  _ killed _ Henry and he wasn’t even  _ looking _ for trouble! What are we supposed to do? Lock ourselves up inside our rooms and  _ hope _ one of them doesn’t suddenly show up in the house?!”

“Wait,  _ what _ ?” Terriermon exclaimed; nobody had told him that his partner had almost died. Henry shivered slightly, once again remembering the odd visage of his younger sister before pushing it from his mind.

“Moumentai,” he told his partner, the irony not lost on him. “But Suzie is right. You can’t protect us from this. We’ve been marked and chosen by the Digital World and even if we  _ wanted _ to stay out of it, we couldn’t. We’re not like Rinchei or Jaarin and turn a blind eye. We’re also not children anymore. This is something  _ you _ just got into, but this … this has been our life.”

“Henry…!” Janyu clenched his eyes shut and passed a hand over his face. In his mind, he understood what Henry was talking about, but in his heart he couldn’t help but fear for them. What if they were hurt or killed during a confrontation? What if…?

Yet… He knew they were right. He couldn’t shield them from what the digital world had chosen them for. Henry had been hurt by chance and he didn’t have Terriermon with him. Now he did, and that meant he had a means to defend himself.

“I will work to find a way to keep you two safe,” he said finally, opening his eyes. “I still don’t want you to get involved. I want you to promise me –  _ promise me! –  _ that even if you disrespect my wishes and continue behind my back…” He focused on Henry and Terriermon in particular. “Keep each other safe. Henry, protect Suzie, and Terriermon, protect them  _ both! _ Please.”

“I promise,” Henry said solemnly, wrapping an arm protectively around his sister.

“Moumentai,” Terriermon agreed. “With me around, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Suzie bristled a little at being put in the spot of needing protection, but she understood the reasoning behind it, given that she didn’t have Lopmon by her side. Still, if this meant that they could continue their work without any interference, she was fine with promising whatever they needed and finding loopholes around them later.

“Thank you,” Janyu breathed. “This conversation isn’t over, but…I needed to hear this much at least.”

Suzie smiled and hugged her brother tightly, grateful that this problem, at least for the time being, was solved.

**###**

Akira came downstairs, a scowl upon his face as he sighted his father, seated in his chair while reading the news on his phone. Keeping quiet, he slipped past him and out into the dining room, for the time being, avoiding any conversation with the man.

Two days had passed now since the search at the beach had proven to be an exercise in pointlessness. The closest thing that could be said to having  _ anything _ accomplished was that he met Rika’s friends and even her  _ digimon partner _ – a fact that still left Akira in awe – and he himself had ‘joined’ their group, for whatever that was worth.

_ I’m just a fifth wheel around them, _ he grumbled mentally, entering the kitchen and grabbing a glass from the cabinet. Filling it with water, he took a quick drink and set it in the strainer with a satisfied gasp.  _ It’s not like I can really add anything. If anything, I’m mostly stepping on their toes. _

Still, he had to admit that meeting the digimon at least was something. He wished that it had been under different circumstances. Particularly one where his sister was there and not missing in, according to the others, some hellhole dimension.

Deciding to bite the bullet, he started back toward the living room where his father ‘sat guard’ over the path that led outside. If he was going to leave the house, he would have to brave him eventually.

_ I just hope I don’t get into another argument with him, _ he thought, remembering how Rika’s mother had called up hoping that she had been there. His sudden worry for her, in light of all his recently acquired knowledge about how he  _ left  _ her, only caused Akira’s already boiling agitation over her absence and what it said about the man they both called ‘father’ to spill out over the edge and  _ explode. _

He could only wonder what Rumiko had thought when she heard him blowing up on him over the phone

“Heading out,” he grunted, moving quickly as he passed his father by.

Yamato Makino put down his phone, a frown pulling on his lips. It was clear where both Rika and Akira got their impressive ability to scowl from.

“Where?” he demanded, not exactly liking the fact his remaining child was going out and putting himself in danger. He already lost one child, he didn’t want to lose another.

“I’m just going out for a walk,” Akira replied gruffly. “To the park. You know. Where most people my age go when they want to head out and be away from people.”

He shot his father a meaningful, harsh look, hoping he’d get the message.

“It’s dangerous out there,” Yamato said, his frown becoming more pronounced. “With those … those  _ monsters _ . You’re not going to go outside for a  _ walk _ when something could happen!”

He was positive that these monster attacks had something to do with his daughter’s disappearance - although he couldn’t exactly verify it with Rumiko cussing him out and hanging up only to cuss him out more when he tried calling her back - and while in the past he would allow his son to take walks to cool his head, times were different. He didn’t care how much of a hissy fit Akira threw; he was the father and he  _ would _ be listened to.

“Then stop me,” Akira replied, coming to a halt at the door. “If you’re going to play the part of father, you acting like it would be a nice change for once.”

Yamato bristled at that, but pushed it to the side. He knew he wasn’t the world’s best father - gods Rumiko and Akira had been reminding him of that every damn day for the past week now - but he wasn’t going to rise to his son’s taunts.

Still if he wanted to be physically stopped, Yamato was more than happy to comply.

Pushing his chair back, he stomped over to Akira and grabbed him roughly by the arm. While he would never hit his son, he did want to scare him a bit - to make him realize he was serious.

“Go to your room,” he growled, his blue eyes narrowing. “This is not up for debate.”

Akira searched his eyes, his expression dull, not really concerned about the sudden roughness in his father’s actions. He doubted he would actually harm him, but all the same he wasn’t in the mood for a fight. Not when he could leave the house via the bedroom window.

“Fine,” he said, shrugging out of his father’s grasp and stepping around him. “Too bad you didn’t act like a father when it mattered for my sister though.”

Yamato opened his mouth to say something, anything, but closed it.

He knew Akira and Rumiko were right. He wasn’t exactly father of the year when it came to his oldest daughter, and it had been something which tore at him for the last 11 years. Still, it wasn’t  _ his _ fault Rika disappeared, no matter how much they wanted to blame him. They just needed a bad guy, someone to take out their frustration out on, and he was the perfect fit.

After all, what beats a dead-beat dad?

Not that he didn’t blame himself either; if he had only  _ been _ there more maybe … she would have had someone to talk to. Rumiko, after all, never took the time to know her. Not like he had. Though between his own parents - who were at Rumiko’s home right now - and Seiko, he  _ thought _ his daughter would be in far more capable hands than his own.

Obviously not.

Akira hurried up the stairs and stepped into his room. His main option no longer viable, he quickly went over to his bedroom window and pulled it open. He had grown over the years, making the fit out a tight squeeze, but he still managed fairly easily and within short order he was out on the roof, climbing down and landing on the ground below.

As he did so, he caught sight of a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye.

“Renamon?” he asked no one in particular.

“Hello, Akira.”

A kitsune materialized for a moment only to be replaced seconds later with an attractive blonde woman. A small smile touched her face as she glanced to the open window. “Sneaking out?”

“Buh-wha…?” Akira jumped at the kitsune’s sudden transformation. “H-How did you…?” Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “Oh. Right. Digimon. You did that yesterday too.” Opening them again, he frowned slightly at her. “Do you have to…you know, appear so suddenly like that?”

“Yes.”

Renamon tilted her head slightly. She remembered the boy from the beach a few days ago. While she didn’t exactly know of his relationship to Rika, she appreciated the help. She only caught him sneaking out by happenstance; for the past hour or so she had been feeling …  _ something _ . Almost like she could sense Rika, but each time she checked a location where she thought she was, there was nothing.

She worried she was starting to go insane.

“Oh,” Akira frowned. “A-Any reason why besides scaring kids as they climb down from their rooftop?”

He cursed himself for the nervousness in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. Human or kitusne, Renamon’s eyes held a kind of cool authority and wisdom that made it difficult to hold his confidence.

“No,” she said simply. “Why are you sneaking out?”

“Couldn’t stand it in there anymore,” he shrugged, not sure what else there was to say. He didn’t want to unload his problems with his father onto Renamon, even if her partner was slightly connected to them.

“I see.” Dealing with Rika at this age taught her when children were like this to simply let them talk about it when they wanted to. Once again, she felt that pull on her, this time more urgently. Frowning, she turned her head. She was getting annoyed with this game, but felt it necessary to keep playing. “Well I must be heading out; try to keep out of trouble.”

“You look like you’re in trouble,” Akira observed, taking note of her expression that was now easier to read in her human form. “Everything all right?”

“I’m fine. I just keep feeling Rika’s presence yet each time I look, she’s nowhere to be found. It’s …” Renamon paused trying to remember the exact human word before it coming to her. “Frustrating. It’s all I have for a lead though. So I must get going.”

She shrugged and gestured with her thumb, imitating gestures she saw Rika use in the past.

“Huh.” Akira frowned slightly. “Anything I can do to help?”

Renamon wasn’t sure if she exactly needed help, but perhaps having an extra pair of eyes might be beneficial. After all while she could  _ sense _ Rika, she might not know how exactly to get to her, and having the human boy with her could possibly help.

“If you wish, you can accompany me,” she said simply, holding her hand out for him to take. It would be quicker if she just carried him.

Akira raised an eyebrow at the offered hand, but took it nonetheless. He blushed a little, wondering about how this would look to the casual outsider, but quickly forced himself to dismiss the notion. Finding Rika was their number one priority right now. Not appearances.

“So what now?” he asked.

He was answered not with words but by the woman picking him up.

“Don’t panic. It’s perfectly safe,” was all the warning she gave before bounding in the air, keeping to the shadows as she decided to take the rooftop express than push her way through the sea of people on the ground, moving toward her next destination.

“You say  _ not to panic _ but do something that would make anyone freak out?!” Akira exclaimed through his teeth, clutching hold of Renamon tightly. “You could warn a person first you know!”

His stomach gurgled at the constant bounding up and down, the changing perspective of heights, but for a wonder he managed to keep from blowing chunks out from his stomach and all over Renamon, and instead…swallowed the acidic bile that rose in his throat.

“Guh…” he gasped, shaking his head. “Oh kami… That did  _ not _ taste good twice…”

“Apologies,” Renamon said, landing in an ally, putting him down. They were close now anyway. “I was used to … ah, never mind.”

“No worries,” Akira replied, doing his best to not twitch at a jolt as his stomach attempted to recover itself. “I’ll get used to it and live. Or…you know…not.”

He peered about them curiously. “Is there anything I should be keeping an eye out for?”

“Rika, hopefully,” Renamon said, gesturing for him to follow her into the crowd. “I just  _ feel _ her nearby.”

Akira frowned, taking a slow, steady step forward to test the balance between his nausea and ability to walk without throwing up now that they were on solid ground.

“Nearby… Ok. Well…” He huffed irritably. “This is going to sound silly,” he grumbled under his breath before continuing in a louder voice. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Renamon chuckled slightly. For some reason, the boy reminded her of Rika in ways. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but their general demeanor seemed to be similar … although Akira seemed to be a  _ lot _ less snarky.

However, a large group of people caught her attention. They seemed to be gathered in a tight circle, and she could hear snatches of-

“ _ What happened?” _

_ “Someone call an ambulance!” _

_ “Is she alive?” _

Once more the feeling of Rika’s presence tugged on her insistently, and a heavy, fearful feeling set in her heart. Pushing through the crowd, her breath caught in her throat.

Akira followed her, becoming increasingly alarmed himself as the voices in the crowd coupled with Renamon’s insistence that her partner was in this area. Pushing past the crowd as well, he drew up to Renamon’s side and then ground to a halt as his eyes fell upon a familiar, red-haired girl lying on the ground, clutching a gold-trimmed digivice in her hand, all the while looking as though she had just been through Hell with her sickly, pallid color; her hair in complete and total disarray; her clothes stained and caked with mud and chapped, bleeding lips.

His older sister, Rika Nonaka. Back from the Dark Ocean at long last.


	46. Hermes

****_ Something _ was wrong.

Ayaka looked at her clock in utter confusion and then turned to her cell phone.

It happened again.

“Could have sworn that I just looked at the stupid thing only twenty minutes ago,” she muttered. “How the heck did an hour go by?”

The question nagged at her, yet she shrugged it off, or at the very least pushed it to the back of her mind where it wouldn’t bother her. She knew it was a fruitless endeavor though. These odd ‘time skips’… She knew that her perception of time changed as she grew older. Once an hour or even a minute felt like an eternity to her ever-active mind, but with age came the feeling that time never held enough sand in the hourglass. This however was even more so than it should be.

There were uncomfortable moments where she would sit down to read something, and then an hour or two later find herself sitting there on the same page having not read a thing since that first line. The oddest ones were where she would suddenly have an inspiration to go over the newspaper clippings regarding the disappearances and the echoes – to see if she could be of some use to the Tamers beyond her snark and  _ “find _ a stupid pattern,” as she put it – only to find herself still sitting there among the clippings and her laptop with nothing to show for her efforts.

She wasn’t even sure she put  _ any _ effort into her research. She felt as though she had… _ blanked _ out.

Ayaka winced and massaged her head. “Stupid Gogglehead,” she cursed, if not because of the agitation that the boy who she – correction,  _ Rika,  _ to rub salt in the wound _ – _ gave the nickname to caused her, then if only to have an appropriate swear to vent her feelings. The two feelings were practically synonymous now anyway. Every time she so much as  _ looked _ at him, she felt a well of anger surge up in her and…

Ayaka closed her eyes and unclenched her fist, flexing her fingers.

“Easy there,” she told herself quietly. “He’s not worth getting mad over.”

Oh, how that felt like a lie.

Getting up from her spot on the bed she took hold of her hair along with a hair tie and began to loop her copper strands through it, grumbling in annoyance to herself as she sought to distract herself. To no avail however, as a quick, mistaken glance in her mirror drew her up short, and she growled in frustration, her hands frozen in place as she found that she had done her hair up in a manner similar to Rika’s from when she was younger. Tearing the scrunchy out, she redid the style, allowing the ponytail to fall down her back.

She had that girl  _ too  _ much on her mind. It seemed like  _ everyone _ did, Takato and Jeri more so than any of the others. The fact that Jeri was so very much concerned about her…bothered her a great deal, and it left her feeling like she couldn’t talk to her about Rika without stepping on a toe by accident.

_ “Rika’s nuts.” _

_ “You don’t know her like I know her.” _

That tended to sum up the gist of their conversations. Any criticisms of the Demon Queen were immediately brushed off by the puppet-loving girl as unimportant, and Takato… He was hardly any better, and the worst part of it was that his thoughts remained on her even though she rejected him.  _ Hurt _ him even!

_ It’s sick, is what it is, watching him pull the ‘I’m a nice guy’ routine like that’s going to make a difference. _

She scowled angrily, thinking back to their trip to the beach to find the girl, and how, ultimately, he had snapped at her when she pointed out the obvious problem in their inability to find Rika; the same problem he had that ultimately caused him to be handcuffed to his hospital bed.

There was no talking to either of them. There was no talking to anyone, not even Kazu. It was just…all about Rika.

And now she had  _ this _ problem with keeping track of time.

_ It’d be just my luck if Mnemosyne is still out there mucking around with people’s memories and doing a shit job at it, _ she grumbled, thinking back on the Hazard event. Sighing, she grabbed her house keys and stuffed them in her pocket.

It was time to face the music.

**###**

Her body felt heavy. Heavier than it had been in a long while.

She felt tired, so very tired. The pangs of hunger had long past disappeared, but it didn’t mean her body didn’t ache for substance. Substance she dared not give it just in case eating food (not that she could find any besides the Scubamon which she now occasionally needed to hide from, needing to save her strength for everyday tasks) tied her to this damned place. However, she wasn’t sure how much she could hold out. Especially since she drank sparingly (and not from the ocean but she wasn’t sure how much that mattered - but it was better than death).

Her body was at its wit’s end.

Still she couldn’t help but notice things were …  _ quiet _ . She didn’t hear the sound of the waves which haunted the sleep did manage to catch, but after a moment she could her a dull  _ beep, beep, beep _ .

Cracking open her eyes, she blinked. A white ceiling. One she didn’t recognize.

_ Where am I?  _ She thought deliriously.

The bed shifted slightly as a girl with short, closely cropped blond-hair and familiar, icy blue eyes sat down next to her

“Hello, Rika,” the strange girl greeted in a voice that was all too familiar. “It’s me, Renamon. How are you feeling?”

The first thought which crossed her mind was,  _ oh thank gods she's in color too _ . The second, however, was,  _ What? _

After all, Renamon got deleted, and there was a Firewall between the Digital World and the Real World, so there was no way that her partner would be able to be with her. Not to mention, Renamon was a kitsune, and while her voice was spot on, as were the eyes, the fact was this strange, if not attractive, girl was definitely not a fox.

“Rika’s awake?”

Another face - also in color - popped into her vision. It was a man who had to be in his late 30s with stormy blue eyes and hair who was just as fiery as her own. Despite not seeing it in 10 years, Rika recognized the face of her own father.

_ Ah … I see … I’m dreaming. There’s no way that both dad and Renamon would be here. Hallucinating … makes sense. _

A light-haired woman followed quickly from behind, brushing by Rika’s father. “Rika!” Rumiko exclaimed, hurrying over to her daughter and pulling her into a powerful hug. “Oh thank goodness! We were so worried! So… _ worried _ !”   
  
Renamon pulled away to give the pair a chance to catch up, however she picked up on the way Rika’s mother had said the word worried, and glanced up at Yamato to see his reaction.

Yamato, however, didn’t seem to react much to it, although he did look irritated at being shoved out of the way.

_ Worried? _

The word seemed foreign for a moment, the hug unexpected and she deliriously wondered for a moment if this was some sort of new, fucked-up mind game the Dark Ocean was putting her through until her eyes fell on the rest of the room.

It was in color.

Just then, hazy memories bubbled to the front of her mind of herself following a Digi Gnome to only the gods know where … a D-arc held tightly in her hands … a bright light, honking horns and then … nothing. She was sure, given time, it would return to her just like everything else had, but that wasn’t important right now.

“M...mama…” she croaked, her voice raspy and cracking as she wrapped her arms weakly around her mother. Once more she looked at her father (she wasn’t completely sure if she was hallucinating on that to be honest) who smiled, but shifted awkwardly.

“Dad?”

“Hey kid, you gave us quite a scare,” he said gently. “Akira and Rena…?” he glanced to the blonde woman for confirmation before continuing on, “said you were lying in the middle of the sidewalk. Where have you  _ been _ ?”   


“We can talk about that  _ later!” _ Rumiko rasped at the man, glaring at him. “Can’t you see that she’s just woken up? She’s probably confused and not sure what’s going on!”

“Rumiko, dear…” came the voice of Seiko, approaching from behind Yamato. Placing a gentle hand on his arm, she pushed him lightly aside so she could get by. “We know that you’re upset, but everyone here is worried.” She turned to Rika and smiled at her. “Take your time, dear. But try and remember everything you can. You were gone quite some time. Certain people would like to know what happened to you. Things have been…unsettled around here of late.”

“Mother…” began Rumiko, only to be silenced by a look from the elder woman as a dark cloud crossed her features.

“Really, Rumiko. Not everything is about you and your former husband.”

“I…” Rumiko blinked and then her face flushed bright red. “I’m…sorry.”

Yamato tried to offer his ex-wife a comforting smile, but it came out as a slight grimace. He still felt awkward around her and his eldest daughter, and even though he was trying to push that to the side - for Rika’s sake - it was easier said than done. Luckily his own parents decided to come in and further divert attention away from him, which for the moment, he welcomed; even though he had several hours to think of what to say to Rika once she woke up, his carefully laid plans got thrown out the window.

“Did we hear that Rika’s awake?” Rin Makino asked, popping into the room followed by a woman who Rika looked the most like, providing no doubt a very accurate idea of what the teenager would look like as an older woman.

“She is!” Hannah Makino cooed, standing next to Seiko, smiling down at her granddaughter. Rika blinked in surprise at seeing her paternal grandparents as well. While she got along great with them - they always came down to visit her on her birthday without fail - she hadn’t expected to see them here just like she hadn’t expected to see her father.

“How you feeling, sweetie?” Hannah asked, reaching into a plastic bag Rika just realized she had and pulling out a cup of chocolate pudding, grinning slightly. “Doctors said you were dehydrated and starving. They’re pumping you full of nutrients right now, but I thought you would like something to snack on when you woke up.”

“Your grandmother wanted to get you ice cream, but we had nowhere to keep it cold,” Rin smiled at Rika as Hannah opened the chocolate pudding for her granddaughter and put it in her hands, before giving her a spoon.

“She should be eating something a bit more filling then pudding,” Yamato protested with a slight huff, only for his mother to wave him off.

“The doctors said that it was all right,” Seiko said with a small smile. “Let it be if it won’t hurt her.”

Renamon eyed Rika’s family carefully. This had been the first time she saw them all together in one place and most certainly the first time she ever met Rika’s father in person.

_ The tension runs thick among them, _ she thought, glancing down at Rika to see what her reaction was.

“It might be better in the long run anyway,” she suggested, more to herself than to anyone else. “This must be quite the shock after all.”

“See, her girlfriend agrees!” Hannah said smugly, just as Rika took a tentative bite out of the pudding, only to immediately choke on the word ‘girlfriend.’

Renamon raised an eyebrow. “Girlfriend?” she asked. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. We’re ‘partners,’ but we’re not in a relationship.”

“It’s complicated,” Seiko cut in. “Rena is…a bit of an odd one. She uses partner the same way someone would use the word ‘sister.’ She and Rika were very close when they were younger, before Rena had to…move away, so I’m sure you can understand why Rena holds Rika in such high regards.”

Rena bowed politely, smiling a tiny, barely visible smile. “Your granddaughter is a truly amazing person.”

Hitting her chest as she finished coughing, Rika once more looked to ‘Rena,’ noticing now that her appearance was … remarkably similar to her own.

_...Renamon? Is … is that really you _ ? She asked through their telepathic mind link, the use of which, despite not using it in six years, came second nature to her.

Hearing the girl’s voice through their link, Renamon turned toward Rika and her smile grew ever so slightly.

_ Of course, _ she replied in turn.  _ It is very good to see you again. I can see that you’ve continued to get in trouble without me. You haven’t changed one bit. _

Rika didn’t like crying. Hated it really. Still, despite best efforts otherwise, her eyes began to water, and she hurriedly wiped them away before too many questions could be asked.

_ I missed you _ , she sniffed, and while her feelings went a lot deeper than that, she knew that Renamon didn’t need for them to be put into words. Even if they could communicate telepathically, there were things which simply didn’t need to be said as both understood the other without needing to explain themselves.

“Oh is that so?” Hannah hummed as Yamato barely hid the look of relief. While Rena seemed like a nice girl, if he was honest he really would prefer Rika date a boy. His father, however, caught this and elbowed him in the side before turning to Rika again.

“There is a lot of other people who would like to see you, Rika. You’re quite the popular one. Why don’t we let the others catch up wit her while we go get you some actual food. Is there anything you want in particular?” he asked.

_ Gizzards _ , was what she thought, but what Rika said instead was - if only to be easy - was, “A hamburger and some fries would be great. Thanks grandpa.”

“Coming right up. Come on Yamato,” Rin said cheerfully before grabbing his son’s arm and dragging him out of the room. “We’ll be right back!”

“Come along dear,” Seiko said, approaching Rumiko and tugging on her arm. “I’m sure Rika would like to let her friends know that she’s all right. She can’t very well do that with us here. There are some things that can only pass between friends.”

“But…Mom…” Rumiko began, not wanting to be separated from her daughter, yet a stern look from Seiko drew her up short. Knotting her eyebrows, Rumiko conceded…for now.

“We’ll…We’ll be back, Rika,” she said, reaching over and giving her daughter’s hand a squeeze. She glanced up at Renamon uncertainly.

“Keep an eye on her,” she said shakily, a part of her not sure what to make of her returning memories of her daughter as a Tamer to a digimon, but, for the time being, accepting it nonetheless.

“Always,” Renamon bowed again. With nothing more to be said the adults filed out of the room, and within short order were replaced by the much larger, if shorter, group of teens that Rika counted as her friends.

_ “Rika!” _ exclaimed Jeri, being at the head of the line. Quickly rushing over, she planted herself on the bed, only to stop herself from flinging her arms around the girl, unsure if she would end up hurting her by accident if she did so.

However, Calumon - who had been with Jeri and Masahiko - had no such qualms and flew over and landed on the redhead’s face, promptly giving her Eskimo kisses, causing the teenager to burst out laughing.

“Quick! Someone check if she’s the real thing! She just laughed!” Terriermon gasped, who was riding on Henry’s head as usual, only to get a faceful of well-thrown pillow and knocked off of his partner’s perch.

“I think we can definitely say it’s her,” Henry chuckled, bending down to pick both rabbit and pillow up, Making his way to the bed, he passed the pillow over to Rika. “So how’re you doing?”

“And where were you?!” demanded Jeri with a frantic edge in her voice as Takato came to a halt on the far end of Rika’s bed, settling himself down in one of the chairs. “You were gone for so long and we looked everywhere for you!”

“Thanks,” Rika said, taking the pillow back as Terriermon grumbled in his partner’s arms, Calumon giggling, quite happy to see everyone’s moods all lifted. Scratching the back of her head, she turned to Jeri, look a cross between sheepish and abashed. “Ah … sorry about that. As for where I was uhm …”

“Was it the Dark Ocean?!” Mako blurted out, making his way up front, his eyes wide in wonder. Ai, coming up from behind him, hit him lightly on the head with a karate chop.

“Oi, give her some space,” she chided him, before awkwardly bowing to the teenage girl, embarrassed he was acting so inconsiderate in front of Akira’s older sister. “Sorry about my brother.”

“Ah, no, it’s fine,” Rika said. “It seems you know the answer anyway.”

“How did you get out?” Suzie asked, deciding to give her future sister-in-law a hug before settling down in a chair next to her future husband.

“Deus ex machina,” came the surprisingly unhelpful answer.

“Not exactly big on details are you?” Kazu asked sarcastically while Ayaka folded her arms together next to him, a part of her wishing she were somewhere else.

“He’s right,” Henry said. “Deus ex machina’s are fine, but what happened?”

Rika didn’t answer at first, pulling at her clothes - which she realized was a hospital gown - before looking at Renamon.

_ Where’s my clothes? _

_ I believe they’re stored in a bag in one of the cabinets, however your grandmother brought you some fresh ones. _

Reaching down by Rika’s bed, Renamon produced another set of clothes, this set cleaner, and presented them to Rika indicatively.

_ However, I would advise that you stay in bed. Your doctors say that you’re still…exhausted from your absence. _

_ No I mean, there is something I need with my other clothes. I’m not as stupid as Takato was. _

Renamon arched an eyebrow at Rika’s derisive comment toward her friend, but nodded to her. Heading over to the cabinet, she took out the bag, noting the sound of something considerably less malleable rolling around inside.

_ Rika’s digivice? _ she wondered before returning to her partner.

“Anyone else get the feeling that those two are talking without using words?” Kazu asked while Ayaka snorted.

“Who cares? Is  _ anyone _ going to say something? We’ve been standing here for a while not talking or getting any answers when Jeri asked her a stupid question.”

“Ayaka!” hissed Jeri, a scolding expression on her face as Renamon passed the bag to Rika.

“Thanks,” Rika muttered, rooting around in it for a minute before pulling something out and tossing it at Takato. “Keep track of that closer next time, Gogglehead.”

Takato blinked in surprise as he grabbed his digivice, fumbling it at first before finally latching hold of it before he, and everyone else, looked at Rika in surprise.

“Wha…? What…What was this doing in the Dark Ocean?!” Takato asked in bewilderment.

“How did you  _ find _ it?” Kenta asked shocked. It wasn’t too much of a secret Takato couldn’t find his D-arc, but everyone had assumed it was because his room was a warzone with how messy it was.

“Dunno and Digi Gnomes respectively,” Rika said, returning to her pudding. “I don’t remember at the moment how exactly I got out, but I do remember a bright light, hence deus ex machina.”

“That’s so cool,” Mako whispered before putting his hands on his cheeks, and Ai could swear there was stars in his eyes. She really didn’t want to know what he was thinking now, but unfortunately for her, he said it anyway. “Feelings really did pass through.”

Jeri and Ayaka both frowned at this while Takato gazed down at his digivice, his lips pressed together into one thin line before he glanced up at Rika.

“Well… Whatever the case is, I’ll be sure to keep what you said in mind.”

Gigimon poked his head out of Takato’s hood, golden eyes sparkling.

“Wow… You weren’t kidding when you said you lost it.”

“I’d just like to know how it  _ got _ there,” Takato mumbled, clipping it to his side. “Because I’m pretty sure I still had it when we met Mnemosyne in that haunted house.”

“Maybe you accidently dropped it in the toilet or something,” Kazu joked. “I’m pretty sure that’s a portal to a hell dimension.”

Takato didn’t rise to the bait and instead leaned back, taking Gigimon out and setting him in his lap, scratching his ears affectionately.

“Well… It’s good to have you back, Rika,” he said quietly.

“Thanks. It’s good to be back,” Rika shrugged. She didn’t exactly know how to handle everything at once, nor had the shock from getting back settled in just yet, so she just did what she normally did in a situation like this; shove all her emotions to the side to deal with later. “So how long was I gone, anyway?”

“A week now,” Renamon replied. “No more than that.”

“A week, huh?”

It felt longer than that, but she supposed it made sense. Finishing off her pudding, she tossed it into the trash from where she was laying,

“So, how did you know I was in the Dark Ocean in the first place?” Ever since … kid who she couldn’t remember the name of and hoped someone would say it at some point correctly guessed it, she couldn’t help but be curious.

“Takato suggested that it might be the case after hearing about some…unsettling things from Jeri,” said Renamon, to which Jeri nodded. “It also seems he’s been having some...dreams as well.”

“It was when he was in the hospital, right before…” Jeri hesitated, not wanting to so quickly remind Rika of her fight with Takato. “Well… After Henry had that accident at the bridge. Takato… He was leaving water stains on the floor and I was hearing the sounds of an ocean…”

“You also said something about my shadow looking like Gallantmon,” Takato said, scratching at his face where the fringes of his beard were irritating him. “With so much going on about the digital world and how much of it resembles what we saw in the show…” He shrugged. “It just…sounded right even if it didn’t make any sense.” He glanced up at Rika. “Especially since you disappeared so suddenly the way you did.”

_ My fault, _ he thought quietly, holding Rika’s gaze for a moment before looking away.  _ That was all my fault. _

“Hm.”

Rika didn’t quite know what to think (or feel) about that, or what else to say. Judging from the sounds of things, the others were also being (possibly still are) being pulled by the Dark Ocean, but only she fell in due to her own weakness.

She didn’t know what else to ask for that matter. She really didn’t want to dwell on the Dark Ocean, or talk about it for that matter. At the moment, she didn’t really want to know what sort of bullshit happened while she was gone. There was more than enough time for that in the future. Right now, she wanted to just take a moment to relax and sort herself out.

Renamon furrowed her brow at Rika’s response – or lack thereof – sensing that the girl was raising her barriers against her emotions once more. She wasn’t the only one either as Takato and Henry both looked at her worriedly, while Jeri covered the girl’s hand with her own.

“Are you all right?” Jeri asked softly. “Rika, you know you can talk to us about anything.”

Ayaka Itou had a different appraisal of the situation.

“Or maybe we’re dumping things on her too quickly,” she said, closing her eyes. “She just got back from a digital hell hole and just woke up from her coma. It might be a better idea to just let her be and check in on her later when she’s not all unsettled.”

She glanced over at Rika, pressing her lips together tightly, hating that she was feeling an ounce of sympathy for the girl. “Is that what it is?”

Rika smiled wryly. It seemed a bit ironic that the person she didn’t get along with understood the situation the most.

“Someone gets it.” she said, patting Calumon, who was now giving her Eskimo kisses again, with her free hand, ignoring the slight jump her heart had when Jeri took her hand.

“Do you want us to leave you alone?” Kenta asked, honestly feeling more than happy to duck out and give her some space. While he was glad she seemed alright, at this rate it would dip into uncomfortable silence which he would rather avoid. Not to mention he was getting sick of hospitals.

“I really don’t care either way; I’m probably not going to be good company at the moment though,” Rika answered honestly. While she appreciated the company, she knew not everyone could stand the silence like Renamon and she could. She didn’t hold it against them - the fact they were even worried about her in the first place was touching - but she rather they would just leave instead of try to make her talk about things she really didn’t want to at the moment.

Jeri frowned, clearly not liking this, but nodded simply, withdrawing her hand. “Is it all right if we come and visit later?” she asked quietly.

“Sure. I hope I’m not kept in here for too long though which needs extended visits,” she said, leaning back into the pillows. “Hospital food is kinda bad, ya know? Plus if they are pumping me full of food, the gravy of starvation isn’t going to make it taste much better.”

“Like we would just let you eat hospital food,” Suzie snorted before remembering something. “Oh! And just to let you know, they finally closed down schools the other day. So you don’t have  _ that _ much work to catch up on.”

“Yeah, because school work is always the top of her mind,” Terriermon said sarcastically. He had been around long enough when Henry was a boy to remember that when they left for the Digital World, the last thing any of them seemed to care about was their  _ homework _ .

“I wouldn’t worry about food either,” Ayaka snorted. “I’m sure if worst comes to worst you can always have  _ Gogglehead _ bring you some.”

Takato’s head snapped over to her, his expression angry. Ayaka returned it for a moment before glancing away, shifting uncomfortably. Getting to his feet, Takato composed himself before bowing politely to Rika.

“We’re glad you’re back,” he said stiffly and hating himself for sounding that way. “I hope you get better.”

With nothing more to say, the former goggle-wearing Tamer headed toward the door, brushing past Ayaka without so much as a word as he did so. Renamon, Henry and Jeri watched him go, their expressions a portrait of concern.

“Right,” Henry began upon the boy’s exit, turning back to Rika. “Anyway, if there’s anything you need, just let us know, okay?”

Rika’s stomach twisted uncomfortably both at Ayaka’s words, and Takato’s reaction. Despite Jeri trying to tiptoe around it earlier, Rika remembered her fight with Takato quite clearly. After all, the Dark Ocean sure as hell didn’t make her forget and that look on his face … she forced herself not to react and only relaxed when he left the room.

_ He’s not his shadow _ , she reminded herself, but the expression of the crimson eyed boy’s face twisted in hate and anger was easy enough to remember - it was the only expression she saw for a week.

No, he wasn’t his shadow, but that didn’t mean the shadow wasn’t part of him. Rika, who was well aware of her own darkness from an early age, found herself not quite knowing how to feel about that. It was one thing, after all, knowing your own darkness so closely but to know the darkness of those you loved and cared about …

“I know, give you a call. Renamon’s here, and my grandparents are bringing me back some food, so I think I’ll be fine. Thanks though, Henry,” Rika said, giving the Chinese boy a small smile, pushing the thought from her mind.

“Okay,” Henry nodded reluctantly, glancing up at Renamon, who did likewise. “Talk to you later.”

Reaching over, Jeri gave Rika’s arm a soft squeeze before withdrawing again and getting to her feet. “Later Rika,” she said quietly, following Henry’s example.

As the Tamers began to file out of the room, Kazu glanced at Ayaka, who looked a bit unsettled as she hugged her arms around herself.

“Okay, what did  _ you _ do to make Chumley mad like that?”

“Nothing,” the copper-haired girl grumbled. “It’s none of your business anyway.”

Himiko watched the last of the teens leave, nursing her latest cup of coffee as she sat with Yamato’s boy outside the room, before finishing off the drink wishing - not for the first time - she could just smoke in the hospital. Her nerves were on end, and while she was relieved Rika was OK, she had no idea how to approach her.

“You coming in, kid?” she asked in an undertone, throwing her coffee away, reminding herself she was an adult and the least she could do was tell Rika she was glad she wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere and hope it came out better than it sounded.

Akira glanced up at Himiko from his spot next to Masahiko, who stayed with him when he hesitated in joining the others to see Rika and swallowed nervously. Masahiko looked at him sympathetically and clasped a hand to his shoulder.

“Is it…all right?” he asked cautiously. “I…don’t really know her the same way you or her friends do.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Masahiko grinned, although it didn’t touch his eyes. “If Ai and Mako are any indication about family, she’ll either throw you out or let you stay. You’re a nice enough guy, so she’ll probably let you stick it out.”

“That...isn’t helpful,” Akira replied deadpan.

“Despite living with her for a few months now, I don’t exactly know her either,” Himiko grimaced. “But you’re her brother, right? That should be good enough.”

_ That and you didn’t directly cause for her to go missing in the first place _ , she thought. While she was hardly the biggest fan of Yamato (sometimes it was hard to tell whose opinion on him was worse post divorce - Rumiko or Himiko’s) but his kid seemed alright, not to mention he helped find Rika. He hadn’t done anything to hurt her, and even she couldn’t boast that.

Not seeing if the kid would followed her, she took a step in.

“Go on,” Masahiko said with a nervous smile. “If not now...when?”

“Later,” Akira replied, to which Masahiko rolled his eyes.

“I could annoy you until then you know. Come on, this has been bothering you for a while now. Rip the bandaid off already!”

“Fine…” Akira grumbled, getting to his feet and following Himiko inside, finding her already saying hi to the bed-bound teenager.

“Hey,” she greeted, trying not to sound awkward as she felt, pulling a chair up next to Rika’s bed. She noticed Rika’s look of surprise, but ignored it.

“Himiko?”

“You really terrified us all when you just disappeared like that, but from the sound of things, everyone gave you an earful about that already,” the older woman said, folding her hands, wishing she had something to hold or drink. She should have bought another coffee before she came in here at the very least. “But nobody said not to do it again, so, don’t. You’re kind of thick, so I’ll spell it out for you. You have people that love you, so don’t do stupid shit like this anymore.”

Akira trailed after Himiko, keeping behind her, just off to the side so it wouldn’t look like he was trying to hide. Raising a hand, he waved uncertainly at Rika and Renamon. “Uh… Hey.”

_ Stupid, stupid, stupid… _ was all he could end up thinking, feeling agitated now that he was in the same room as the girl who, as fate and fortune turned out, was his older sister. The gods were surely laughing at him now.

Renamon arched an eyebrow at the duo.

_ You have interesting family members, _ she thought at Rika.

_ You can say that much _ , Rika agreed with her, feeling a mix of fondness and exasperation. She wasn’t going to ask how Renamon learned Akira was her younger brother - it probably came out sometime during the week when she was gone.

She also felt a bit surprised by Himiko’s words, but then she remembered the older woman always looked after her in her own way. She remembered blowing up at her in the hospital last time she was here, and felt suddenly guilty.

“Sorry,” she apologized to Himiko before turning her attention to Akira, and a desire to tease him came across her. “And that’s all you gotta say to your older sister?” she said, grinning slightly hoping he would take the social cue she was trying - no doubt poorly - to break the ice.

Akira scrunched his face up in confusion. “I…don’t know what to say to you,” he admitted reluctantly. Puffing his cheeks out, he turned his eyes down to the tiled floor. “We barely talked to each other the first time we met after all, and even…after…” He looked back up at Rika. “I’m sorry. It looks like I’m just another clueless idiot. I think that’s how little brothers are supposed to be anyway, so…nothing new here.”

_ Blunt,  _ Renamon observed to her partner.  _ I can see the relation even if the hair is the wrong color. _

Rika snorted, slightly in amusement, Himiko muttering under her breath, unknowingly agreeing with Renamon-

“Well they’re definitely related with that tact.”

“And I have any idea how to be the big sister?” she asked amused before pointing at Renamon. “She’s the older one in our relationship.”

“I believe the relationship is quite similar to how you treat some of your friends,” Renamon pointed out. “You protect and trust them and correct them where they’re wrong. That is how I go about things. However, I have only our relationship to draw from. With regards to biological families, I seem to recall Henry’s relationship with his sister to be something similar, only the younger sibling appears to be required to be spoiled in some manner.”

“I’ll skip the spoiled part,” Akira frowned, remembering Ai and Mako’s relationship. “Spoiled siblings are…a frustration. One that I think my sister would prefer to not deal with.”

“It would be nice not to be randomly paired up with people, yes,” Rika agreed, remembering Suzie’s continued assistance that the redhead would marry her brother. While it was cute at first, in a way, it got annoying by the third time. She couldn’t imagine what Henry had to go through, and she did not envy him one bit.

“Well if you were choosing between him and Takato, I do think Henry is the better choice,” Himiko said; she didn’t like Takato before all of this happened. This whole incident only made her like him less.

“Seriously?” Rika asked, slightly annoyed. Himiko shrugged, not exactly wanting to get into a fight with the girl.

Akira shrugged. “I don’t know either of them well enough either, but…” He shrugged again. “Her tastes are her tastes. I’m not going to bug her about them.”

Renamon glanced over at Rika, smiling softly. “And I will support her in her choices as well,” she said.

_ Although I am curious as to how you and Takato, if I understand events correctly, came to be connected in such a manner, _ she thought at her partner.  _ It is…most surprising. _ A pause.  _ Not that you have to tell me if you’re not comfortable with doing so… _

_ It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later when it’s just us in this stupid room,  _ Rika responded back, responding to Akira verbally-

“Seems like you already got the hang of the brother thing; the next step is for both of us to get into trouble and not tell our parents or Himiko,” Rika said, smirking at the older woman.

“... Why am I involved in this now?”

“Because you’re one of my guardians, aren’t you?” Rika pointed out, causing Himiko to blink - she tried being this in the past to no real avail, but to hear Rika acknowledge it …

She smiled ever so slightly, feeling like something changed in their relationship. Something neither spoke about but did it really need to be?

“So do you really think it’s wise to plan trouble with me here?” she rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “Not to mention, you’re the older sister. Do try to set a good example.”

“I’m getting the feeling that our roles are being reversed here,” Akira sighed, folding his arms together. “Either that, or Renamon over there has the lion’s share of good behavior and Rika is making up for it.” He looked up at Himiko. “In either case,” he continued, his expression neutral. “From what I remember of two friends of mine, planning to get in trouble with you in the room is apparently all part of the fun.”

Renamon chuckled.

_ A little more honest than you, _ Renamon noted to her partner.

_ … That may be _ , Rika agreed, watching Himiko and Akira exchange deadpan sarcastic comments.

**###**

Ayaka felt very much alone in her thoughts as they made their way through the hospital, her mind going this way and that, chasing itself around in a circle. The haunted look in Rika’s eyes when she saw Takato… Oh, she tried to hide it behind a blank expression, but she was no fool.

_ He wanted to look for her… Went looking for her and practically drove himself into the ground doing it, and all she can do is look at him like he’s a threat. _

She kicked at the ground as they went, leaving the lobby. It felt like an unfair thought – more so since she didn’t know what Rika went through in that other dimension – but she couldn’t help it. It was clear to her that Takato cared a great deal about the Demon Queen in spite of all the bumps and bruises she gave him. Seeing it so…unappreciated, even a little bit just didn’t sit well with her, and she felt all her old frustrations toward the two of them rise up again.

_ She  _ hit _ him! She  _ hit him!

She squashed the dark emotions down however, forcing them down alongside her feelings for the stupid Gogglehead and her fears about her ‘missing time.’ She grimaced, feeling a type of ‘mental bad taste’ in her mouth.

_ All that squishing is going to make me sick, _ she thought before reality broke her out of her thoughts.

“So what did you do to make Takato so angry?” Terriermon asked Ayaka, riding on top of Henry’s head as they left the hospital. Honestly, he didn’t see what about her comment could have caused such a reaction since while the rabbit-dog could hear a tongue-in-cheek response when one popped up, it was pretty … lacking in bite as far as he was concerned.

Ayaka glared at the dog-bunny digimon and quickly looked away, her eyes coming to rest on Takato’s back.

“Nothing,” she grumbled, repeating what she said to Kazu earlier in a tone that brooked no room for argument. “It’s  _ not _ your business.”

“I bet I know why,” Kazu said from his spot by Kenta, arms folded behind his head. At this, Ayaka whirled about at him, eyes giving him a sharp, deadly looking glare. Takato’s back stiffened as well at his friend’s words and, stirring, glanced over at Kazu warningly.

"Kazu," Kenta said worriedly, glancing at his friend, begging him with his eyes for once not to pick a fight. "Maybe just ... let it go?"

He didn't want a fight to start. Rika was back, some of the Digimon were back, things were starting to look up. Their group was already fractured enough as it was; he didn't want to tempt fate.

However, Terriermon was more curious about it now then he was before.

"Ohh what is it?" he asked curiously.

"Can we not?" Jeri asked, sensing a storm brewing. She wasn't exactly happy with Ayaka's snide comment - especially since she knew Rika turned Takato down - but with things how they were, she didn't want a fight.

She was upset enough as it was.

Kazu shrugged. “You know they’re just going to find out eventually. I mean, everyone already knows what happened between Chumley and…”

What happened next was a blur. Before anyone could react, Ayaka stormed over to Kazu and violently shoved him back, causing him to stagger, almost crashing to the ground before righting himself, shock written on his face.

“Don’t you  _ dare!” _ the copper-haired girl shouted angrily, and just like that the entire group ground to a halt, taken aback by her sudden outburst. Ayaka’s face was flushed, her chest rising up and down in rapid succession as she seethed with fury. She ignored all the eyes that were on her, her fists clenched tightly together,  _ daring _ Kazu to step over the line.

“What…the hell?” Kazu began, his own anger starting to spark against hers now. “Seriously, what bug bit your ass, Ayaka?”

“Kazu…” began Henry, starting forward in the hopes of quelling the fight that he knew was brewing. Takato however moved faster, for a wonder, and was suddenly there, interposing himself between the two, giving them both a sharp look.

“Let it go, you two,” he said. Ayaka snorted derisively.

“Playing the knight in shining armor again?” she scoffed, her anger turning on him almost as soon as she saw him. She couldn’t help herself in spite of the sudden pain in her heart at doing so. Right now she was mad enough to snipe at anyone who crossed her field of vision. “After all the crap Kazu has done to you? You’re going to step up to the plate and defend him again?! I thought you were  _ done _ with that!”

The dam was bursting now. There was no stopping it.

"Ayaka, stop it!" Jeri yelled, wondering why her best friend was acting like this. Yes, Kazu was toeing the line, but there was no reason for the copper-haired girl to act like this. "What's wrong with you?! We're a team - can't we work together as one for once?!"

Tears sprung forth in Ayaka’s eyes at that.

“Oh please…” she said, shaking her head to hide her pain. “I’m not a Tamer like you guys. I have nothing to do with being on your ‘team.’ All I ever do is argue and yell at people, right?”

“You sure act like you’re in a permanent state of PMS,” Kazu snarked, too which Ayaka nearly threw herself at Kazu, only to be blocked by Takato once again.

“Ayaka!” Takato exclaimed, grabbing hold of her by the arms. “Please, just  _ ignore _ him! He’s not worth it!”

“You mean like how I’m supposed to ignore  _ Rika _ ?” Ayaka snarled, remembering the way Rika looked back at the hospital; how distant she was. “She can barely even  _ look _ at you now! Whatever she saw in that  _ Dark Ocean,  _ it changed how she sees you. She  _ hates you _ and you’re too stupid to even  _ see it!” _

Ayaka as if her heart abruptly stopped as the words left her mouth, seeing the way Takato’s red eyes rose, hurt flashing within them before vanishing behind a cloud.

“Is that why you said what you did back there?” he asked softly, and Ayaka could hear the tremors in his voice; the anger he showed her before leaving. His eyes flashed and he dropped his hands from her. “She was hurting up there because of what happened to her and you were looking to hurt her more?”

Ayaka’s heart clenched at that, but once again that thought snuck in her mind.

_ He’s thinking about her again. No matter how much she pushes him away or hurts him, he’ll always think of her. _

"Ayaka! That's not true and you know it!" Jeri yelled, shocked at what came out of her best friend's mouth.

She knew Ayaka never liked Rika - all she saw was the  _ Demon Queen _ and ignored all words to the contrary. Still, even though the two didn't get along, Ayaka had never been  _ malicious _ about it even if she did toe the line.

So to suggest that Rika hated Takato now was a slap in the face, and what made it worse was that Jeri hoped - for the horrible briefest of seconds - it was true. That was until another voice had whispered in her ear;

_ How do you know it's only Takato she hates? _

"Why would you even  _ say _ something like that?" Jeri demanded, her voice cracking. "What the hell is  _ wrong _ with you?!"

Mako started to open his mouth - talk, intervene, try to stop this from happening only to have Ai put a hand on his chest.

"Don't," she murmured. "This was bound to happen sooner or later it seems. This is something they need to work out for themselves, otherwise it will explode at a worse time."

Ai could understand; it was uncomfortable to watch. They only recently got involved in the teens' lives, but this seemed to be festering for a long while.

Not to mention she didn't care what this was about; she only went to the hospital for Akira's sake. They may be Tamers, but have they ever truly been on the same team?

Henry’s eyes went wide a little at Jeri’s swear, not used to hearing such language from the normally polite girl. Things, it seemed, were  _ quite _ serious.

“Don’t… Don’t tell me you didn’t notice,” Ayaka said to Jeri, ignoring Takato’s question. “I saw the way she looked. She barely acknowledged him…”

“She barely talked to  _ anyone!” _ Takato snapped suddenly, trying desperately to keep his voice even. “Ayaka,  _ none of us _ know for sure what she went through! She…!”

“You _don’t?!”_ Ayaka suddenly interrupted. _“Mr._ _I have dreams about the Demon Queen?”_ She jabbed a finger into his sternum just then, pushing him back a pace. “Give me a break! You know better than _anyone_ here how she feels right now! She…”

_ “She was in the Dark Ocean!” _ Takato shouted suddenly, his voice roaring with such force that Ayaka suddenly found herself retreating instinctively. All at once a black miasma was crawling along Takato’s body as he shook violently all over. Distantly, she heard the sound of ocean waves crashing upon a shore, but it soon quieted. With great effort, Takato clenched his eyes shut and the black aura faded, retreating into his shadow.

“Kami…” Takato said, folding his hands around his face, and Ayaka got the sneaking suspicion that he was crying. Sniffing, he raised his tear-stained eyes, confirming her suspicions. “Look at us. We’re about ready to tear ourselves apart.”

“Maybe we should just … leave this for another time. Everyone’s nerves are pretty frayed and we are still on edge,” Kenta suggested quietly, forcing himself to step between Ayaka and Takato. “None of know what is going on still. There is no reason for us to tear ourselves apart.”

“Yeah, momentai,” Terriermon agreed as if he wasn't the one egging things on a minute ago.

_ “That _ sounds like a good idea,” Henry said in exasperation, glowering up at his partner, promising to have words with him later.

Takato nodded wordlessly, glancing down at his hands. He felt Gigimon stir in his hoodie before hopping onto his shoulder.

“Come on, Takato. Momentai,” he said softly, sounding every bit as though he were about to cry himself. He had sensed the darkness crawling along Takato’s body, running over it like water, and it left him… _ scared. _ Not a feeling he liked associating with his partner. From the feel of Takato’s tremors and the smell coming off of him, it frightened him too.

_ Takato… What happened to you? _

“Okay…” Takato shuddered, taking a breath to steady himself. He glanced over at the hospital, and for a moment, a thought occurred to him before he glanced away again, this time locking his gaze with Ayaka.

They held each other’s eyes for a moment before Takato turned and departed from the group wordlessly.

“Hey, where’s he going?” Kazu asked, confused.

“Ayaka, why did you have to do that?” Jeri asked quietly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Sorry,” Ayaka mumbled, turning away from her. She couldn’t answer her. She doubted Jeri would listen to her anyway.

“You should be apologizing to Takato, not me,” Jeri said, scowling, putting her hands on her hips. “Seriously what has gotten into you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ayaka replied sternly, tears again brimming at the corners of her eyes. “It’s probably easier this way…having him hate me. Better than having him worrying about me.”

“What?” Jeri didn’t quite know what was going on, but seeing her best friend starting to cry, the anger she felt toward her evaporated - just a little - and she reached out and pulled her into a hug. “What are you saying? He doesn’t hate you.”

“Yeah,” Kenta agreed. “I mean Kazu pissed him off way worse, and he doesn’t hate him.”

“I said it’s better if he does,” Ayaka said bitterly, untangling herself from Jeri. “I  _ don’t _ want him worrying about me, okay? I never added anything to you bunch anyway. Just…Just leave me alone!”

“None of us have exactly done much of anything in regards to the echoes,” Kenta pointed out before amending himself after a second thought of, “Well except for Henry. But still, Ayaka, just because you don’t want him to worry doesn’t mean he won’t. I mean … we’re all worried.”

He decided to include Kazu in there too because something was clearly bothering Ayaka; she had helped him once upon a time. She helped him countless times. He wanted to return the favor for once.

“That’s right,” Jeri agreed, putting her hand on her hips. “You can talk to us if something is bothering you, you know.”

Ayaka turned to Kenta, resting her eyes on him before drawing them over to Jeri. Her breath hitched in her throat and for a moment she wanted to tell them; tell them about her ‘missing time.’ It wouldn’t help though. It didn’t explain why she was so vicious toward Takato and Rika, and she didn’t want to get into it.

_ Rika needs their attention more anyway, _ she thought, turning away again.

“Goodbye you guys,” was all she said, stepping away.

“Ayaka…” Kenta said, taking a step forward only for Jeri to shake her head.

“I got this. She’s my best friend,” she murmured before running after her, falling in step next to Ayaka.

Sighing, Kazu walked over to Kenta and clapped him on the back. “More sad girls,” he said solemnly. “Anyone get the feeling that all we’re doing is making sad girls here?”

“Speak for yourself.  _ I _ didn’t do anything,” Kenta said in a deadpan.

“All I said was that they were going to find out sooner or later that Rika rejected Chumley!” Kazu protested. “I didn’t even get to say it all either. Look, I was being realistic about this, and it’s pretty clear Ayaka’s not happy about it. Why else would she have been like that? I don’t know about you, but…I’m kind of thinking this  _ needed _ to get hashed out in the open. You saw what  _ not _ talking did just a second ago, didn’t you?”

“Well of course she turned down Takato. She and my brother are going to get married,” Suzie piped up; she didn’t know this had happened, but she wasn’t surprised. She was a bit peeved Takato still didn’t realize she and him were each other’s true loves, but she supposed that it wouldn’t be much of a love story to be told through the ages if they got together right away.

“Henry, why didn’t you tell me?” Terriermon gasped, putting his paws to his face. “You sly dog!”

Henry sighed. “Suzie’s taken to flights of fantasy,” he replied. “Rika was never interested in me that way. And regarding her and Takato… That’s…complicated. It’s best to let them work things out on their own.”

He glanced down at Suzie. “It might be a good idea for you to let them be, okay? Takato’s not in a good place emotionally right now, and you’ll only make things harder for him. I…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I hate to say this, but I don’t want you doing anything or even being alone with him.”

_ That aura… _ He shuddered. Who knew what would have happened if he hadn’t kept control. Megidramon stood as the ultimate testament of what Takato was capable of once he let his anger loose upon the world.

“He’s in denial,” Suzie whispered to Terriermon, who nodded in agreement, already planning on teasing his partner about this whenever he could only to hear her brother’s next words. “What, why not?”

“You saw that aura around him, didn’t you?” Henry asked. “Something was going on there, and I think it had to do with the Dark Ocean.” His eyes softened sympathetically. “Until we get a better idea of what’s going on and how much control he has…we need to be careful around him. Otherwise, we might have another event like Megidramon on our hands.”

“You think it will be that serious?” Terriermon asked worriedly as Suzie shivered, remembering the awful beast.

Ai - who was trying to drag Mako away from this damn drama and was starting to succeed now that it ended - stopped in her efforts.

“Megidramon?” she asked, pressing her lips together and frowning. “What Megidramon event?”

The way the older kids were talking about it, it sounded bad. Everyone but her and Mako seemed to know what it was, and if it was something which would endanger their lives because Takato was throwing some sort of hissy fit, she wanted to know.

Henry hesitated before deciding to tell the younger Tamers what happened. “Some time ago, we were in the digital world and fought a very powerful digimon.” He decided to leave out the fact that it was  _ their _ partner, Impmon, for the time being, not wanting to complicate things any more than they already were. “Jeri’s partner was killed in the fighting and Takato… In anger at it, he forced Guilmon to digivolve all the way to the Mega level. Combining the anger with forced digivolution created Megidramon, whose very existence threatened to destroy the digital world.”

He ran a hand through his hair again as he continued.

“I…don’t think Takato would lose control under  _ normal  _ circumstances, but it’s plain that with the barriers between our world and the Dark Ocean being thin we can’t rely on anything being normal. Anything could happen, and that aura around him… It was  _ not _ normal. We have to be careful.”

“ _ Fantastic _ ,” Ai said sarcastically, and really, that’s all there seemed to be able to be said on the subject.

**###**

Ayaka plodded along sullenly, Jeri by her side, looking at her with concern.

“Stop following me,” the copper-haired girl said, her voice flat and sorrowful. The memories of the argument remained too close to her mind and she would rather do her best to forget them.

For the first time she could remember since she challenged Rika to that drinking game, she suddenly saw the benefits to imbibing alcohol on a regular basis.

“Ayaka, you’re my best friend,” Jeri said stubbornly. “Something’s bothering you, and the  _ last _ time I let you be when you were upset, you got hit by a car and I almost lost you. So even if you refuse to talk to me, I’m going to follow you home.”

“Suit yourself,” Ayaka shrugged, her expression mute. “Rika’s cousin should have let me take the full brunt of that. Would have saved a lot of trouble.”

“No it wouldn’t!” Jeri snapped, reaching out and grabbing Ayaka’s arm. “Look, I don’t know what has gotten into you, but it needs to stop. I don’t know why you are picking fights with Takato all of a sudden, or why you hate Rika so much. Also you being run over by a car would have solved  _ nothing _ because then I could have lost you forever, and whatever idea you have in your head that you aren’t needed needs to go because that’s not true!”

Ayaka gently tugged against Jeri’s grasp, only to frown at how strong it was.

“Like I’ve ever had anything to add to you guys,” she said dully. “Look, I’ve told you before, over and over, that I don’t like Rika because she’s a bully and I don’t like how she treats Takato. I just…” She sighed. “I just don’t like her, and…I hate that you two think the world of her.”

She bit her lower lip, her shoulders sagging. “I shouldn’t have been at the hospital at all today. I can’t keep my feelings to myself anymore.”

“I understand you don’t like Rika; I don’t think this will be ever something we’ll agree on,” Jeri said gently, having a flashback to Ayaka in the hospital the way she was talking and for the first time in a long while, she suddenly wondered if she was going to lose her childhood friend. “And you can talk to me about whatever. You know that right? I’ll listen, whatever it is.”

Ayaka’s lip trembled and she closed her eyes.

“Jeri…” she whispered, realizing that her best friend wasn’t going to leave her alone over this. “I… I don’t know how to say it. I…I feel like I’m losing my mind now. I…”

Coming to a stop, Ayaka looked skyward, her eyes watering now, and streaming down her face. The moments of lost time came to her, but…could she  _ really  _ believe that there was something more to them?

“I…don’t know…which to tell you…” she said in a hushed breath.

Jeri instantly pulled Ayaka into a hug. She didn’t know when the last time she saw Ayaka cry was. Was it when her ex-boyfriend cheated on her? Maybe it was on the beach? She found herself bothered she actually didn’t know the answer.

“How about whichever you feel most comfortable?” she suggested, rubbing her back.

Ayaka swallowed painfully, returning the hug, grateful to feel it. It made her nostalgic for the old days when they were children. Before the Demon Queen entered their lives and all Jeri had on her mind was how to get Takato to admit that he liked her.

_ I can’t tell her…about how I feel…about Takato… _

“Jeri…” she said finally, her voice thick with pain. “I…I’ve been…having odd moments. Moments where I’m not…remembering anything. It goes on…and I don’t notice that something’s wrong until…a while has passed.”

“How long … is a while?” Jeri asked, her heart dropping fearfully.

“An hour or two…” Ayaka replied. “It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. I just start it and…the next thing I know…time went by and I haven’t started. At all.”

“How long has this been going on for?” Jeri asked, pulling Ayaka closer to her as if that would be enough to protect her. She hoped it was a recent thing; the thought of her best friend suffering and not telling her about it … the guilt ate her up.

“Since…Since the Hazard event,” Ayaka admitted. “Took me a while to catch on.”

“Oh Ayaka, why didn’t you tell me?” Jeri asked softly. “What can I do to help you?”

“You were freaking out about Firebrand. I didn’t want to add to that.” She shuddered. “I…I think I should talk to her cousin. She might be able to do something.”

At least, that was what she hoped.

Because if she couldn’t … well … Ayaka wasn’t sure what she would do.


	47. Where Light Shines, Darkness Pools

“Himiko is still at the hospital, so maybe we should talk to Henry’s dad,” Jeri murmured to herself, pulling out her phone and beginning to go through her contacts. She had decided - promised - to help Ayaka, and while she wasn’t exactly used to taking charge (especially with Ayaka), she couldn’t let Ayaka take care of this herself.

She already was suffering in silence already, and Jeri rather take care of everything so Ayaka could focus on herself for once. Gods know she earned that much. Not to mention, it would help with the guilt clawing at her gut.

“He’s one of the original Monster Makers, so I’m sure if anyone can help it’s him,” she continued, the sound of her voice filling in the silence.

Ayaka nodded reluctantly, still not at all sure that she liked this idea, but having nowhere else to go to and no one else to turn, this was their best option. This situation with her blackouts… It simply couldn’t be ignored.

Not like she could ignore her feelings for Takato.

At the thought of the idiotic Gogglehead, Ayaka’s brow darkened with frustration and her fingers curled into her palms, causing her nails to bite into her skin.

_ Stupid… _ she thought bitterly before returning her attention to the present.

“Do you think he’ll go for it?” she asked. It sounded like a ridiculous question given that Henry’s father was likely a huge nerd, and if he made digimon for a living and worked for Rika’s cousin…

_ I bet he’d jump at the chance. Still seems weird though. _

“Of course,” Jeri answered promptly, pulling up a text conversation she had with Henry before thinking better of it. She wasn’t sure if he would hear it right away, and the sooner she could guarantee help for Ayaka, the better. Plus, it was better than simply waiting in the awkward silence.

Pushing the call button, she held the phone up to her ear.

_ Come on, come on… _

_ “Hey Jeri,” _ came the voice of the half-Chinese boy from the other end. This was followed briefly by something from the other end – some kind of commotion or noise that ended with the word ‘momentai’ being said in the background.

_ “Sorry about that,” _ Henry came back.  _ “Are you with Ayaka? Are you two all right?” _

“Hey Henry, yeah, uhm, yes and uh no, uhm…” Jeri hemmed and hawed, now that she had Henry on the phone, she wasn’t quite sure how exactly to tell the half Chinese boy the situation. She glanced at Ayaka, pointing at the phone mouthing, ‘You want to talk?’

“Do you  _ really _ think he’ll be in the mood for talking to me?” Ayaka asked, blowing at her bangs, however in spite of her words, she held out her hand to the girl. “Gimme.”

“Ah, hang on, Ayaka will talk to you,” she informed the boy, handing the phone to her best friend, a bit happy to hear her snarky response for the first time in a long time.

“Hey, Henry,” Ayaka said as soon as the phone reached her ear. “Sorry about blowing up earlier. I…” She hesitated before sighing.  _ Better go full bore in… _

“The chipmunk talked to me. She says that your dad can help me with a… _ problem _ I’ve been having. I’ve got weird blackouts going on and I don’t know what’s causing them, but with all the weirdness happening around you guys, I figure I picked it up from you. So…yeah. I’m handing you back to Jeri since she’s the better deal breaker.”

Not even waiting to hear Henry’s baffled questions coming from the phone, she passed it over to her friend.

“Here.”

‘I am not a chipmunk,” she hissed, puffing her cheeks out like one despite her words to the contrary. Still, she took back the phone. “She has periods of time where her memories are gone since the Hazard Event and we were wondering if your dad could help,” she clarified, well used to translating Ayaka’s speech.

“Let’s not have an argument about this, Jeri,” Ayaka sighed, folding her arms together and closing her eyes. “One was enough already today.”

_ “Um… Okay,” _ came Henry’s response to Jeri, deciding to stay focused on the topic at hand.  _ “But yeah, I’ll give my dad a call and see what we can arrange. I think he’s at Hypnos still and if it involves the Digital Hazard, he may make things easy for you two to get in.” _ There came a pause on the other end before he continued.  _ “You two haven’t seen Takato since you left…have you?” _

“...No,” Jeri admitted, and somewhere in the background she could hear Suzie’s lamented wails of-

“ _ My prince, where art thou!” _

“Haven’t heard from him either. How about you?” Jeri asked, deciding to pretend she didn’t hear that.

_ “So far nothing,” _ Henry replied.  _ “Jeri… I know you probably won’t like this, but it might be a good idea for the two of you – especially Ayaka – to not be alone with him if you can help it. The two of you don’t have digimon to protect you and…that…thing that appeared around him… We need to be careful until we figure things out.” _

Jeri pressed her lips together and lowered her voice.

“Are you listening to yourself? Are you seriously saying you think he can be a  _ threat _ ?” Jeri asked in a low undertone. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing; first Ayaka had suggested Rika  _ hated _ Takato and now Henry was saying he was too dangerous to be around?

_ It’s not like you didn’t notice that dark aura around him _ , a small voice in her head said, but she stomped it out. Rika usually had a similar aura, but not once did Henry ever say she was dangerous or they shouldn’t be alone with her. If she was being perfectly frank, Rika was more apt toward violence than Takato was.

_ Yes … but Rika’s anger can’t put everyone’s lives in danger _ , the voice murmured before whisking away into the wind.

_ “It’s just a precaution,”  _ Henry replied as Ayaka raised an eyebrow at Jeri’s words, having caught them.  _ “Look, I don’t like to think that Takato could be dangerous to anyone, but we’re in a unique situation here. One that Rika proved when she disappeared and then reappeared. The Dark Ocean is working on us, Jeri. We both know what Takato can do when  _ he  _ loses control. Anyway, you don’t have to follow it, I just felt that I had to warn you. I’ll give my dad a call and then message you about his response. Is that fair?” _

Jeri gave a tired sigh.

“Yes. Thank you. Call me back once you hear something, OK?” she asked, not wanting to fight over the issue.

She was tired of fighting.

“Everything okay?” Ayaka asked, patting her friend on the back, a bit worried about her sudden change in demeanor.

Jeri didn’t answer at first, hanging up the phone. Worrying her bottom lip for a moment, wondering if she should tell Ayaka, before deciding she deserved to know despite Jeri’s feelings on the matter.

“Henry doesn’t want us alone with Takato with everything going on,” she said finally. “He thinks he can be a danger … especially if he loses control.”

Jeri didn’t need Henry to tell her what happened when Takato lost control; it would be one of the many memories she sometimes wished in dark moments she wouldn’t remember.

Ayaka winced, but opted not to pry. She was tired of subjects involving the Gogglehead.

“Consider him avoided on my end,” she shrugged. “If I’m not pissing him off, then the world is safe.”

Jeri wanted to ask why she was so hostile toward Takato - especially as of late. However, she also didn’t want another fight on her hands. She just wanted to spend some time with her best friend.

“While we wait for Henry to get back to us, you want some ice cream?” she asked after a moment. “My treat.”

Ayaka glanced at her friend before a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Finally, she looped an arm around Jeri’s and nodded.

“Trying to spoil me, chipmunk?” she asked.

“Maybe,” Jeri hummed, smiling back. “You have anywhere in particular you want to go?”

“I’m not in the mood for picking and choosing,” Ayaka shrugged nonchalantly. “Wherever you want to go, I’ll follow. I just hope I don’t have a blackout while we’re eating.”

“I’ll be here for you if you do,” Jeri assured her, patting her hand, deciding to go to her best friend’s favorite ice cream shop - even if it was on the other side of town.

_ I’ll be here for you this time for sure. _

**###**

Gigimon looked up at his partner as Takato leaned against the wall just outside the hospital doors. The boy’s eyes were distant and thoughtful, yet knotted together in something akin to a thunder cloud.

He had been this way ever since the argument with the others, walking his way around the city, seemingly aimless with no real plan to return home all the way into the depths of the night, something Gigimon was  _ certain _ would land him in a heap of trouble later with his parents. He had tried to engage his partner in conversation, but this was met with half-hearted, distracted responses that broke the digimon’s heart to hear.

This was  _ not _ the Takato he knew before being forced to return to the digital world. It was the worst nightmare imaginable for him. His best friend and partner in the whole two worlds was a pale shadow of how he had been, and the worst part was he felt so powerless to help his partner get through whatever issues were bothering him.

_ I need to talk to Renamon, _ Gigimon thought to himself.  _ Maybe she can help. _

Until then though, he had to keep trying to get him to come out of his shell.

“Takato?” he began gently.

“Hm?”

“We’re partners, right?”

Takato blinked, starting to emerge from his daze a little. “Um…yeah?”

Gigimon swallowed. “So how come you won’t talk to me about things that are bothering you?”

The boy’s crimson eyes dropped down to Gigimon’s gold colored ones, holding them briefly before looking away.

“I… Gigimon…” He tightened his grip around his partner, and the shadows underneath his hoodie began to shift and  _ boil _ beneath the sleeves. Feeling this, Takato shivered.

“I just…can’t…” he finished finally, the shadows stilling, if only for a moment. “Gigimon… I don’t really get half of what’s going on myself. I…”

His eyes fell. “The only thing I know right now is that I need help, and there’s only one person who can do that this time.”

“Who’s that?”

Before Takato could answer, the doors opened and out emerged Rika’s family. Pushing off from the wall, he started toward them.

“Just pretend to be a doll,” he whispered. “Um… Ms… Ah…” His words drew up short, remembering that there was more than one person in the crowd with the last name of Hata. “Ms. Himiko!” he stammered out finally, his face flushing as he croaked out her name.

Puberty. The gift that kept on giving.

Himiko looked over and her tired expression turned into a scowl. She wasn’t sure what she was more annoyed at; the lack of a cigarette or coffee in hours, being called by her first name like they were familiar, or seeing the boy responsible for Rika’s condition in the first place.

“Isn’t that one of Rika’s friends?” Hannah asked, arching an eyebrow curiously. She remembered him from outside the room - there weren’t many boys who carried around stuffed animals at this age and less so with crimson eyes.

“Yes, Takato,” Seiko replied, curious why he was calling after her niece.

_ I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with the Digital World _ , she worried, glancing at Himiko out of the corner of her eye.  _ We just got Rika back _ .

Her daughter had the same thoughts.

“Himi?” Rumiko asked softly, calling her the other woman the childhood nickname that hadn’t left her lips in years. Obsidian eyes met violet ones and in a gesture Seiko had been seeing a lot more lately, understanding crossed them.

“I’ll catch up with you,” Himiko sighed. “Just text me the address.”

“Of course,” Rin said simply, noticing there was something going on between the Hata women but didn’t press it; every family had their secrets. Noticing Yamato’s brow furrow as he stared at the unkempt boy, he put a hand on his back and pushed him forward. “Don’t take too long though.”

Himiko snorted, watching them walk off, slipping a cigarette out of her pocket and lighting it. Taking a long drag, she glowered at Takato.

“That’s Ms. Hata to you,” she said with a tone of voice which clearly said, ‘What do you want?’

“S-Sorry,” Takato apologized, looking away. “I didn’t want…I just wanted to get your attention and… Never mind.” Takato took a deep breath before resuming in a more formal tone. “Ms. Hata. I’m sorry for my disrespectful behavior, but…I didn’t think that this could wait. I…have a problem, and…” His expression scrunched up with worry. “…and I’m afraid that if it keeps going, I might end up becoming a danger to my friends.”

_ You are already a danger to Rika _ , Himiko thought, taking another drag of a cigarette before blowing the smoke out through her lips.

“You going to expand on that or do you expect me to waste my time playing 20 questions?” she asked.

“Hey!” Gigimon snapped, scowling at the woman. He could smell the dislike toward his Tamer emanating from her and did  _ not _ appreciate it in the least. “Takatomon…”

“Easy boy,” Takato soothed, patting his partner’s ears.

“But Takatooo!” Gigimon whined. “She’s  _ not _ a nice lady!”

“It’s not her job to be nice,” Takato frowned. “Besides, neither was Yamaki. Now please let me talk to her.”

“Gigimon glowered at Himiko, but nodded. “Okay…”

“Sorry about that,” Takato resumed. “Anyway, I…have this problem. I noticed it today after I had an argument with one of my friends. I’m…not sure how to describe it, but it was like my shadow was…crawling over me or something! I… Ms. Hata, you work for Hypnos. You’ve got to know what I’m capable of when I lose control! I…” He swallowed. “I don’t know where this is going to go for me. I won’t stop fighting it, but I don’t want to risk hurting anyone. I…I need to know that if I ever lose it completely that you’ll… _ deal _ with me if that time comes. Whatever it is you have to do…you’ll do it, right?”

He raised his eyes up toward Himiko, a look of desolation and a growing sense of powerlessness held within them. Gigimon shifted uneasily in his arms, not liking what Takato was asking.

_ Takato… _ he thought miserably, gold-eyes shining with unshed tears.

Himiko didn’t say anything at first, taking a couple of drags of her cigarette.

While Takato Matsuki was indeed a danger, the real problem wasn’t so much with  _ him _ as it was with Guilmon.  _ Guilmon _ was the one with the hazard crest, not Takato.  _ Guilmon _ was the one with the ability to digivolve and bring down the entire Digital World and who knows what to the Real World, not Takato.

So if he wanted her to deal with it, there was only one real way to.

“Even if it means killing your partner?” she asked coldly.

“No!” Takato exclaimed suddenly, tightening his hold on his partner. “Gigimon! No! Not…Not him! I… Just…Just me. Gigimon can’t digivolve without me!”

Gigimon’s eyes widened as he realized what Takato was talking about. “Takato! No! You want her to kill you?!”

“It…It might not come to that,” Takato winced. “But…if there’s no other option… I want it to be just me. Gigimon…”

“I won’t let you go without me, Takatomon!” Gigimon said, pulling free from his partner’s grasp and hopping over to his head. “We’re a part of each other and we were apart for so long! I’m not going to be apart from you  _ ever _ again!”

Tears welled up in Takato’s eyes and he clenched them shut, trying to squeeze them back in.

“Gigimon…” he choked, trembling from the storm of emotions that welled up inside him.

“Both…Both of us…” he whispered finally, hating himself for even saying those words. “Anything you can think of… Whatever you have to do…”

“It’s got to be the both of us,” Gigimon said to Himiko firmly. “We’re partners, all the way to the end!”

“Mr. Matsuki, you seem to have mistaken my dislike for you as a desire to have you killed,” she growled, tapping the side of her cigarette, allowing the ash to fall to the ground. “Make no mistake, I think you are terrible for Rika in more ways than one, but I will  _ not _ become an executioner. Even if she didn’t have a displaced fondness for you, I have no desire to end life. I suggest you speak to Ms. Katou and get the number for her psychologist. If you cannot afford mental treatment, I will speak to the director about making sure you are taken care of until your head's on straight. Do I make myself clear?”

“Ms. Hata…” Takato began, a touch of desperation entering his voice. “This… I didn’t even  _ know _ you didn’t like me. I…I’m not surprised, but…” He shook his head, realizing he was rambling again. “No! This has nothing to do with that! Ms. Hata, you don’t understand. I can feel something.  _ Hear _ it. The Dark Ocean’s waves, and…with what happened with Megidramon… A shrink might not help fast enough. If we’re in a battle like we used to be before…and we will… We can’t afford to have me lose control!”

His eyes became harder. More stern. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, and I might be a ticking time bomb! I just…” He took a steady breath. “I’ll see someone if I can, but we need as many options on the table as possible. I’m not  _ asking  _ you to take me out because you hate me. I don’t care if you like me or not, I just need to know you or someone will do what’s necessary to protect everyone.”

“I will not be a murderer,” Himiko said coldly. “If you don’t think you can control yourself during battle, don’t join in. Hypnos has been handling the situation with the echoes and you are hardly the only Tamer.

“In fact let me make this easy on you since you are so desperate to paw off responsibility on to me; you  _ are _ to see a psychologist and you will  _ not _ battle or involve yourself in any battles unless it is an emergency deemed by  _ me _ or until you  _ and _ the psychologist feel like you are no longer a danger. There is no negotiation on this.”

Takato stiffened at her accusation and narrowed his eyes at her angrily, his cheeks growing hot. “I’m  _ not _ ‘pawning off responsibility,’” he replied. A thin sheen of black miasma swam around him, but in the darkness, it might as well be invisible. “I’m  _ trying _ to be  _ practical _ about this. But fine. I won’t fight unless it’s absolutely necessary. I promise.”

Forcing his anger down, he bowed politely. “Sorry to have bothered you,” he finished before turning and heading off toward home.

_ My being grounded will make things easier I bet… _

Himiko grimaced and ground out her cigarette on the ground. She wondered why these things had to happen. She missed the days where she didn’t need to worry about any of this.

“This place is going to hell,” she sighed, before heading off to where Rumiko and Seiko were.

**###**

It was quiet.

The lights had been turned off and now that her family was gone (bar Renamon who had now returned to the form Rika was so used to seeing her in with no need to keep up appearances for her father’s side of the family) a wave of emotions which she had been repressing since she woke up washed over her like a wave.

She suddenly felt tired - more so than she had in months - and she leaned back into the pillows propping her up.

“Renamon?” she murmured, just wanting to hear her partner’s voice again - to be assured this was real. That this was  _ real _ .

“Yes, Rika?” the vulpine digimon asked, eyes gleaming in the moonlight that filtered in through the hospital’s curtains.

“Nothing,” she sighed, the voice - the prompt answer - soothing the questions of her soul. Even if it was a dream, it would be the best one she had in a long while.

Approaching the girl, Renamon placed a gentle paw against Rika’s cheek, sliding it across her forehead and brushing aside her bangs. A small smile crossed her muzzle, barely visible even if it had been daylight. Taking hold of Rika’s blankets now, she pulled them up to her partner’s chin, tucking her within their warm embrace.

A thought occurred to her, and she leaned forward, doing as the humans did and, gently, kissing the top of Rika’s head. It felt awkward, but she hoped it would set her partner at ease.

“It is good to be with you again, Rika,” she said, withdrawing. “You should sleep now. I’ll be here in the morning when you wake up.”

“Renamon, wait,” Rika begged, hating how her voice cracked, the sudden fear of being alone - even in her dreams if this really wasn’t one - clawing at her. “Will you… uhm…”

She struggled saying the words. She was 16 - almost 17 now - and the last time she asked to sleep with anyone because  _ she _ was scared was … honestly, she couldn’t remember. It was usually her doing so for other people.

For her mother, after the D-Reaper invasion and the woman kept having nightmares she died fighting the monster. For Jeri, who needed someone to be there for her after the brunette’s heart being broken. Something Rika was more than glad to do, and would do again.

However, she never asked for the comfort herself. It would be admitting weakness - something she just couldn’t do. Even now, despite knowing how weak she really was, the words struggled to leave her throat.

Renamon frowned slightly in concern, kneeling down on the bed. She had caught that crack in her voice. That raw panic bubbling beneath the surface of courage. She knew her partner well, and even after all these years of separation, she still understood her, even when the girl could not properly open up.

“Yes,” she said simply, lifting her legs up from off the floor and pulling them up onto the bed. Taking hold of Rika, she drew her close into a gentle hug, bringing her head to rest on the tuft of her fur.

“It’s okay,” the vulpine digimon whispered. “You’re safe now. I’ll  _ always _ be there to protect you. Remember that.”

Rika nodded her head, feeling like she was a child again. Wrapping her arms around the kitsune, it took everything for her not to start crying. She knew Renamon wouldn’t care - her partner would no doubt assure her and take care of her like the big sister she was - but  _ she _ cared.

She wanted some control over her life, and it seemed her emotions were the only thing she could control in the end. Mnemosyne, the echoes, the Dark Ocean - everything had taken control away from her.

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” Rika asked softly, but the real question was,  _ You won’t leave again, will you? _

“Always,” Renamon promised, running her claws through Rika’s hair, smoothing it out before bringing her chin to rest atop the soft, silky strands.

**###**

Daisy finished attaching wires to Ayaka’s forehead and, taking a hold of her shoulder, she leaned the young girl back onto the scanning bed.

“You might feel a small tingle,” she informed the girl. “There’s no reason to be afraid though. That’s normal. It’s completely harmless. Once it’s all done, we’ll have then see if there’s anything out of the ordinary and you can have a sucker.” Ruffling Ayaka’s hair, Daisy smiled. “Easy peasy.”

“Not  _ too _ easy,” Janyu said from his seat by the computer. “But simple enough. She is right though. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Now Janyu, if you keep emphasizing it, you’ll make her think there really  _ is _ something wrong.”

“Sorry,” Janyu chuckled. “Anyway, I’m ready whenever you are.”

Daisy nodded and swung a lamp-like apparatus over Ayaka, and turned it on. “Close your eyes, honey.”

Ayaka took a shuddering breath but did as she was bid. She was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea or not. However what choice did she have?

“Honestly the most painful part of it is listening them to nerd talk,” Ryo joked, sitting in a nearby chair, smiling kindly at her. He was a bit surprised - and curious - when Janyu brought the girl in. He hadn’t seen the other Tamers since that day, and while he knew she wasn’t one, he did remember she was connected in some regard. “They go on for hours.”

“Yay,” Ayaka muttered sarcastically.  

“Unlike her, you don’t have to be here you know,” Daisy said as the scanner began to hum. “We already scanned you after all.”

“I have nothing else to do,” he pointed out. “Would you prefer me to cause trouble around Hypnos?”

“I remember that you usually stepped in to  _ fix _ trouble,” Jeri remarked a short ways off from Janyu, arms folded over her chest. “Also, I’m not supposed to be here either.”

“Let him be,” chuckled Janyu from his spot by the computer. “Anyway, I’m ready to start.”

Hitting a button, the machine began to hum as it came to life. Jeri’s hands fiddled against each other in agitation.

“How do you feel?” Jeri asked as Ayaka was bathed in light.

“Did I now?” Ryo asked in response to Jeri’s earlier statement, raising a single eyebrow. The declaration made him feel worse, however, recalling Shibumi’s words.

“It’s fine, chipmunk. It’s just like getting a x-ray at the hospital except with more wires,” Ayaka grunted. She remembered (however vaguely) that she got one when she got hit by a car earlier this year.

_ Maybe that’s what is causing the blackouts?  _ She wondered, although it didn’t exactly make sense why they would start now.

“I’m still not a chipmunk,” Jeri retorted, however she smiled softly at Ayaka’s response. In her eyes, that was a good sign as it meant that she wasn’t being hurt by the process. She then turned her attention to the ‘Legendary Tamer.’

“Yes… You did,” Jeri replied to Ryo, her smile growing slightly. “You made a friend of mine mad all the time when you did that. She said that it made you look like you were out of some storybook or something like that.”

Daisy turned away from their conversation as she went over to Janyu. “So what are we looking at?”

“We’re still getting the data, but… Ah, here we go.”

Daisy’s eyes widened and she leaned forward.

“Now  _ this _ is interesting,” she began. “Isn’t that…?”

“Yes,” Janyu nodded. “It sure looks that way.”

“What is it?” Ayaka asked, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.

“Oho? Did she have the hots for me?” Ryo asked, not even bothering to keep tabs on what was being said by the two scientists when they were like this, wiggling his eyebrows slightly at that with a slight smirk.

“No,” Jeri laughed. “She thought you were stuck up and she  _ really _ didn’t like you. Said you were ‘too perfect.’”

“Hey the quickest way to love is through hate,” Ryo winked cheekily. He wondered though if this friend had a point. If she saw his betrayal (whatever it was) before anyone else. He didn’t want to tell Jeri - or anyone - about it yet; not until he had more evidence. He wanted to think there was some  _ reason _ behind it, whatever it was. “I’m sure given time, she would have fallen for me and my dashing ways.”

“Not where Rika is concerned,” Jeri said, scowling at him, though her small smirk showed that it was playful.  _ She seems to prefer people who aren’t perfect for some reason, _ she added mentally.

“There!” Janyu said in a hushed voice to Daisy, his eyes growing wide. “Did you see that?”

“Yeah. Just like in his file. It’s exactly the same, isn’t it?”

“But she’s not like a digimon…”

“Pretty strange, isn’t it?”

“That’s putting it  _ mildly!” _

_ “ _ Uh, what is it?” Ayaka asked, trying to ignore Ryo and Jeri flirting (at least her best friend was doing so with someone who seemed to be a decent guy this time from what little she knew of him -  _ thank god _ ) but at the same time she was annoyed they were doing so while she was getting tested.

“Well, so far it looks like you share an identical data pattern to Ryo over there,” Daisy said, indicating the boy with a nod of her head.

“He has a data pattern?” Jeri asked, raising an eyebrow. Janyu nodded.

“Yes. We’re not sure why, but we suspect that it’s related to Mnemosyne.”

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Ayaka grumbled, although she wasn’t too surprised about that; when it came to messing with memories, Mnemosyne seemed to be king.

“Apparently it’s the same as a library,” Ryo shrugged before dropping his voice to a conspiring whisper. “I don’t really understand half the stuff they say, and I usually latch onto what little words they use.”

“So can anyone explain what this means? In a way I can understand?” Ayaka asked annoyed.

“Basically you have data inserted into your body, and it’s the same as Ryo’s,” Daisy summarized.

“OK…” Ayaka said, not really understanding still, but deciding to take a different route. “Does it have to do with my memory blank outs?”

“Well I don’t remember anything…” Ryo offered helpfully, causing Ayaka to scowl at him.

“If you are trying to make me feel better, you are failing at it Mr. Perfect.”

“You sound so much like Rika just now,” Jeri muttered under her breath.

“We can’t say that it has anything to do with your memory blanks,” Janyu replied as Daisy went over to the girl and pushed away the scanner. “We suspect it’s related to Mnemosyne but we don’t have a good idea if this is how it was able to affect everyone’s memories. We might need to scan more people to see.”

He frowned, turning back to the scans. “However…yours is…unusual. The electrical firing of it from your synapses seems to indicate something recent occurred? Maybe that’s why?”

Janyu turned to the scans, frowning. “I need more time to study this.”

“So uh, what should I do in the meantime?” Ayaka asked, sitting up, giving Jeri the stink eye for saying she sounded like  _ her _ .

“There’s nothing I can really suggest I’m afraid,” Janyu sighed. “At most, we can keep you here and under observation; scan you and study you more and see what happens, but that’s about all for the time being until we know more.”

“Sorry,” Daisy apologized, helping Ayaka off the scanning bed. “It’s kind of the name of the game when you’re feeling around blindly for answers. I wish we could give you more to work with.”

“Well at least it’s something,” Ayaka grumbled, allowing herself to be helped off. “Should I come back tomorrow? I mean I want to get to the bottom of this - whatever  _ this _ is - pretty quickly.”

“By all means,” Janyu said, getting up from his computer and joining Daisy. “We’ll set things up with the receptionist so you can come in without too much hassle. We’ll leave a door open for you.”

Jeri beamed happily and ran over to Ayaka, flinging her arms around her.

“See?” Jeri asked. “This helped, right?”

“Yes because I’m left with so many answers now instead of more questions,” Ayaka grumbled sarcastically, although she drew her arms around the excitable girl.

“We’re on the road,” Jeri scowled, flicking her nose in a scolding fashion. “This is better than nothing, believe me.”

“Listen to your friend,” Daisy chuckled. “We’ll figure this out. It’s just going to take time.”

Ayaka humphed, but she didn’t say anything else. While she was glad that they were on the road,  _ they _ weren’t the ones having the memory loss.  _ They _ weren’t the ones who had no idea what was happening to them.  _ They _ weren’t the ones terrified for their sanity.

_ Plus who knows what is going on during those time period _ , she thought with a shiver. While she hoped -  _ prayed _ \- it was nothing, with how things were … to think such things was to stick your head in the sand.

Nothing was safe.

**###**

Rika walked down the street, not bothering to avoid the puddles which were collecting on the street. On her waist, hidden underneath her jacket, for the first time in forever sat her D-arc, the cards tucked away in her back pocket.

It had been a few days since she had been let out of the hospital - thankfully only needing to stay the night - and since she got home her mother had been smothering her and fussing over her. It wasn’t like she  _ minded _ , but if she was being a bit honest, she was beginning to wonder if her mother truly was full Japanese because the way she kept asking if she was hungry sounded an awfully lot like how an Italian parent would.

Himiko - between one of her coffee breaks (grandma had switched out to decaf months ago, and her older cousin  _ still _ hadn’t noticed) told her about the conversation she had the night she returned with Takato.

_ “He asked me to  _ deal  _ with him, Rika. Who  _ asks _ that of a person?” _

Rika’s heart had twisted when the word ‘deal’ left her cousin’s lips - just the insinuation of it made her recall the echo of Renamon’s death. While she had forgiven Himiko for her part in it - looking back logically on it  _ now _ there wasn’t much she could do - the implications in what she was being asked of was clear.

_ Murder _ .

“ _...What did you say?” she asked, a blanket resting around her shoulders and the fourth bowl of chicken gizzards resting in her hands. While she would have gladly eaten anything placed in front of her, she happily accepted her grandmother’s bribery of her favorite food. _

_ “After asking if he would be OK killing with me killing his partner, I told him to seek out psychological help and to stay out of any fights until he wouldn’t be a danger to himself or others,” Himiko said, nursing a cup of coffee as they sat on the walkway looking out into the yard. “Even if you weren’t unreasonably fond of him, I don’t like killing things, Rika.” _

_ “I know,” Rika murmured. Their eyes interlocked at that, for a brief moment, and Himiko sighed, but Rika didn’t miss the small, pained smile painted on her face as she looked away. _

So after texting Takato to meet her up at a coffee place (leaving no room for argument), Rika had to convince her mother to allow her to leave the house by herself. It ended up in allowing Mama to take her and Renamon shopping later.

Bribery at its finest.

Renamon - in her human form - walked next to her, carrying the umbrella as the rain beat down on them, tried to keep steering them around the puddles but with there being so many, it was a lost cause.

"I really wish you would let me walk next to the street," her partner sighed, pushing her hair back once again. She would never get used to this human form, and even more so the wild mess of hair on top of her head as opposed to the fur she normally had. It somehow got in the way, despite there was so little of it now - even though Rika pulled it back for her.

"I'm the one wearing the rain jacket, not to mention you smell funny when you're wet," Rika replied, glancing at her partner, her lips twitching in a smirk. "Like wet dog."

"Well I'm sure the problem won't be present like this," Renamon replied simply.

"Well I'm not changing spots with you," Rika replied matter-of-factly, but leaned in closer to her partner.

"Stubborn as always," Renamon sighed, but there was a wave of affection underneath her words. It seemed in the last few days, despite the nightmares she refused to talk about, Rika was quickly bouncing back to how she knew her. While there was still things different about her, which she was learning daily, it seemed deep inside the partner she knew was still inside.

“Speaking about stubborn, is that Takato actually waiting outside?” Rika asked squinting her eyes.

Renamon tilted her head before answering.

“Seems that way.”

Annoyance bubbled to the surface once more, wondering if he  _ ever _ took care of himself or his well being.

_ Probably not _ , a dark part of her whispered, once again recalling his back retreating from her but she violently pushed the memory away. He may not have listened to her cries and pleas  _ last _ time, but maybe this time, things would be different.

“Gods … GOGGLEHEAD!”

Takato’s head snapped up at her call. There was a flicker of emotion in his eyes upon seeing her, but he quickly repressed it. Tugging at his damp hoodie, he shifted his grip on Gigimon and hurried over to her.

“Hi Rika! Hi Renamon!” Gigimon greeted, his tail thumping against Takato happily.

“Hey Rika,” Takato added with a nod, scratching at his faint beard in annoyance at how itchy it was. “I just got here about a minute ago, so…um… What’s up?”

“Why are you waiting outside?” she asked irritably, not waiting for him to answer, pushing him in the door. “Honestly, what am I going to do with you? It’s raining and you already look like a drowned rat. Do you even know what an umbrella is? Ugh, just ...get a table." 

“Ah… Okay,” Takato nodded as he peeled back his hood, revealing damp, limp hair that his garments did little to keep dry after the initial drenching. Finding a window seat a few tables off to the side and out in the open for all four of them, he sat himself down and set Gigimon on the table next to him.

_ So…this is a thing,  _ he thought, breathing into his hands to warm them up while Gigimon promptly shook himself off, earning him some odd looks from the customers.

“Gigimon…” Takato sighed, grabbing some napkins and wiping down both his partner and the table.

“Sorry, Takatomon,” Gigimon wined quietly, returning to ‘doll-mode’.

“Don’t worry about it boy,” Takato smiled, scratching his partner’s ears. “It’s not like it’s nothing we’re used to by now, right?”

Gigimon nuzzled Takato’s hand as his thoughts turned to the encroaching conversation with Rika. He had so many questions and his feelings overall were a mess with regards to the girl.

_ Just…please, _ he thought, praying to whatever gods were listening now.  _ Please… Don’t let me hurt her again. That’s all I ask. Just stop me. Whatever you have to do, just don’t let me hurt her anymore. _

"Here you go. A big hot chocolate for you, a small one for Gigimon and two mediums for me and Renamon," Rika said, sliding the drinks in front of Takato and Gigimon before she slipped in the booth across from him.

She hadn’t asked him what he wanted, but she recalled what he liked. While perhaps a big cup might be too big for him, he desperately looked like he needed one. That and several energy drinks, but mixing the two drinks would be in poor taste - figuratively and literally.

"So, what’s this about going to my cousin to  _ deal _ with you, Takato?" she asked bluntly, not even deciding to beat around the bush, Renamon sighing something into her drink which sounded suspiciously like,

_ "Tactful." _

Takato nodded gratefully for the offered hot chocolate, taking a moment to sip from it to distract his nerves and to help him collect his thoughts before answering. He winced, burning his tongue a little, but he ignored it.

“Your cousin told you about that, huh?” he replied, pressing his lips together. Sighing, he leaned forward on the table, adjusting himself so he was more comfortable, yet still not meeting Rika’s eyes.

“Something happened at the hospital…” He continued, not beating around the bush either. He felt too spent himself to bother with his usual dance routine. “After we visited you when you came back. Ayaka… She…had a bit of a meltdown after Terriermon asked her about…why she said what she did to you. Kazu said something about how he knew why she said it and she shoved him. Started yelling at him. Yelled at me and even lost her temper with Jeri.” He gazed at the cup, tightening his grip around it.

“It got bad enough that Jeri actually swore. That’s…not normal. But that wasn’t all that happened. I…had something around me. Some kind of black aura. I saw something like that after our…fight. When I ran into an echo of a D-Reaper agent. I sort of summoned Gallantmon’s shield then, only it was different. Off color from what I could see, but I couldn’t do much else with it. It was just like that time I saved Renamon…”

He glanced at her partner. “…saved the  _ echo _ of Renamon,” he corrected. “It felt like I was missing something, and I think…”

Pulling a hand away, he brought it to rest on Gigimon’s head. “…I think Gigimon was it.”

The crimson digi-ball with ears and stubby legs looked up at his partner, eyes swimming with concern before licking his partner’s hand.

“And to have it almost happen again at the hospital with Ayaka so angry… And I was mad too…” His lips, pressing together tightly, thinned out. “It…was like all that anger was bubbling around me and I was afraid that…I might lose control. I don’t want to do that again. You know what happens when I do, and with the Dark Ocean…”

He sighed, looking back up at Rika. “I needed assurance that if things got bad and I lost control for sure that I…wouldn’t be a problem.”

A pall of silence hung in the air as Gigimon took a sip from his drink, warming his tiny belly.

“So yeah,” Takato resumed. “That’s the gist of it.”

"Why are you angry?" Rika asked after a moment, sipping from the cup, not really caring about Ayaka's meltdown; whatever that was about, she was sure Jeri took care of it. Plus she could hazard a guess.

Part of her could hazard a guess as well - Ayaka’s comment brought up old wounds whether she knew it or not. There was bitterness there Rika could understand, much to her own vexation. It was obvious to anyone with eyes the girl liked Takato just as it was obvious Takato liked the Digimon Queen.

Once upon a time she had been jealous and wanting of what Jeri and Takato had, and perhaps if she didn’t adore Jeri so much as well she might have acted in a similar way toward the adorable smaller girl. 

“I don’t know if anger is the right word,” Takato replied, taking another sip. “I was just angry then. It’s just…” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I hurt you, Rika. And it’s been bothering me, and when you disappeared I just… I don’t know. I flipped.” He took another sip, frowning this time. “Being chained to a hospital bed didn’t help things. The weird dreams I had of me hurting you made things worse, and then I had Ayaka at the beach telling me that looking for you was pointless…”

He set his cup down.

“And I think I hear it sometimes too. Waves crashing on a shore. I feel a lot like I’m being watched and…I just…feel so helpless. Like I’m failing. Failing hard to protect everyone and I don’t know what to do. I guess…that’s probably more it. And it’s been festering inside me, along with whatever lets me…summon things I guess. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Rika arched her eyebrow at his confession of being chained to a hospital bed, but it was probably because they finally found him after he went AWOL. She wasn’t surprised - how he got out was still a mystery, but one she didn’t bother to investigate for her own sanity.

_ Not to mention if you didn’t want to hurt me, all you had to do was stay _ , she thought bitterly. Even though she knew now where the desire for him to stay came from - worry for his well being and her own fear of being abandoned - it didn’t change the fact his choice even now was like a hot sword stabbed through her heart, and  _ twisted _ .

And even though she knew logically the shadow in the Dark Ocean wasn’t real - that hateful face, sneering and yelling - didn’t mean the words didn’t  _ hurt _ . If she didn’t have the ability to shut down her emotions -

Well, she wasn’t sure if she would be here once more trying to save Takato from himself.

Himiko called it a displaced fondness, and while Rika knew she was merely referring to friendship (though her elder cousin certainly threw hints she was well aware Rika’s feelings for the boy were deeper than that), for the first time in her life she found herself questioning why she felt the way she did.

Not about their friendship - never about that - but about the feelings which had accumulated over the years. Which, against her permission, lingered even now.

But that didn’t matter right now. Her feelings and this unfortunate  _ drama _ which seemed to come right out of Jeri’s mangas couldn’t get in the way of what needed to be done.

"Well truthfully speaking, looking for me was kind of pointless," Rika said finally. "You would have only found me if you fell into the Dark Ocean too, and then that would have only compounded the problem instead of fixed it. It's not to say I didn't appreciate the sentiment, but logically speaking once you realized I was in the Dark Ocean, it should have been apparent typical means of searching would not be fruitful."

"Rika," Renamon said simply, sipping from her hot chocolate. Even though it was just her name, Rika understood the words not said.

"Anyway, that's the Dark Ocean if you haven't figure it out. You can't beat it by punching it to submission but by confronting your own darkness. Both you and I have anger issues, but asking someone to  _ take care of it _ isn't you taking responsibility for them. It's you putting the burden on someone else," she told him bluntly.

_ Plus what happened to that mindset of we can do anything if we just believe hard enough?  _ She thought darkly, but once again she shoved the feeling deep down.

"If you want to make sure you don't destroy fabric of reality as we know it, speaking from experience, you need to get to the bottom of it. For me, anger is easier to handle than hurt and the millions of other emotions I don't want to deal with. Why does failure make you angry? You can't protect everyone."

Takato closed his eyes. He wanted to protest against the idea that he was burdening anyone by asking Himiko what he had. He knew Rika was right after a fashion, but these were unusual circumstances. The Dark Ocean would leave them with little room to breathe should things get nasty and they couldn’t afford a time bomb like himself to go off and have  _ zero _ means to defend against it.

Still… She  _ was _ right. If he was to keep from losing to the Dark Ocean, he had to confront his fears. He had to confront his inner darkness.

He felt the familiar path of that darkness and followed it. It wasn’t hard, as it left a visible trail in his psyche; one that he could never forget no matter how long he lived or what entities like Mnemosyne did to him.

That single, horrible scream.

“Because…I couldn’t protect  _ her,” _ he said quietly. “Every time I close my eyes when I fail at being a Tamer…at protecting someone, I hear Jeri screaming like she did when Leomon was killed. And I think about what the D-Reaper did to her. I know I can’t protect everyone, but…I feel like I have to try anyway. Because if I don’t… If I’m not strong enough or good enough to protect them… If I don’t take it seriously enough…” Tears brimmed at the corners of his eyes as he fought to keep going. “Then it’s like that day…all over again. Leomon dies again and Jeri… A part of her dies with him.”

He set his hands down on the table and folded them over each other. “I could fight Beelzemon, but…I didn’t know how to help her with words then.”

"Takato, we were  _ 10. _ None of us knew what she was going through or what could make it better; if anything. There was no way we could have done  _ anything _ because quite frankly, someone was going to die and until Leomon stepped in, I was afraid it was going to start with Kyubimon," Rika admitted.

"It was very likely," Renamon admitted, grimacing ever so slightly at the memory. Even now, she was convinced if Leomon didn’t step in … the person within the D-Reaper bubble would have been  _ Rika _ . In a world where only the strong survived, that day, for the first time, Renamon hadn’t survived due to her own power but due to her  _ luck _ .

"Either way, both of Guilmon's mega evolutions were a miracle ... one not so much a good miracle as it only made the situation worse, but a miracle all the same," Rika continued. "And the D-Reaper ... none of us could have predicted that. Even if we knew what to say, that sort of psychological wound, especially with the fact we were still in danger, takes time to heal. The D-Reaper took advantage of that."

Taking a sip of her hot chocolate, she decided that after six years, he needed another lesson on what it meant to be a Tamer; a fighter.

"Listen, Takato. You're a Tamer. When it comes to battles, to all of this, you need to learn from the past and what you can do better for the next time. Each day we put our lives on the line, willingly. I'm not saying your desire to protect people is wrong, I'm saying you're taking it to the extremes and letting it consume you. Plus, in a way, it's kind of insulting to the rest of us who are fighting because even if you don't mean it, you're pretty much insinuating you don't believe us strong enough to take care of ourselves. Not to mention you'll become a liability more than a help because you aren't thinking straight. I know you are used to just going on your emotions, not thinking things through, and having things work out for you ... but it's not always going to be that way."

Takato curled his hands together at that, remembering how ready everyone had been to quit once things got rough.  Once IceDevimon’s echo got a hold of him. He had felt abandoned then.

_ Bury it, _ he told himself.  _ We’re always stronger together, not apart. Sometimes…we have our bad days. _

“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “Some things are just…hard to let go of.” He sighed, relaxing his hands. “I know I can’t do anything by myself. I said that at the hospital when you punched me. I just…don’t want to lose any more of us. When you told me Renamon’s echo died fighting IceDevimon…” He closed his eyes again as he trailed off, remembering how upset Rika had been. It tore at his heart – still did, and it found a place next to Jeri’s screams.

He had to learn from them.

“Okay,” he said finally, resuming again. “I’ll do better next time.” A small, tired smile crossed his features. “You always were good at giving me that kick in the butt I needed.”

"That's the spirit," she said, finishing her hot chocolate off. "Also, acknowledging the situation for what it is doesn't equate to giving up."

Standing up, she rapped her knuckles on the table a couple of times.

"It's thinking logically. After all, the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Remember that. Anyway, I'll see you around, Gogglehead."

“Actually it’s the definition of insanity you’re thinking of,” Takato chuckled, finishing off his own hot chocolate. “Something Henry told me once, but I’ll remember it all the same.” He paused and looked up at Rika. “Rika? If…If you ever want to talk…I’ll be there when you’re up for it.”

"Yeah, I'll keep it in mind," she said, pausing a moment, before looking at him. “Speaking of which, you should talk to an actual psychologist. I’m sure they’d be better to talk to than someone who is barely holding together herself.”

That being said, she continued to walk toward the door, pulling the hood of her rain jacket up as Renamon popped open the umbrella as they walked outside.

Still ... she didn't know when she would feel comfortable talking to Takato about what happened there, if ever. After all, he was fragile in his own way with his own emotional burdens, and Rika didn't want to add one more.

“Maybe you should take your own advice or even listen to your family for a change,” Renamon murmured as they walked under the crying sky.

Rika just grunted in response.


	48. What Was Left Unsaid

“Thank you for coming,” Daisy said, hooking Jeri up to the scanner. “I know you were here the last time with your friend but it bears repeating. You will feel a small tingle, but it’s nothing to be worried about.”

Jeri nodded, trusting the woman. As she was one of the Monster Makers who helped rescue her from the D-Reaper and was actively working to investigate the latest digital world related situation, she knew that she was in good hands.

She just hoped that they didn’t find anything else to be worried about. Ever since Ayaka’s ‘data’ had been discovered and how it was identical to Ryo, all of a sudden Hypnos had to scan all of the Tamers to see what they could turn up.

“Just as long as I get some candy later,” she giggled, flashing Ayaka a teasing grin over where she stood with Ryo next to her.

“Don’t worry, we can help you with that,” Daisy chuckled, stepping away. “Okay, Janyu. We’re all set!”

“Activating now,” came Janyu’s reply. Jeri closed her eyes as the machine hummed to life, basking her in its light.

_ Moment of truth… _ she thought.

Calumon, who was sitting on top of Ayaka’s head because the adults wouldn’t let him sit inside the machine with the pretty lights too, watched with with “oohhs” and “aahs.” The In-Training Digimon was rather upset he didn’t get to come last time Jeri went to Hypnos - he was with Masahiko and Akira, helping the boys think up new ways to lift Rika, and everyone else’s, spirits. He had suggested cream puffs numerous times, but neither boy seemed totally aware of the power the treat could have.

“You are such a kid,” Ayaka snorted, Ryo chuckling next to her.

The boy was glad for the company, and as terrible as it might be to say this, happy Ayaka was having the memory blackouts. While he understood full well what it was like to not remember anything, the frustration and fear bubbling inside, if she didn’t have this problem too, he wouldn’t have company his own age.

“Speak to me, oh mysterious one,” Janyu said as Daisy rejoined him, peering over his shoulder. The data came in quickly and the two Monster Makers exchanged looks.

“Jeri…” began Janyu. “Check my memory for me if you would. You were involved with the digital world, correct? In particular a non-digimon program?”

“Yes,” Jeri frowned, her fingers curling into her palms. “Everyone saved me from the D-Reaper. We’ve seen some of its echoes out there.”

“Yes… Right.” Closing his eyes, Janyu pinched the bridge of his nose. Looking at him in concern, Daisy placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you want me to tell her?”

“No, I can do it,” Janyu said.

“Tell me what?” Jeri asked, although she could already guess.

“I’m afraid there’s no easy way around this,” Janyu said, turning around. “Your body does have data, but it’s not the same as that of Ayaka and Ryo. We’re not sure why, but we  _ do _ know that the pattern resembles that of the D-Reaper that we have on file in the archives. It’s badly broken up, but…it’s definitely there. I’m sorry.”

“It’s…all right,” Jeri replied tensely, her teeth grinding against each other now. “Does that help you?”

Once again, Daisy and Janyu exchanged looks.

“There’s nothing we can say for sure right now,” Janyu replied. “We’ll need to go over the data in depth more, but for now…this is what we have.”

“Culu…” Calumon whispered, his ears withdrawing into themselves as Ayaka bristled at that. While she could see them thinking her data was the same as Ryo’s (it was recently confirmed when they came in this morning - they had compared the two side by side and it was an exact match) the fact they were able to recognize the D-Reaper’s data (or what they assumed it to be) just by  _ looking _ at it ...

“How do you know it’s the D-Reaper’s data just by looking at it?” she demanded, crossing her arms.

“The code is fairly primitive by modern standards as it was created in the late 1970’s, but easy to recognize,” Janyu replied. “Only mutated by the incorporation of Shibumi’s code. Obviously we’ll need to cross reference, but we’re familiar enough with the D-Reaper’s code that recognizing it is fairly easy.”

“We can recognize Shibumi’s code at a glance,” Daisy added, nodding her head in affirmation. “And he wrote his algorithms almost a decade later. Programmers like to share all kinds of data between each other, and this one was no exception. Little piece of history after all since it was made to fight the world’s first computer worms. Do it long enough and after a while you get to learn what to look for. If you want, think of it like a programming signature.”

“It’s okay, Ayaka,” Jeri said, sitting up, the wires connected to her bumping against her body. “It…really shouldn’t come as a surprise, all things considered. If Ryo remembered, he wouldn’t be surprised either. He was…there after all.”

Ayaka’s scowl merely became more prominent as Calumon jumped off the copper-haired girl’s head and glided across the room and landed in Jeri’s lap. Holding his stubby little arms up to her, he looked at her hopefully.

“Candy time?” he asked, trying to change the topic of conversation.

“Is it possible that the D-Reaper signature can be removed from her data?” Ryo asked, trying to offer hope to the two girls. He noticed the way Jeri’s fingers had curled and the tenseness of her voice. The news seemed to have upset her, and from what little he gleamed and remembered, he could understand why.

As Jeri took hold of Calumon and cuddled him close to her, Daisy went over to her and turned off the scanner.

“It’s possible,” Janyu said as Daisy began to remove the wires from Jeri’s body. “But it’s never been tried before, so we’ll need to run extensive scans and study them before we can think about moving on to human trials.  This is all very new, I hope you understand, so we have no real way of knowing if removing the data would harm Jeri at this point. We have to be careful.”

“Well it’s something to consider, if she wishes,” Ryo said, smiling, looking at Jeri before glancing at Ayaka.

Ayaka glanced at him, but didn’t say anything. Still, it wasn’t like she didn’t realize - or appreciate - what he was trying to do for her childhood friend.

He was giving her hope. Hope and a choice, that this  _ thing _ which scarred her in more ways than one could be removed from her once and for all.

_ He’s pretty on the ball for a kid two years our junior _ , she noted.  _ Some of the other Tamers should take notes. _

As the last of the wires came off, Jeri hopped off and bowed politely to Daisy. “Thank you,” she said before sauntering over to Ayaka and Ryo, a small, tired smile on her face.

“Well, that’s over with,” she said before turning to Janyu. “We  _ are _ done, right?”

“For now,” Janyu replied. “We’ll be in touch if we ever need to do more scans, but for now you’re all set.”

“All set,” Jeri nodded, a grim look in her eyes. “Well… There’s nothing left for me to do here, so I think I’ll go home.” She nodded to Ayaka and then to Ryo. “See you two later?”

“You’re ditching me, chipmunk?” Ayaka frowned, stepping forward. She didn’t exactly want to be alone, nor did she want Jeri to be alone after that little truth bomb. Misery loves company, and there was no reason the two of them couldn’t be miserable together.

“I need to be alone for a bit,” Jeri replied before glancing down at Calumon. “Well…not  _ entirely _ alone, but…” She glanced up at Ayaka and giggled. “I don’t want to get between your date here.”

“D-date?!” Ayaka spluttered, her cheeks turning red in annoyance, turning to Ryo who caught her gaze and gave her a cheeky wink. Ayaka’s face turned brighter and she wasn’t sure who she wanted to strangle first - the smartass or her childhood friend. “What date?! Jeri, I swear to god if you are trying to set me up  _ again _ -”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take you someplace nice,” Ryo interrupted, causing Calumon to giggle and offer some sagely advice. He wasn’t sure what a date was, but it sounded fun.

“Get creampuffs! Everyone likes creampuffs!” he suggested cheerfully.

“I’m sure Ryo will treat you to something a little more fancy… Not to mention healthier,” Jeri scowled at Calumon before glancing up at Ayaka with a playful smirk. “Actually I wasn’t setting you up. I just thought that Ryo might like a friend to talk to and I’m sure you would like to talk to someone to help take your mind off of things.”

Her smile softened as she continued.

“You need to be a little selfish sometimes, and you’ve been under a lot of stress you know.”

_ I want to be with you though _ , she thought, before glancing at Ryo. She barely knew the boy yet Jeri expected her to open herself up to him?

_ Well, it’s not like he’s any stranger to memory loss _ , she noted, pressing her lips together.  _ This might be your future, so learn everything you can about it and prepare for it. _

If there data signatures were the exact same, who knows how long it would take before she didn’t even remember her own name? The fact Ryo hadn’t aged a day in the last six years was a mystery of it’s own, but who knows? It might be the universe’s (or Mnemosyne’s) fucked up version of a “perk.”

“Fine,” she huffed.

Ryo blinked at that, before smiling slightly. He didn’t expect Ayaka to agree, and now that she had, he found himself thankful. It’s been so long since he was able to talk to someone his own age it seemed, and he was stuck in either the apartment or Hypnos all day, it was driving him insane.

“Yay! It’s a date!” Calumon cheered causing Ayaka to glare at the little In-Training while Ryo merely chuckled.

Jeri smiled wanly at them and nodded, winking at Ayaka.

“Make sure you’re home before curfew.”

Ayaka scowled but Ryo, who was now gleefully jumping on this train, decided to push his luck.

“Don’t worry ma’am, I’ll walk her home safe and sound,” he smirked, glancing at Ayaka, who only scowled deeper.

_ Ohhh this is going to be fun _ , he thought.

**###**

Rika sat on a bench outside a small store Mama shopped at all the time, an orange juice in her hand, watching the people walk up and down the street.

If she craned her head to look inside, she would see Renamon and Mama trying on some clothes - or perhaps better said, Mama holding up shirts against Renamon, the vulpine looking decidedly uncomfortable with the attention lavished on her. Every so often, she would catch Renamon’s icy blue eye looking her way, although if it was a cry for help or to check up on her, the line wasn’t so clear in the sand.

As per their promise, they had allowed Mama to drag them out shopping; Rika was pleasantly surprised Mom actually knew what stores she tended to shop in, although Rika hadn't gotten anything because either she didn't like it or the clothes didn't fit right.

The reason they were here now was because Renamon made the mistake of telling Mom she didn't have a style of clothes she preferred. Up until now, her partner had been wearing her Tamer’s clothes - which were slightly small and tight on the kitsune - and Mama declared the Digimon needed some of her own.

Rika agreed, and neither human would allow the kitsune to wriggle out by saying she wanted to wear whatever Rika did. Yet this was the third store of this kind (about the sixth in total) they went to, and while she had been feeling a lot better, exhaustion began to set on her body.

_ "You're looking pale, honey," Mama murmured, cupping her face worriedly. "We should go home and eat." _

_ "I just need a minute to catch my breath," Rika assured her with a soft smile. "You and Renamon can go into the next store; I'll just wait outside." _

It took a bit more encouraging and Mama buying her some orange juice, but she managed to sway the older woman. It helped Renamon added her voice to hers, assuring if anything was wrong with Rika, she would know about it right away.

_ I need to get my energy back up, _ she thought with a sigh, closing her eyes, leaning her head back so it was resting against the back of the bench.  _ This was just emotionally taxing before, not physically. _

“Rika?” came the voice of Jeri as she approached the girl. She had left Hypnos following her scan’s completion and simply…wandered, going wherever her feet would take her with no real destination in mind. Her mind, however, was a bit more focused.

_ Data… From the D-Reaper…still inside me, _ she thought, adjusting her grip on Calumon, but she brushed it aside in favor of the exhausted looking girl seated before her.

“Rika!” Calumon cooed excitedly, and while quite happy to stay in Jeri’s arms, waved his stubby little arms as violet eyes cracked open.

“Oh, Jeri. Calumon,” Rika greeted them, taking a small sip of orange juice. “Long time no see.”

Longer for Jeri than it was Calumon, actually. The In-Training came over with Masahiko and Akira the other day, and managed to tire out all three teenagers with plenty of energy to spare.

“Long time no see indeed,” Jeri smiled, approaching Rika and releasing Calumon so the In-Training to go see the girl. You look pretty tired. Are you okay?” She pressed her lips together in concern, fidgeting with her arm before forcing herself to let go of it. “Shouldn’t…you be home still?”

“I’m fine,” she assured her, scooping Calumon up into her arms and giving the little Digimon a hug, a small smile crossing her face. Calumon giggled and rubbed his nose against hers.

“Eskimo kisses!” he declared gleefully, causing Rika to chuckle ever so slightly.

“I’m with Mama and Renamon. We’ve been shopping all day,” she said, gesturing with her head to inside the store where Rumiko was having Renamon hold a stack of clothes. However, upon noticing Jeri through the window, the older woman waved cheerfully, Renamon giving a respectful nod.

“What have you been up to?” she asked as Calumon settled in her lap.

“Oh… This and that,” Jeri said distractedly, forcing herself to look away from the currently human Renamon as Rumiko held up a dress in front of her and appeared to giggle giddily. “I was at Hypnos earlier.”

Her hands crossed together and she took hold of her scarred wrist, her expression one of uncertainty.

“Um… Why is Renamon trying on dresses?” she asked, her gaze returning to the store.

“She made the mistake of letting mom know she didn’t have a particular style after my mom felt it prudent she have some of her own clothes since she’s been wearing mine. You know how mom is,” Rika replied, patting the space next to her, eyeing her carefully, noticing how she rubbed her scarred wrist.

Something was wrong.

“What were you doing at Hypnos?”

“Nothing important,” Jeri said, sitting herself down next to Rika, still holding her wrist. “They want to scan everyone now since Ayaka was found to have a data pattern identical to Ryo. I…” She forced a smile on her face, hoping that she could set Rika at ease. “…I think I might have set those two up.”

Rika looked at Jeri for a moment, before glanced down and then up again so she was staring straight into Jeri’s amber eyes.

“You’re holding your wrist, Jer,” she said softly.

Jeri’s hand jerked on her wrist before she quickly stilled it.

“I always do that,” she replied, carefully pulling her hand away and composing herself.

“When you are bothered by something,” Rika pointed out. She knew Jeri’s habits like the back of her hand by now, and the brunette was always a terrible liar. Between her and Takato, their body language screamed everything even if their mouth denied it. Pressing her lips together, she reached out and took Jeri’s scarred wrist, interlacing their fingers together. “You wanna talk about it?”

Jeri bit her lower lip, annoyed that her habits were so easily readable.

“It’s nothing, really,” Jeri replied, squeezing Rika’s hand back. “Janyu even said that it’s not a big deal. It’s badly broken up…”

“What is?” Rika asked tilting her head, not at all understanding where Jeri was going with this and half of her was wondering if she was talking about relationship issues in some sort of code.

“D-Reaper data,” Calumon offered helpfully, hopping back over to Jeri and cuddling on her lap. “That’s what the adults said; they also said they can remove it too!”

He beamed up at Jeri, hoping to remind her of this little tidbit.

“They…didn’t actually say they can get rid of it,” Jeri said, her grip on Rika’s hand tightening even more at how Calumon had let the secret out. “They need to do more scans and more tests first.”

“I bet they can! Like skating on sausages,” Calumon beamed up at her, widening his eyes to look  _ that _ much cuter.

“So you are bothered that it’s still in you then,” Rika inferred, rubbing her thumb across Jeri’s skin in order to comfort her. A small part of her noted this was couple-ish behavior while a larger part - and more logical part - ignored this. Her relationship with Jeri had always blurred the lines she noticed that were easier to see in her relationships with her other friends.

Probably because her other friends were guys - bar Renamon - and this sort of behavior, while acceptable without a second blink with girls, would automatically cause people to assume two people were dating if it was with someone with the opposite sex.

Rika learned that first hand when their schoolmates began assuming her and Henry were a couple when they showed less physical affection toward him than she and Jeri ever did. To this day, Rika never quite understood it.

“I’m…a little bothered,” Jeri admitted. “It sure explains a lot at least. Like…why I would start acting weird like I did that one time at the nurse’s office, or at the beach when we went on vacation.” She bit her lower lip. “It…makes me feel like I’m a danger to everyone.”

“Culu…” Calumon whispered, his ears withdrawing into his head. He had no idea what Jeri was talking about, but he recognized the beginning of the onset of destructive thinking from when she was a child. How she thought everyone would be better off without her.

Some things change, while others remain painfully the same.

“You’re not,” Rika said, perhaps a bit more forcefully than she should. She had  _ just _ talked to Takato about this, and while at least Takato had a point-ish Jeri didn’t. “The D-Reaper is gone. Reverted back to a program that can’t hurt anyone. All is left is  _ memories _ , got it?”

“We don’t know that though,” Jeri frowned. “We don’t know anything about what’s inside of me other than that it belongs to the D-Reaper. We don’t know how it might…change now that we know about it.”

Jeri looked away, her expression forlorn. “It might become like the Arc did, only…not nice.”

Her free hand’s fingers curled into the palm of her hand and she glanced back up at Rika.

“We can’t say anything’s for sure until we actually know something. You were there when I got…weird. Are you  _ really _ sure that that’s just memories talking?”

Rika reached over and tilted Jeri’s head toward her so the smaller girl was forced to look in her eyes. Calumon looked between them, noticing the intensity of Rika’s stare.

“If it was anything more, the Dark Ocean would have used that,” Rika said in a voice so low it was a whisper. “Yet, it didn’t. If you can’t believe in yourself - trust in yourself - trust in the me who believes in you.”

Jeri clasped Rika’s hand around her face, feeling tears well up in her eyes as her heart felt it was now overflowing with emotion. She could feel it. That  _ spark _ between them, and it buzzed all the way from Rika’s hand to her chest. She wanted so very much to believe. She…

Jeri sniffed and nodded numbly before forcing a smile onto her face.

“Okay,” she whispered, giving Rika’s hand a soft squeeze. “I…” She licked her lips nervously, feeling as though her heart’s desires and feelings were now on the tip of her tongue, ready to spill forth. “Rika…?”

There was a bit of a quaver to her voice as she said the girl’s name. She felt as though she were standing on the edge of a cliff, and all she needed was a little… _ push. _

“Yeah?” Rika asked, and she noticed all of a sudden she felt like she was having a hot flash. Her logical mind said it was because of the heat, while the emotional part - the part that was able to read body language fairly easily - sensed something coming. Some sort of storm.

She pushed the feeling down, yet for the first time ever, it began to bubble up again.

Calumon, for his part, couldn’t help but wonder why they were talking so quietly and how they could hear each other. Still, even though he was a child, even though he was naive, something told him not to interrupt.

Jeri felt her heart beating almost painfully in her chest. She swallowed, realizing the height from which she stood upon that cliff. She knew that one step was all it took… All it took if she wanted to gain everything she wanted…or lose it all at once.

“I…” she began, only to hesitate, suddenly afraid as to what would happen if she  _ did _ lose Rika the way Takato did.

_ We won’t be the same, _ she thought suddenly, half-panicking.  _ If she says no…we’ll never be able to go back to the way things used to be. We wouldn’t…be friends, and every day, we’ll have… _ that  _ between us. _

She swallowed again, realizing that she didn’t have the courage she had shown with Kazu. Not with Rika. She cared far too much; more than she realized.

“I just…wanted to say…thanks,” she said finally with a hard blush, wishing she didn’t feel so much like a coward for doing so. “You’re such a good friend, you know that?”

Rika furrowed her brow in confusion, feeling very suddenly like something passed her by. The way Jeri’s voice quavered, the way she licked her lips. It seemed to her like she was going to say something more personal than a thanks.

_ Not to mention she’s either blushing or having a heat stroke _ , she noted, their eyes interlocked.

However, Calumon who had been watching very quietly for the past minute, felt the need to speak up.

“Is this a date too?”

_ “Calumon!” _ Jeri exclaimed suddenly, her face blushing even more at that. “I-It’s  _ not _ a date!”

_ Ah. It’s a blush _ , Rika noted.

Then she realized her hand was still cupping Jeri’s face, tilting her chin upward so their eyes were interlocked; she hadn’t even realized she had done it. She was more annoyed at where the line of thought was going earlier.

“It’s not?” Calumon asked, tilting his head confused.

“No, if this was a date, we would have planned in advance and probably be eating food,” Rika said removing her hand and leaning back into the bench as casually as she could, stealing glances over at Jeri. Picking up her orange juice, she took another sip.

“Like creampuffs?” Calumon asked hopefully.

“Maybe,” Rika replied, smiling slightly at Calumon’s ball of innocence. She wished he was there when it was awkward between her and Takato, although she wondered where the conversation with Jeri would have gone if Calumon didn’t interrupt. “It would depend on the person.”

“It always does, doesn’t it?” Jeri nodded in agreement, her face still beat red at Rika’s words, a part of her wondering if she meant more than what she said. She felt her heart crack a little fearfully. Surely…Surely there was no way that Rika would like her in that way…right?

_ Why…do I like her? _ she wondered, tightening her grip on the hem of her dress.  _ I…I don’t think I’ve ever looked at girls that way before. I’ve always liked boys up until now… So…why? _

Jeri sighed mentally. It seemed she was going to have a lot to think about.

**###**

“Sorry you got stuck with me,” Ryo said to Ayaka as the elevator dinged open. “You don’t really have to stay you know.”

He smiled reassuringly at the copper-haired girl, gesturing for her to go first.

“I mean,” he continued, “it’s not like it’s going to be the end of the world if you stayed, right?”

“Well, you and I have the same data signature and similar memory problems, so I was hoping by talking to you I could prepare for my future,” Ayaka told him bluntly and honestly, following him out of the elevator, stepping aside for some suits as they passed them by, their brow furrowing in confusion, no doubt wondering what two kids were doing there. However, both had lanyards with passes on their neck, so the attention didn’t last long.

“I’m not sure what I can do to help you with that,” Ryo frowned, leading her in the direction of the cafeteria. “I don’t remember…anything really. Aside from whatever the green cards showed me, my earliest memory is waking up in the middle of the woods far away from civilization.”

He chuckled. “I guess as long as you remember how to survive in the wilderness, that’s not something you have to worry about.”

“Green cards?” Ayaka asked confused.

Ryo raised an eyebrow at first before realizing why she was confused. “Oh, sorry. I guess no one told you guys, huh? There have been some weird green cards showing up around me. They contain memories or something like that. Janyu said that they’re connected to some kind of library in the digital world.”

“No these suits haven’t been telling us anything,” Ayaka scowled, wondering why it was only Ryo who was getting the green cards. Not to mention she wasn’t a Tamer, and a part of her was worried that if she completely lost her memories like Ryo did, there would be no recourse for her. “What kinda memories do they contain?”

Ryo frowned and looked away.

“Confusing ones,” he said, deciding to stick with what the Monster Makers and Hypnos already knew. “The last one I saw…” He glanced at Ayaka uncertainly before continuing. “It had Kazu getting in it. He and Suzie were fighting the D-Reaper, and it…didn’t go well.”

“What do you mean?” Ayaka asked, furrowing her brow in confusion, mentally checking what she remembered about those two during the D-Reaper fight. What she recalled was they didn’t do much; it was mostly Ryo, Takato, Henry and Rika doing all the fighting; them and Beelzemon.

Ryo looked back at Ayaka. “How badly do you want to know?” he asked gravely.

“Pretty badly,” she responded. At the very least it might help the others.

Ryo nodded. “Okay,” he said as they entered the cafeteria. “I’ll keep it non-graphic, but basically Kazu was killed.”

Ayaka looked at him, her brow furrowing before a scowl appeared.

“What?” she asked flatly.

“I know,” Ryo nodded, knowing how insane it sounded. “I wasn’t sure what to make of it either when I saw it. I still don’t. Kazu looked like he hadn’t been eating well too. Same for Suzie. It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t,” Ayaka agreed, following Ryo now, having no clue where she was going. She had eaten in a cafeteria before, yes, but not one in a top secret governmental lair. If she was honest, part of her was a bit bummed how …  _ normal _ it looked. “Especially since unfortunately Kazu is still alive and kicking. Can you really call it a memory if it’s not real?”

Ryo shrugged. “You’ve got me there,” he replied. “Maybe it’s all from an alternate dimension or something. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“You think alternate dimensions are real?” Ayaka asked, deciding to look at the menu. It looked so normal as well.

_ Jeri’s rubbing off on me _ , she thought with a scowl, digging into her pocket before ordering some fried rice. She wasn’t  _ that _ hungry.

“We rub elbows with one on a regular basis,” Ryo chuckled. “One that has evolving dinosaurs and talking birds that shoot fire and everything. I don’t see a reason why not.”

“I guess,” she grudgingly agreed, conceding he had a point. Still it seemed more like alternate timelines then alternate dimensions. There had to be a line to draw in the sand  _ somewhere _ , right? “You want anything?”

“I’m still looking things over,” he said, considering the menu. “I’ve been eating out of here for a while now, so I’ve had just about everything on the menu except salads.”

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe I should just go with the rabbit food.”

Deciding to do just that, he piled it on and quickly rejoined Ayaka.

“Have you been spending every day here?” she asked, doling out the money for the food, moving down in line. “I mean I haven’t really seen much of you since the Hazard event. You know, that I remember.”

“When I’m not here, I’m at an apartment with a live-in couple who haven’t admitted that it’s time for them to get married,” Ryo grinned. “Sometimes I’m guarded by a Hypnos agent who’s not happy that I sometimes sneak out of the apartment.”

“When is the last time you snuck out?” she asked with a slight smirk as her rice and his salad was put on a tray with some utensils. “And where did you go?”

“Last time?” Ryo tapped his chin. “There was the Hazard mess. That was about it, but not for lack of trying. The agent stopped trusting me after that and I hardly ever got out from her sight.”

“It sounds like you are some sort of princess locked in a tower,” Ayaka noted dryly, sitting down at one of the tables. “How do you stand it?”

“There were a lot of books,” Ryo explained with a grin. “Plus I got into a bit of a game of cat and mouse with the agent. I think she was ready to just lock me in my room and slide meals under the door if that was what it took to keep me still. I sure didn’t lack anything to keep me occupied.”

“So she brings you to work now instead?” Ayaka asked with a slight smirk.

“Some kind of weird, twisted version of bring your kid to work day,” he laughed lightly in response. “I think she figured that she couldn’t have a more secure place than here, since it has cameras everywhere and agents on every floor. Anything else, she’d have to tie me down in a jail cell or something like that.”

Ayaka snorted in amusement. It had been a long time since she talked to someone with a sense of humor - especially with everything hanging over them. Even with the seriousness which surrounded them, Ryo seemed to keep his sense of humor.

_ It’s a nice change of pace from the drama bullshit,  _ she thought.

**###**

Mnemosyne watched the discussion between the two humans drift off into meaningless topics. Still, it left the “screen” on, finding the information coming in from the human girl helpful. It had gained a valuable insight on what the humans were doing, and how much damage control once all it’s servers and data were reconfigured. It was about 75 percent optimal power again, and while it’s original plan wasn’t to reappear until it gained full strength back, it seemed like it didn’t have that luxury.

_ They know not what they do _ , it thought, looking around at the Akashic Records it was created to keep guard of.

For the first time ever, it felt like it was failing at it’s purpose. It was so hard to keep up with the outside factors of humans and the new and improved ways they found on messing everything up. Honestly, it wasn’t quite sure how it was going to deal with this latest mess.

_ Even if the light escaped, it seems the darkness has followed _ , it thought with a sigh.

**###**

A fat drop of red blood  _ plinked _ down in the sink, causing Takato to wince in pain. Looking up at himself in the mirror, he dabbed a finger at his chin where he had nicked himself with his razor, grimacing as it bled freely.

_ Ahhh man… That’s going to take forever to stop now… _ he moaned mentally while behind him, Gigimon looked up at him worriedly.

“You hurt yourself!” he exclaimed, bouncing off the toilet behind Takato and hopping up onto the sink.

“It’s just a scratch,” Takato began, only to be interrupted as Gigimon jumped onto his shoulder and immediately began licking his face. “Ack! Gigimon! Cut it out! I’m fine!”

“But you hurt yourself, Takatomon!” Gigimon said, pulling back, his gold-colored eyes shining full of concern. “You can’t let Rika see it! Not after your talk with her! She’ll think you were trying to hurt yourself on purpose!”

“Gigimon…” Taking hold of his partner, Takato set him down on the sink and smiled at him wanly. “Gigimon, you’ve got to listen to me. Rika isn’t going to think that I’m hurting myself on purpose. I’m just shaving off this beard and…well…it’s about time I got rid of it. It was getting really itchy.”

Returning his attention to the mirror. He pressed the blade against his upper lip and carefully began scraping again.

“The only reason…why I’m cutting myself at all…” Takato hissed suddenly as his mustache got caught between the blades at a bad angle. “…is because I let it go for too long. Ouch…”

_ Really should have done something about that a while ago, but we’ve been so busy… Not to mention I was chained to a bed. _

Rubbing at his upper lip, he glanced down at the razor, and then looked at his throat before sighing.

“I couldn’t hurt myself like that even if I wanted to,” he said quietly. “I mean… I don’t know.” He frowned slightly. “If I do become a problem…maybe…”

Closing his eyes, he sighed again.

“Takato…?” began Gigimon in a low voice. “All that stuff you said to Rika and her cousin… Are you really thinking about…that?”

He didn’t quite understand what it meant, but he felt in his digital bones the basic idea of it.

If Takato was talking about hurting himself to the point where he couldn’t hurt others if he ever lost control, there was only one meaning to take from it. The meaning that Gigimon protected him from for so long when he was younger.

“No…” Takato said finally. “But… It’s kind of come to mind just now. If we can’t depend on Hypnos, then…we need to think of another way.”

“But not  _ that _ way!” Gigimon protested. “Takato! I know what you said back there, but…but I don’t want you to do  _ that!” _

Tilting his head up, Takato brought the blade against his throat and stroked up. He watched as it glided along his skin, trimming the hairs. Turning on the faucet, he ran the blades under it, cleaning out the hairs that clung to it.

“I know,” Takato said. “I…don’t know. I know what I said back there and…” Rubbing his hair frantically, he made a frustrated noise. “I just  _ don’t _ know what to do! You  _ know _ what we’re capable of together! This darkness stuff… I feel like…like…”

The black miasma from earlier again began to shape itself around the boy, and with a strangled cry he clamped a hand own on his arm, as if that would somehow change it. Sweat appeared on his brow as he concentrated on it, forcing it down with his mind, and after a moment, it retreated and disappeared. Breathing a sigh of relief, the boy sank down onto the toilet seat, dropping his face into his hands.

“I feel like I could lose control at any moment. You were there when I blew up on Ayaka. You were there when I forced you to become Megidramon…”

“But I was also there when we fused to become Gallantmon,” Gigimon pointed out, hopping into his partner’s lap. “Takato… I may not know everything about why you changed so much, but we were always at our strongest together. We were an unstoppable fighting team! We still can be! Just…believe, remember?”

“Gigimon…” Tears brimming in his eyes, Takato crushed his partner to his chest.

“I…I don’t want to die, Gigimon. But…I can’t live with myself if I made  _ others _ die!”

“You won’t,” Gigimon said firmly. “Remember what we talked about with Rika?”

“Yeah…” Takato took a shuddering breath. “Yeah. And I promised to do better. I just…don’t know what that better is.”

Pushing himself up on Takato’s chest, Gigimon licked Takato’s chin where the blood still flowed freely.

“We’ll find a way, Takatomon. I promise.”

Wrapping his arms around his partner, Takato smiled.

“I promise too,” he replied. “Sorry for being such a Gogglehead. I should probably make a list of people who need to kick me in the butt to get me to stop thinking stupid thoughts, huh? I just had this talk too!”

“If you did that, you’d probably end up back in the hospital again,” Gigimon laughed.

“I’m done with hospitals,” Takato chuckled. “I’m never going back into one again for as long as I live.”

Gigimon looked at him in alarm. “But…if you did that, you’d never see that doctor Himiko told you to go see!”

Takato laughed lightly and patted his partner’s head. “That’s a different kind of doctor boy,” he said. “I’ve got to get on that. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to get one.”

_ Soon, _ he thought.

**###**

Takato entered his room with Gigimon trotting behind him, one beard less but many small cuts its place. Feeling a little more…himself, he went over to his desk to…

_ Huh? _ Frowning, he turned toward his window. Approaching it, he slid it open and peered outside.

“Takato?” Gigimon asked, hopping over to him. He sniffed the air and then suddenly began to growl.

“So I wasn’t just imagining things, was I?” Takato asked as Gigimon continued to growl. “What is it boy?”

“I smell a digimon!” Gigimon snarled, before sniffing the air again and relaxing again. “Smelled… I…think it’s…gone?”

Takato’s eyes traced the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Whatever it is, it’s gone now. Probably an echo that Hypnos zapped or something.”

His frown deepened and he closed the door, he failed to notice the ghostly apparition hovering above his home, blood-red eyes gleaming against the sky before fading from sight and into a well of darkness.


	49. The Cogs Begin to Turn

**** The beam of light winked off over Takato and gentle hands began to take off the wires attached to his body. Slowly, Takato cracked open his eyes, finding a woman with short, closely cropped hair smiling over him as she worked. Daisy, her name was, or at the very least the only name Takato ever knew her by back during the D-Reaper conflict. Per Riley’s orders and delivered by Himiko, he was the last of this round of scans – the previous ones involving Ryo, Ayaka, Jeri, Henry and Rika (the last two done at the same as him) – to gather information on what had been done to them and whether or not Ayaka’s condition was shared by all of them.

So far, it appeared to be the case, although there were some…differences.

“Now  _ this _ is interesting,” Janyu said as Takato hopped off the scanning bed, Gigimon quickly bouncing over to him and hopping into his arms. “Daisy, could you come have a look at this?”

The blond-haired woman patted Takato’s shoulder and went over to see what Janyu found so fascinating. Glancing over his shoulder, her eyes widened in amazement.

“Oh  _ wow! _ Now  _ that’s  _ special.”

“Uh… What?” Takato asked, arching his eyebrows a bit worriedly. From what he remembered from his time cooperating with the Monster Makers, what they found interesting sometimes meant trouble for everyone else.

“The data that you have inside your body is similar to your friend and my son,” Janyu indicated Henry and Rika, who were both standing by the door while Renamon stood just off to the side, watching Terriermon amuse himself with cartwheels. “You have digital and what we called ‘library’ data, but there’s something else with it that’s  _ not _ like them or any of the others. I’m…not sure what it is at the moment, but…”

Frowning, Janyu began to look through the records, but after a moment he offered the group of digimon and teenagers a smile. “Well… It looks like this is going to take a while. I’m afraid I can’t give you much more than this right now.” His eyes settled on Henry, and his expression lost some of its eager curiosity, remembering that his son had been dragged into this business with Mnemosyne. “We’ll…have to talk more later when we have more to work with.”

His eyes met Henry’s gray ones, promising that  _ their _ conversation would be a particularly important one.

“So is there anything else you need from us?” Rika asked, quite relieved, as selfish as it may be, her data signature was the exact same as Henry’s. After learning Jeri had the data signature of the D-Reaper and Himiko taking her to work before school tentatively restarting next week with the echoes seemingly under control for the most part now, she was worried that the Dark Ocean had affected her data signature.

Even now she could hear the crashing waves, and every so often she would see the gaunt faces of those still trapped inside their own personal hell. She wasn’t sure what was worse - being weak enough to fall into that cesspool to begin with, or being unable to help those trapped inside. With the Digital hellscape refusing to even leave her dreams, and the teenager unable to sleep alone ever since she got back due to the new horrors her mind reminded her of on a daily basis, she feared she was irrevocably fucked up - more so than usual.

However, if there was no signs of the Dark Ocean in her, maybe, just  _ maybe _ there was hope for her yet.

“No, I believe that’s all for now,” Janyu said, shaking his head. “We’ll be sure to contact you if anything more comes up.”

“We play now?” Gigimon chirped in Takato’s arms, his red tail wagging delightedly now that the boredom of just standing around was done and over with. Chasing his tail until he was dizzy was fun, but after a while it became rather repetitive, and Renamon wouldn’t let him play with her tail.

“Sure thing, boy,” Takato smiled, patting his partner’s head. Henry kept his eyes on him though, his expression unreadable, wishing that he could trust him again as he used to – as he knew that he normally would if not for the Dark Ocean’s impact on all of them.

_ I wish I wasn’t looking at him like he was a time bomb ready to go off at any moment, _ he thought, his hands tightening around his arms briefly before letting them go.

“Thanks Dad,” the dark-haired boy said, collecting his partner. “Thank you Daisy. We’ll keep in touch.”

With that, Henry opened up the door and the group filed out of the room.

“So…” began Takato as the door clicked behind them. “What happens now?”

“I’m going home,” Henry replied simply. “I’m going to go over my notes…see if there’s anything that can be used to deal with this data that we have inside of us.”

Takato nodded and glanced over at Rika briefly before returning his attention to Gigimon.

“I guess we’ll head home too. I’m still grounded after all.”

“Actually, before you leave, I would like to have a word with you Mr. Matsuki,” Himiko said approaching, a cup of coffee in her hand before glancing at Rika. “I also want to talk to you Rika, but you and I can talk at home. Renamon, I assume you can make sure she gets home safely?”

“Of course,” the kitsune nodded, already switching back to her human form after leaving the Hypnos section of the building. After all, the organization was still a secret one and the vulpine didn’t want to be the one to blow it’s cover.

“Someone is in trouble,” Terriermon giggled with glee, riding on Henry’s head.

“Be nice, Terriermon,” Henry said before hesitantly nodding to Takato. “Good luck.”

“Moumentai,” Terriermon assured his partner, patting his head before purposefully messing up Henry’s hair knowing full well it irked his partner when he did that. Which, if anything, was more of a reason to do it then not to.

Takato gave him a small smile. “And to you guys too.”

Henry simply nodded, finding nothing more to say and started off, giving him only one more glance as he did so.

“See ya later,” Rika said with a wave of her hand, Renamon nodding politely, before falling in step with Henry, the two humans and two Digimon stepped into the elevator, the door closing and leaving Takato and Gigimon with Himiko.

Takato swallowed a lump in his throat and waved back at Rika, not trusting himself to speak. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and turned toward Himiko.

“You said you wanted to talk to me?” he asked, taking the plunge.

“Yes,” she answered simply, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a card. “I spoke with Ms. Katou, and I got the name for her psychologist. He’s also been helping a great deal with those who have been affected by the echoes, either by the ‘dead’ coming back to life or some other trauma born to them, such as being caught in an explosion such as Mr. Wong.”

She held out the small rectangular piece of paper, continuing.

“I spoke to the director, and she agreed with me it was worthwhile to invest in funding a psychologist to make sure your head is on straight if we ever need you or the other Tamers. I hope we won’t need to turn to children once again, but it is something which should be kept in mind,” she continued. “I have scheduled appointments for you Sunday mornings. If you ever feel the need to talk to him outside of your regular sessions, do not hesitate to call. I have informed him that you are a high priority patient due to your … ties with the Digital World.”

Takato nodded. “Okay,” he said simply before hesitating. “Thanks. I… Ms. Hata, I know you’re just doing your job, but…thanks.” Another pause. “About what you said earlier to Rika… Are you going to get her help too?”

‘No thanks are needed. I am merely doing my job,” she said shrugging her shoulders before hesitating, wondering if she should answer his second question.“I wish to, but you can’t help someone who does not wish to be.”

While Rika  _ appeared _ to be doing well and handling the change very well on the outside, it wasn’t like Himiko was blind to the subtle changes. The exhaustion. The muffled crying at night. Sometimes, when she thought she was alone, there was a certain hollowness to her eyes.

She had talked it over with Seiko and Rumiko, and while all three were of the opinion Rika should - needed - to get professional help, the question remained would she open up about it? Rika barely talked to people she trusted about how she felt. The chances of her talking to a stranger, even if it was one who would help her, was practically nothing.

Takato chewed over his lip. He hated the idea of Rika suffering in silence, but he couldn’t see how he could help her. He had caused her enough problems already, but surely there had to be  _ something! _

“Maybe Jeri can help her,” he suggested. “I mean, she cares about Rika a lot, and I know she’s one of Rika’s closest friends. If there’s anyone who  _ could _ help her…it’d be her. I’m sure of it.”

He rubbed Gigimon’s scales. “She would know better than anyone about what she’s going through after all.”

Himiko shrugged. While she didn’t disagree with it - Ms. Katou was on the very short list of Rika’s friends Himiko approved of - she didn’t want to force anything and ruin any chances. Aunt Seiko had suggested to simply wait and watch at the moment and make sure Rika understood that if she ever wanted to talk, they would listen. Not to mention, the psychologist hint had been dropped several times already, and Himiko noticed the more it was brought up, the more agitated she became.

_ She’s so troublesome _ , she thought with a tired sigh.

“Right now we are waiting and seeing. Renamon seems to be doing well looking after her, and as long as  _ she _ doesn’t get deleted, I don’t think Rika would get pulled back into the Dark Ocean again,” Himiko responded neutrally. “Being friends-” just the way she said it made it clear of her continued distaste of this notion - “with Rika, I’m sure you are well aware that pushing her only makes things more needlessly difficult due to her stubbornness I swear she inherited from her mother. We are handling it though.”

Takato nodded. “I know, but…if there’s one thing I’ve learned about being her friend, it’s that, sometimes, you do have to fight her on some things so that she’ll fight for herself.” He gave Gigimon a light squeeze. “I know I’m not saying it right. I’m not good at this sort of thing. I just know that there are times where she does need to be pushed. I’m sure that’s how she got out of the Dark Ocean.”

His expression twisted a little. “But… I don’t know. Maybe I really don’t know her all that well after all. I just…”

Clenching his teeth, Takato shook his head and then bowed to Himiko. “Sorry for taking up your time. Have a good day, Ms. Hata.”

Through some miracle - helped by bringing up the coffee to her lips - Himiko found herself able to swallow back a snarky, decidedly unprofessional comment, nodding to the boy as he left.

**###**

Riding the elevator down with Henry, Renamon and Terriermon, she glanced at her best friend - the non furry one - chewing on her bottom lip. With the nightmares lately of the horrible red sky, she had recalled in the hospital before she was pulled into the Dark Ocean Henry talking about seeing Suzie die or something. While the exact details of that conversation were hazy, considering she was more preoccupied with other things, she remembered something about it catching her attention.

“Hey Henry, can I talk to you about something?” she asked finally, the elevator dinging before finally opening to the lobby.

Henry turned his gray eyes toward her. “What’s up?”

Taking off her lanyard, handing it to the secretary near the door, she didn’t answer until they were outside.

“I remember you talking about something regarding … Suzie dying before I got pulled into the Dark Ocean,” she began slowly. “It was at the hospital, shortly after you almost got killed in that explosion. Can you remind me what that was about?”

Henry frowned, glancing away. “It…wasn’t really Suzie,” he said. “It was an echo of some kind, only…” Sighing he ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. It certainly  _ looked _ like her, but she looked like she had gone too many days without eating right. You know, like all those people we see on the news who live in war zones? She looked like that.”

His eyes narrowed. “The problem is, she  _ never _ looked like that.”

He shifted slightly. “Anyway,” he continued, “she was running from a D-Reaper agent, and…well…it…” His hand tightened into a fist. “…killed her.”

“Moumentai. She’s safe and sound, and trying to figure out how to woo her ‘prince,’” Terriermon assured him, not really knowing about  _ this _ little bit of information, wondering if he should demand a full rundown with detailed notes and explanations when they got home.

Rika was quiet for a moment, looking up to the blue sky, overcast with some clouds. There was a 40 percent chance it would rain later in the afternoon, according to the weatherman.

“I have dreams where you, me and Kenta were the only Tamers left alive after the battle with the D-Reaper,” she said quietly after a moment. “The D-Reaper killed the rest and stained the sky red. Takato was the first to go, and we didn’t exactly know what happened until later. It was like he disappeared. None of us knew what happened to Jeri. Kazu died. So did Suzie. Sometimes I get the feeling there was others who died as well, but I can’t remember their names when I wake up. There is always a feeling of hopelessness though in those dreams.”

Henry hesitated before speaking again.

“Do you think that’s because of what happened to you in the Dark Ocean?” he asked carefully. “If the TV show is any indication, and from what I’ve been hearing from the others, it seems to be doing its best to mess around with everyone’s head. Maybe it can do the same thing to memories, just like Mnemosyne did.”

Rika shook her head.

“I had them before I fell into it,” she admitted. “It’s why I remember you talking about it. I made note of it because it caught my interest; I had remembered some sort of memorial service.” She looked at Henry. “The echoes haven’t shown us lies before. Why would it start now?”

“Maybe Mnemosyne wasn’t fully destroyed,” Henry suggested, causing Renamon to stir next to Rika, but as yet she said nothing, merely listening so as to get as much information as she could. “I mean, Mnemosyne has been playing with our memories for years, reconstructing them so that we remember things differently.”

“Alternatively, it could be that if it’s not Mnemosyne, perhaps the Dark Ocean has found a way to make echoes of its own to unsettle everyone,” added Renamon. “Psychological warfare is a common means to disrupt an enemy, and if what I’ve heard about that place is any indication it fits.”

“Or maybe Rika’s just going crazy,” Terriermon added, quickly catching on to the undercurrent of what they were saying, deciding to simply bring it out into the open bar any dancing around the issue.

Frustration and anger gnawed inside her, and she was beginning to immediately regret talking about it. 

“Except it’s  _ not _ ,” she insisted, growling. “Can’t you tell the difference between a fake memory and a real one? Because I sure as hell can.”

“Easy there,” Henry replied, holding up a placating hand. “I think I should remind you that until our memories came back, we had a hard time telling the fake from the real. Even  _ I _ thought I was going crazy for a while.”

He frowned at his friend. “You’re serious about this. Can you tell me why you feel so strongly about it?”

He blinked, suddenly picking up on the last thing she had said. “Wait… You have your memories back…don’t you?”

“Yes…” Rika said slowly, looking at him like he lost his mind. She’s had them back for a few weeks now. Why was he acting like this is some new thing? “Hence why I feel so strongly about it. The more which come through, they don’t feel  _ fake _ like the others do. Just …  _ wrong _ . Like looking at your body even though you are right there. It’s hard to put it exactly to words. Surreal maybe?”

Henry shook his head in amazement. “Rika…  _ When  _ did you get your memories  _ back?!  _ Why didn’t you tell anyone about this?”

Renamon raised an eyebrow at this and nudged Rika’s arm with one elbow. “Rika?” she prompted.

“Yeah, Rika. What gives?” Terriermon added on.

“Before I got dragged into the Dark Ocean. You know after…” Rika glanced at Renamon, her thought not finishing but the implication was pretty clear. “The shock … I didn’t say anything?”

Henry shook his head while Renamon furrowed her brow.

“No…” Henry replied. “You never said anything…to  _ anyone!” _

“Oops,” Rika mumbled apologetically.

“Not…exactly,” Renamon said to her partner after a moment’s thought. “You did bring up topics with Takato when you talked to him, but I believe he was a little too distracted to notice.”

“Wait, Henry blinked. “Talk with Takato? What…?”

“He asked Himiko to ‘take care of him’ if he got dangerous, and I basically was asking him what the heck,” Rika said shrugging her shoulders. “Then I told him to see a psychologist.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” Terriermon muttered under his breath.

“I’m…not even going to scold you for that,” Henry sighed, massaging his forehead. “Kami…”

_ Take care of him if he became dangerous… So even Takato’s thinking about that. _

He glanced over his shoulder back in the direction of Hypnos, wondering if their friend – a dark part of him wondering if he could be considered as one still – was already on his way home. Digging out his cell phone, he began to type up a message.

“Rika…” He shook his head as he finished typing up the message and scrolled through his address book until he found Takato’s number. “I can’t even be mad at you for that either. But…” Reaching out, he placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “…you might want to consider your own advice.”

Renamon folded her arms across her chest, eyeing Rika warily as she guessed what her response would be.

“So I’ve been told by literally everyone else it seems,” she grumbled. “I’m  _ fine _ though.”

“Ah yes, because you are the model for mental stability and emotional wellbeing,” Terriermon shot back sarcastically, deciding that being given an inch meant he could run a few hundred miles with it.

“Terriermon…” Henry warned, tapping his head with his knuckles before glancing back at Rika. “You can’t fool me you know, and I doubt you’ve fooled Renamon. You and I have sparred often enough that I can pick up on your body language. You’re tense. Way more than usual. And sometimes, I’ve noticed, when you’re looking at Takato or even me…even  _ Jeri… _ it like you’re seeing someone else.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rika nearly growled, giving Henry a look to  _ drop _ it. She didn’t need some shrink; she could handle her problems by herself. She always had. After all she didn’t need anyone’s help to escape from the Dark Ocean. “But more importantly, since we got off track from  _ my  _ original question, what do you think of the alternate echoes? The ones where everyone but us dies?’

Henry could only frown at the stubborn girl. “Fine,” he said, glancing away, feeling a touch annoyed at how she again refused to rely on her friends. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he sighed. “I don’t know  _ what _ to think. For all I know, it could be a glitch with Mnemosyne after your cousin hit it with the Hazard.”

Rika grunted, feeling equally as frustrated. Talking to him about it was a waste of time it seemed, and now he was on her case too about getting her head checked out. He probably thought she was crazy too, between this and the Dark Ocean nonsense.

Still, she couldn’t wonder herself, in the back of her mind, if she really was crazy. After all, why was she - the last one to regain their memories - the only one who remembers this? The only one having these dreams?

_ This wouldn’t be the first time I saw a past I never thought happened though _ , she thought wryly to herself.

“I’m sorry, Rika,” Henry said, sensing the frustration behind her grunt. “It’s just… I don’t have a whole lot to go on right now, and you have to admit you dropped quite an important piece of information on me right now.” He glanced down at his phone, the message still not sent. Sighing, he closed out of it, not quite feeling ready to talk to Takato at the moment.

“Just…whatever you do, take care of yourself,” he continued, pocketing the phone before looking at Renamon. “And you look after her as well.”

“Always,” Renamon replied, inclining her head. Henry chuckled.

“Sorry that she’s so much trouble.”

Renamon’s azure eyes sparkled with amusement and she patted the fire-haired girl’s head.

“Believe me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**###**

Beelzemon rubbed the red, frayed scarf on his arm, shifting his weight from foot to foot next to Guardromon, MarineAngemon and Antylamon, waiting for Zhuqiaomon to appear. However, the stupid fire bird, as always, seemed to be running by his own damn clock, and hadn’t appeared from his pit since they got here.

“How much longer do we gotta wait?” he hissed at Antylamon, who seemed completely unphased by her master’s tardiness.

“He has a meeting with the other Sovereigns; he will meet with us when he is ready, I assure you,” she replied serenely, and Beelzemon growled in frustration once again.

He was  _ tired _ of waiting. They had been away from their partners for six whole years, and now Renamon, Guilmon, Terriermon and Calumon run off without them to the Real World? What the hell! Talk about inconsiderate! Rude! Did they think sending a message would make it better?

_ When I see them again, I’m going to give them a good smack _ , he seethed.

“I hope he arrives soon as well,” Guardromon added as MarineAngemon blew another heart bubble at him. His iron armor was boiling hot now from the intense heat of the room, and he looked as though he were on the fritz. “My circuits can’t keep up with this for much longer. Antylamon, do you think it would be too much to ask if the Sovereign could install air conditioners?”

“Puh!” MarineAngemon scowled at the Deva slightly, voicing his displeasure as well. Of all of them, these two had stuck together and formed something of a special bond during their many misadventures. Guardromon’s desire to return to his life as a knight errant had been in need of a healer to patch him up, and as he was the partner of Kazu, Kenta’s best friend, the fairy digimon remained with him through thick and thin.

“There is a reason I said we could wait outside, but someone-” Antylamon glanced at Beelzemon - “insisted. My master’s domain was made for the comfort of him, no one else.”

“And how much longer would we have to wait if we waited outside!” Beelzemon growled irritably, beginning his pacing again. He wasn’t bothered by the heat - being thrown into lava would do that to you - and he didn’t want to give the Sovereign a chance to lock them out.

_ “The Sovereign sees you at the time and place of his choosing, Demon Lord!” _ boomed a thunderous voice as a gout of fire suddenly exploded in the middle of the room.  _ “Not yours!” _

The torrent of fire suddenly burst outward, flashing great, crimson wings and revealing a massive, spear-like beak. Red orbs surrounded the fire-bird’s body, gleaming brightly in a display of its power.

Zhuqiaomon, the lord of the iridescent flames and god of the south, had arrived.

At the sight of the Mega, Guardromon and MarineAngemon bowed respectfully, to which the firebird gave a deep, throaty laugh before returning his attention to Beelzemon.

“Even these… _ pets _ understand their place in the world’s order,” he said. “You should consider taking lessons from them in humility. Remember, you were but a stripling when my servant found you cowering in a dark hole, your pride reeking of humiliation. Know your place.”

Beezlemon growled but kept his mouth shut, Antylamon bowing her head respectfully, shooting a quick glare at the Demon Lord to do the same, only getting a slight bob of the head. It was more than she expected, so it was progress. She just didn’t want him to mess her chance up to meet up with Suzie.

“Thank you for taking the time to meet with us, my lord,” she said, raising her head after a moment. “As I have informed you earlier, Renamon, Guilmon, Terriermon and the former catalyst have sent a message of their desire to return to the Human World, and with no communications from them, I assume they have. We too are worried about our partners and wish to join them.”

“You would have me damage the barriers between the worlds so you can be with your masters?” Zhuqiaomon asked, the fires beginning to die down.

“Yes, your excellency!” Guardromon replied quickly, straightening out with a loud  _ clank. _ “If it’s not too much trouble, sir. I know you must be terribly busy with ruling the digital world after all…”

“I did not speak to  _ you,” _ Zhuqiaomon replied evenly, the fires surrounding his body increasing ever so slightly, causing Guardromon to blanch and bow low again.

“My apologies. I did not mean to offend you, oh Zhuqiaomon, the great and powerful.”

Zhuqiaomon  _ harrumphed _ and glanced back at Antylamon.

“Well?” he prompted. “Is what he said the truth? You would risk damage to our world to be with mere  _ humans?” _

“If pineapple head and the others are already on the other side, that bridge has already been burned, hasn’t it?” Beelzemon shot back angrily. “Even  _ I’m  _ not dumb enough to come before you of all Digimon and ask to be reunited with Ai and Mako since I know a lost cause when I see one. And I’m pretty sure the rabbit having to deal with your tantrums all day knows enough to keep her mouth shut too. Especially when there is three other Sovereigns who are more likely to oblige than you.” 

“And yet, here you are,” Zhuqiaomon gloated. “You are fortunate that I have need of agents to enter the human world. A darkness is growing there. A black tree.” His eyes came to focus on Beelzemon all the more at this. “You have sensed it…haven’t you? Our kind is called to it.”

“Puh?” MarineAngemon asked Guardromon.

“He means Sovereigns and Demon Lords,” the robot pointed out helpfully before turning to Beelzemon. “They have a special affinity for this sort of thing.”

“Part of the reason we’re here,” Beelzemon growled, deciding not to add he was at least positive of Zhuqiaomon’s powers and abilities when it came to being able to breach the barrier of the real world, seeing example time and again with regards to the Devas. However, the stupid bird didn’t need more of his ego stroked.

“What are you talking about?” Antylamon asked, her brow furrowing and for a moment, anger flashing in her red eyes. She didn’t like things being kept from her - especially in regards to the safety of her partner. “What didn’t you  _ tell _ us.”

“It’s not something ya can explain, rabbit. I just can tell something ain’t right just like pineapple head knows when there is food around or pipsqueak knows where there is trouble,” the Demon Lord grunted, his red eyes locked on the Sovereign's. “Something happened didn’t it though?”

“Yes,” Zhuqiaomon’s eyes gleamed. “The humans have unleashed a weapon replicating the event that was experienced once before, during your battle with your… _ comrade  _ when he digivolved to Megidramon. The barriers between words have been greatly weakened, particularly one to a dark realm that should not be opened. As much as it pains me to admit it, I need to know the situation there, and how badly weakened the barriers are…and whether such a world is free and spilling into others. If you agree to this, I shall send you back. Is this acceptable?”

“Indubitably!” Guardromon agreed quickly as MarineAngemon made a quick,  _ puh _ noise in agreement, his expression fierce and full of determination.

“That’s two of you,” Zhuqiaomon said. “Who else?”

“You know I will,” Antylamon bowed her head, both her and her master knowing damn well she had a second reason for wanting to do so.

“Someone has to babysit these idiots,” Beelzemon grunted. “Plus I’m pretty sure I made my wants and desires pretty clear by now. I made a deal with you once. If it means protecting Ai and Mako, I’ll be your stupid lapdog again.”

“Very well,” Zhuqiaomon said, rising into the air. “Do  _ not _ forget your promise to me, Demon Lord. Do not forget your promise.”

With that, a tear appeared in front of the digimon, and the Sovereign gestured to them.

“Go where you will. Your humans are waiting for you. Perhaps you will succeed, just as before.”

Needing no more encouragement, Guardromon rose into the air and flew toward the portal, and disappeared within to the other side, MarineAngemon hot on his tail.

Beelzemon looked at Antylamon, nodded, and followed. He wasn’t sure what was waiting for him on the other side, if Ai and Mako even  _ remembered _ him, but they were partners. Whatever was happening over there, he would protect them.

No matter what.

_ Hang on Ai and Mako. I’m coming _ .

**###**

“And you’re  _ sure _ that this will work?” Riley asked Curley as she and Babel stood in her office.

“It’s not guaranteed at this point until we start applying it in real life,” the heavyset woman explained. “But the simulations show that it should be possible.”

“The presence of the echoes showed us that it could be done – that they can become physical and interact with the world,” chimed in Babel. “I figure we can do the same.”

Riley leaned into her hands, frowning slightly, glancing over their submitted idea. It certainly was an interesting idea… _ if _ they could do pull it off.

“Start with something small first,” she said. “I know you don’t need to be told that, but…” She shrugged. “It pays to make sure you’re covered by having it on record.”

“Understood,” Babel and Curley replied with a quick nod. Dismissing them, Riley leaned back in her chair and glanced over at Yamaki, who sat in the corner of her office – once his and then Himiko’s – flicking his lighter open and closed.

“So… We’re making progress…”

“Progress,” Yamaki said simply, the lighter clinking open. “We thought we were back when this whole mess started. Somehow I feel like we’re still being led around by the nose. This Dark Ocean business…”

Yamaki was interrupted as an alarm sounded throughout the building. Cursing, he stood up as Riley did likewise. The two exchanged a look and then hurried out of the office.

They made it to the main control room in record time, finding Tally’s chair swiveling with that of her partner as they collected data.

“Report,” Riley said, adjusting her tie, a part of her missing her old uniform.

“We’re detecting an immense germination energy pattern all of a sudden,” Tally reported, her voice strained as she fought to keep calm. “I don’t know where it came from, but the network was suddenly hit by a massive flow of energy! Our firewalls couldn’t keep it out! Yuggoth was deployed as well, but…”

A series of code suddenly crawled across their screens and Yamaki winced upon seeing it.

“It’s…almost like we’re being laughed at,” Riley whispered, unknowingly voicing his own thoughts.

“I’m locked out!” Tally exclaimed. “I can’t do anything!”

Her mind raced frantically as she remembered the last bit of data right before their systems were taken over.

Two Megas, a Champion and an Ultimate were coming to town.

_ We’re screwed… _ was all she could think.

The screens suddenly returned to normal, displaying the bio-emerging signals. Giving as low a scream as she could muster, her fingers flew across her keyboard. “I can’t stop…!” she began, right before the signals terminated abruptly with a large X sign over them, signaling that bio-emergence was not only imminent, it was happening  _ now. _


	50. S.O.S.

**** Ever since Renamon came back, Rika had begun to carry her D-arc and cards again, slipped into her back pocket or hidden in her jacket where her mother couldn’t see - just in case.

Clutching to Kyuubimon’s white fur around her neck, one eye on the D-arc, she couldn’t help but think it was a good thing she did too. While she had grown substantially since she was a child, her partner was still able to move through the streets and rooftops swiftly, keeping out of the line of sight.

“It’s just up ahead,” she told her partner, probably unnecessarily, lifting her head to see a rather large Digital Field in the same park where she had to say goodbye so long ago.

Kyubimon nodded as they came to a landing atop the last roof before the park and launched herself into it, disappearing into the foliage without raising so much as a single, curious eye. Her fiery paws touched down on the dirt path and resumed their pace, neither tiring or slowing in spite of Rika’s growth. If anything, it caused Kyubimon to chuckle slightly at it.

“It feels good to have you on my back again,” the nine-tailed kitsune commented with a slight grin on her face. “Even if you are a bit heavier.”

It was meant to be a joke, partially something of a habit she picked up from her association with Terriermon which had gone on far longer than she believed it to be healthy, but also to calm her partner. This was to be their first major bio-emergence together since she returned to the real world and she could feel Rika’s tension from past events running through her muscles. The former was relatively easy to deal with, as Rika was talented and had a natural confidence to her that allowed her to take to taming with far less experience. The former was…harder to deal with.

“You know, it’s rude to comment on a woman’s weight,” Rika scolded playfully, a small smile breaking up on her lips as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.  _ This _ particular habit she never got out of the habit of - the sun hurt her eyes and on some days she just had to admit weakness and wear the damn things. Slipping them on her face, she stroked the side of her partner as they entered the digital field.

There was four Digimon on her D-arc; she wasn’t sure what to expect, but she was sure that they could handle whatever it was.

“My, my,” Kyubimon chuckled as they began to draw nearer to the digital field. “My apologies. I was under the impression you weren’t yet a woman at your age.”

She extended her senses, trying to determine if there was anything about the digimon she could determine so as to create an effective strategy before battle was to be joined. Three of them were of considerable power; one  _ especially. _

Yet…there was also something  _ familiar _ about what she sensed.

_ Could it be…? _ she wondered, but didn’t dare hope.

That’s when a large, towering demon with three red eyes stepped forward, glowering down at them.

“What the  _ fuck _ Kyuubimon?” Beelzemon growled.

“Oh,” Rika’s voice belayed her surprise. “It’s Impmon.”

The Demon Lord’s attention turned to the girl on the kitsune’s back. It had been years since he saw Renamon’s partner, and it seemed the human girl had grown. Considerably.

_ I wonder if Ai and Mako are the same way _ , he thought staring down as the other Digimon appeared behind him, a large rabbit bending down to be at eye level with the girl.

“Hello Kyuubimon, Rika,” she greeted softly. “It’s been a long time. Is it just you?”

“No. They just cheated,” came the voice of Terriermon as the Chinese Tamer and his partner came running into the field, or in the case of Terriermon, hitching a ride. “Long time, no see! Seems like you got our message!”

“Indeed we did,” Guardromon said as he and MarineAngemon emerged from behind them. “Although it was quite a journey to get here. The data streams have been quite active of late. Beelzemon had been dropped in another digital world at least twice before arriving at Zhuqiaomon’s palace.”

“That hardly surprises me,” Kyubimon said, smirking at the Demon Lord openly. “You always did attract trouble like a magnet.”

“Is this everyone?” Henry asked, his eyes panning over each of the digimon. “We’re all back together again?”

_ Except Leomon _ , Rika thought, but didn’t say anything.

“Assuming Guilmon and Calumon are with you, I would assume so,” Antylamon said, nodding softly, looking around before her eyes landed back on Henry.

“Is Suzie…” her voice trailed off, only to get interrupted by Terriermon.

“She’s fine; Henry and I were picking up some things on our way home when we got the call as it were. She’s probably making sappy romance cards of her and Takato,” Terriermon said before giggling and jumping off Henry’s head and landing on the Ultimate’s, whispering not so secretly- “Get this, she  _ likes _ Takato.”

Beelzemon, who was about to say something totally witty in return to Kyuubimon, finally shutting her up by  _ finally _ having the last word, instantly got sidetracked by this juicy piece of information.

“Wait,  _ what _ ?” he demanded, spluttering in shock, not expecting  _ this _ .

Of course, he wasn’t quite sure  _ what _ he expected, but suddenly he realized very quickly that he had thought he would come back and everything would be the same. Well, same as it could be, but like a bolt of lightning, it hit him this wasn’t the case.

Antlyamon, on the other hand, had a much more subdued reaction.

“OK?” she asked, not quite sure why it should matter to her who her partner wanted to mate with.

“Let’s leave it aside for now,” Henry sighed, not wanting to get on the topic of Takato for the time being. “We’ve got to get you out of public sight as quickly as…”

“Henry! Rika!” came the sudden call of the former Goggle-wearing teen in question as he suddenly burst into view, panting heavily with Gigimon on his shoulder. Upon seeing him, Henry winced.

“…possible,” the half-Chinese Tamer finished, knowing they were about to go off course thanks to Terriermon’s gossiping.

“I got here as quick as I could and…” Takato’s eyes widened upon seeing Beelzemon and he quickly took note of the other digimon. “…No… _ way!” _

His mouth dropping open into a wide smile, Takato suddenly forgot the exhaustion of his running here and rushed on over to their returned friends. “Beelzemon! Antylamon! MarineAngemon! Guardromon! You’re  _ back!” _

“You’re dating Henry’s kid sister?!” Beelzemon asked in response shocked as Terriermon erupted in howls of laughter.

“Uh… What?” Takato asked, baffled by this unexpected question before glancing over at Terriermon. “Did I miss the joke at the bus stop or something, because I’m confused. Since when was I dating Suzie?”

“Never mind,” Henry said with a touch of irritation, shooting his partner a sharp look. “Look, let’s just get everyone over to the hideout before the digital field finishes dispersing. We don’t want to start a panic.”

“I agree, although the hideout isn’t where you’ll be going,” said another voice as a woman came in the field, holding an odd looking gun. Removing her sunglasses, her obsidian eyes dragged around the gathered Digimon and Tamers before landing on Takato, narrowing. “Do you  _ not _ listen? When I said stay out of fights, I wasn’t kidding.”

“Who the hell are you?” Beelzemon demanded, glowering at the odd woman, not quite liking her authoritative tone. Reminded him too much of Zhuqiaomon.

“She’s my cousin, Himiko,” Rika said, turning around more fully to look at the odd weapon in her cousin’s hand. “New toy?”

“You could say that,” Himiko grumbled, holstering it.

“You said no fights unless there was an emergency,” Takato replied with a slight frown at Himiko, though he had the good grace to look a bit guilty. “Gigimon said there was at least two Megas and an Ultimate. Those aren’t good odds.”

“He…does have a point,” Henry remarked, wishing he weren’t defending the boy at the moment given circumstances, but he could hardly argue with reality. “Besides, you’re coming here when you have no experience with a digimon fight. Do you have any idea if it would work at all?”

“Um… How about we get out of here first before we start arguing?” Takato suggested, reminding everyone of their current situation. “A lot of people use this path.”

“Can any of you hide yourselves or make yourself … smaller,” Himiko said, looking at the gathered Digimon. Antylamon nodded and in a flash of light reverted back to her rookie stage, Lopmon, causing Terriermon, who was on her head moments ago to topple over.

“Why do we gotta hide?” Beelzemon asked arching an eyebrow. “It’s not like people don’t know what Digimon are.”

“About that,” Himiko said, grimacing slightly. “We have a lot to catch you up on.”

**###**

“…and that’s the situation,” Riley said, gazing at each of the Tamers and their respective partners in turn. They were down in the lab section of Hypnos so as to house all of the digimon away from public eye – Guardromon being too large and heavy to accommodate anywhere else in the building.  _ All _ of the Tamers were there as well, having received a quick call on their cell phones and given directions or a pick-up where necessary.

Riley had to repress a grimace. Seeing most of the digimon back in the real world with their partners would have, under other circumstances, have been a joyous occasion, as she remembered the distraught looks on their faces when they were children and their partners ripped from their hands and hearts on the very cusp of their victory over the D-Reaper. Unfortunately, now, their presence was only a reminder of how bad things had gotten. It felt too much like a confirmation of the series of disasters and helplessness Hypnos had in defending the human world from Mnemosyne and the echoes and now…the Dark Ocean.

Floating next to Kenta, MarineAngemon turned to his android partner and spoke a series of  _ Pihs _ and  _ Puhs _ , to which Guardromon nodded.

“Yes, it certainly does sound like what the Sovereign spoke of to us before we left,” he noted. “But I’m surprised he said nothing about Mnemosyne. Perhaps he didn’t know?”

“Puh!”

“Right. Or care.”

“He cared enough to help send you guys here,” Takato pointed out. “That’s got to be worth something, right? Maybe he really just didn’t know.”

“Psh,” Impmon said, scoffing, seated between Mako, who had grown quite large and was now bouncing up and down rather excitedly, and Ai, who grew into a pretty looking young girl that seemed considerably more uncomfortable than her twin brother. “There isn’t anything the great and powerful  _ god _ doesn’t know.”

“Impmon,” Lopmon managed somehow managed to gasp between her partner squeezing her half to death, still delighted to have her partner back, a bit annoyed at the sarcasm in the little demon’s voice.

“What? Are you going to say I’m  _ wrong _ ,” Impmon challenged. “You do realize that would be admitting your master has quite a few flaws.”

“Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight,” Terriermon muttered under his breath, watching Lopmon and Impmon glower at each other in eager anticipation.

“How about not?” Henry sighed, tapping his partner’s head with the side of his fist. “Come on everyone, let’s stay focused. We’re almost complete as a team, so that means that we have some more options for us to work with.”

Ryo shifted uncomfortably at that, wondering where his own partner was. He was told it was Cyberdramon and the green card also showed his partnership with Monodramon, which after some Internet browsing, revealed itself as Cyberdramon’s Rookie form.

_ I hope he’s alright _ , he fretted.

“Right,” Takato nodded. “We need some sort of plan for dealing with the Dark Ocean.”

“That  _ we _ excludes  _ you, _ Takato,” Riley interceded before debate could go too far. “Himiko has explained your situation to me and your arrival on what could have been a potentially dangerous situation, potentially putting everyone’s lives at risk.”

She glanced over at Rika. “Same for you, given your recent abduction by the Dark Ocean. I’m afraid we can’t give either of you a clean bill of health until you’ve both been seen to.”

“ _ What?!” _ Rika demanded, looking quite possibly the most insulted she had in a long time. For someone who had looked half dead and exhausted for the last few days, it was a welcome relief. Especially since it clearly showed that the mere insinuation she couldn’t fight on the front lines was a great affront to her - something which was normal for the redhead.

“Yes. While we have no reason to believe you fighting could cause great damage if your emotional state of mind remains how it is, until we can be sure that you suffer no ill effects from the Dark Ocean, you will be on the second lines along with Suzie, Kazu and Kenta,” Himiko said, giving a sharp look to her cousin.

“Woo! Hear that Kenta! We’re on the second lines!” Kazu shouted excitedly, jumping up and down, excited that Hypnos was recognizing his awesomeness. However, Kenta had a different reaction.

“But I’m the healer,” he pointed out, his voice cracking. “Not to mention I’m not as good as Rika or Kazu…”

“That can be fixed. Fact is, you have a Mega for a partner,” Himiko sighed. “If this was normal, I would have you on the back lines, along with the younger Tamers who don’t have battle experience either. However, times aren’t exactly the best.”

She turned to Henry before looking at the twins.

“Henry, Ai and Mako, you three are the front lines,” she said simply. “You have the power necessary to take on strong opponents and have a clean bill of health.”

“YATTA!’ Mako yelled, jumping to his feet, picking up Impmon, who was flustered for half a second before deciding to join his partner in rubbing it in Renamon’s face. Finally, someone who recognized his awesomeness.

Once again, however, Ai had a different reaction.

“But … we don’t have any battle experience,” she pointed out. “I mean Impmon does, but-”

“Rika will teach you two how to play the card game,” Himiko said simply. “Henry, it goes without saying you’ll teach your sister.”

“I understand,” Henry nodded before throwing a glance at Takato and Rika. Rika, of course was fuming while Takato… For once, his expression was hard to read.

“So…what now?” the brown-haired boy asked.

“We’re working on a program now to repair the damage to the dimensional barriers…” Riley glanced at Himiko as she said this, reminding her of the role she played in those events. “…but it’s still in its infant stages. For now, we have to hold the line and maintain stability until we’re ready to implement the program.”

She turned toward each of them, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips. “Thanks to all of you, this program was made possible. Especially you, Ryo Akiyama. Your presence alone has helped reveal layers of the digital world that will help us in this venture.”

Ryo shifted uneasily, wondering whether Riley would mean that if she knew the full contents of the Green Card he scanned once upon a time.

“Well… It’s the least I can do right now, since I can’t seem to do much else,” was all he said in return, his tone cautious and guarded.

“Speaking of which … Kazu, Kenta, Suzie, Ai and Mako, since you are here, it would make sense to run scans on you,” Himiko said, folding her arms.

“Scans?” Suzie asked, not sure if she liked the sound of that.

“Moumanti,” Terriermon assured her. “It’s probably something for their experiments. You know how mad scientists get.”

This just caused Suzie to squeeze Lopmon harder, not liking the sound of this.

“Can’t … breathe …” Lopmon complained.

“Terriermon…” sighed Henry before approaching his sister. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said, placing a hand on the young girl. “The rest of us have already been through them and it hasn’t hurt any of us in the slightest. The most you’ll feel is a tingle, I promise.”

“Puh, puh, puh!” MarineAngemon said suddenly, flying over to Suzie and blowing a heart at her.

“If worst comes to worst, have no fear,” declared Guardromon. “Our ever-faithful ally and friend, MarineAngemon is here to help us as well. Be brave, young Lady Wong, and know that you’re in the best of hands.”

“What he said,” Kazu grinned, lightly bumping his partner’s chest with his fist. Henry nodded, smiling, but before he could say anything else, Takato came up behind him, a friendly smile on his face.

“It’ll be okay,” he added. “Besides, your brother is the smartest person I know. If he says it’s okay, then it’ll be okay. If you can’t trust him, who can you trust?”

Henry paused, looking at the other boy with concern before looking back at Suzie expectantly.

“Well if you say so,” Suzie said, although it was clear to anyone who knew her by now, her fears only were alleviated when her “prince” came to her side. Instead, now, she seemed to be swooning a bit at the sight of Takato.

_ My prince is worried about me. I must be strong! _ She thought, giggling slightly and squeezing Lopmon tighter, the poor Rookie not getting a single break since she got back with the Chinese girl.

“Well that concludes everything I think. Just for a reminder though, Rika second line, Takato, reserves until we call you. Do I make myself clear?” Himiko asked, clapping her hands, not wanting to waste more time on idle chit chat now that the debriefing had been finished, taking the time to glare at the crimson eyed boy and her cousin.

“This is tyranny,” Rika grumbled, and Himiko decided to take this as a ‘yes’ and turned to Takato.

Riley glanced at Himiko, a stern look on her face at the woman assuming authority that wasn’t hers any longer, yet she let the matter slide for the time being. In the end, the situation was resolved.

Takato nodded reluctantly at Himiko.

“Roger,” was all he said in response as Gigimon peeked out from his hoodie, scowling at Rika’s cousin, clearly the least happy with the situation and not at all afraid to let her know it.

Behind Rika, Renamon placed a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder, giving her a soft squeeze.

“If that will be all,” Riley said, getting everyone’s attention again. “Everyone who still needs a scan, follow me. The rest of you…be careful on your way home. I don’t think I need to remind you that we still have a bit of a situation on our hands.”

With that said, she glanced at the remaining, non-scanned Tamers and gestured for them to follow her to the exit.

_ And here we go again,  _ Ryo thought as they filed out of the room, Kazu cracking a nasty joke at Kenta along the way.

**###**

Jeri was sitting at her desk, attempting to read over her manga while simultaneously glancing over at her phone, waiting for that call she knew was to come and just wishing her phone would hurry up and buzz already so that she could get the news that everyone was all right. Her digivice had blared its usual alarm at the bio-emergence, and she had to resist from jumping out and running off to the source. The knowledge that, without a partner, she would be next to useless in the fight and thus a distraction to her friends, brought her up short.

So she waited, as much as she hated doing so.

Curling her fingers into her palm, Jeri attempted to divert her attention to the manga in her hands; a Sailor Moon story, with Usagi pining after Tuxedo Mask, as per usual, his mystery and knack for saving her tugging at her heartstrings…

The phone buzzed and Jeri nearly threw her manga to the side in her mad scramble for the offending object. Hitting the reply button, she brought it to her face.

“H-Hello!” she greeted a little too loudly, cursing silently as she realized that she hadn’t checked to see  _ who _ it was.

“ _ Wow. Nice response time _ ,” came the voice of Rika from the other side of the phone. “ _ I hope I’m not interrupting something. You sound breathless.” _

“I-I’ve been waiting by my phone ever since my digivice sounded the alarm,” Jeri explained hurriedly. “I’ve been worried all this while, so I’ve been…um… My heart’s been beating like crazy.” She bit her lower lip and took a deep breath to steady herself. “Is…Is everyone all right?”

She dreaded the answer she might get, but she had to know.

“ _ Yeah. Everyone’s fine. It just ended up being Impmon and the others, so it seems things are starting to go our way _ ,” Rika said, and there was water running in the background. “ _ Sorry I didn’t call earlier. There was this huge debriefing and if you can believe this, Himiko pulled me from the front lines! I mean, like, seriously!” _

Rika’s voice ended up in a growl; it was evident to anyone who knew her (and even those who didn’t) this was upsetting her. A lot.

“Oh thank kami,” Jeri breathed, relaxing into her chair as her heart returned to a more acceptable pace.

“ _ I’m just going to go ahead and assume you are talking about the first part I said and not the second _ ,” came the exasperated voice from the other end.

“Both actually,” Jeri replied with a shaky breath. “But…yeah, I’m  _ really _ glad to hear that everyone made it back safe and sound.”

A small, relieved smile touched her lips and Jeri felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Sniffing, she wiped at them and straightened up. “We’re almost complete…aren’t we? We’re ready to face whatever the digital world has to throw at us.”

Rika, however, seemed to focus on the first part of what she said. Not that it was too surprising; when she was upset, the redhead tended to have a one-track mind.

“ _ Wait, what do you mean both?! Don’t tell me you agree I shouldn’t be on the front lines!”  _ Rika demanded.

Jeri scowled at that. “Rika, you  _ know _ my feelings about this, remember? You  _ know _ I’ve been worried about you ever since you came back from the Dark Ocean. It  _ pulled _ you in and then you come back and you don’t want to talk. You look exhausted a lot… Rika…  _ Yes! _ I agree that you shouldn’t be on the front lines if you’re going to be like that! Why  _ wouldn’t  _ I? I care a lot about you!”

Jeri felt her heart freeze at that, the soft, warm glow of an emerging emotion that she felt building for weeks now making itself known once more, but she pushed it aside and pressed on.

“Please Rika… Don’t be mad. I…I worry about you. I can’t  _ help _ but worry about you.”

There was a silence on the other end for a good 15 seconds or so before Rika spoke up again, her voice quieter this time.

“ _ I’m not mad, OK? So … if you are crying … you don’t have to _ .”

“I’m crying a little anyway,” Jeri whispered, wiping at her face once more. “I’m just…so happy that the others are back, and so…worried about you. I know it’s silly, but…I can’t help myself.”

Wrapping an arm around herself, Jeri, with an effort, reigned in her emotions and sniffed, forcing the tears to stop.

“Sorry,” she said, remembering their conversation in the digital world about needing to grow up.  _ Oh kami… It’s good to remember that again… _

“I’ll be a grownup,” she continued. “Don’t worry.”

“ _ Let’s be honest, we are already adults,”  _ Rika pointed out, although she was still using that soft and gentle tone from earlier. There was a grunt, and she spoke up again after a second. “... _ They’re having me teach Ai and Mako. The card game I mean. They’ll be the ones on the front lines, and Kenta has been moved up from support too. Takato’s been put on reserves. He can’t fight until he gets a clean bill of health from a shrink; I can’t fight on the front lines until I have the same.” _ There was a snort. “ _ I’m not looking forward to that. I already can hear the daddy issues comment coming up.” _

“Did you encounter your father in the Dark Ocean?” Jeri asked, becoming curious at why she would even bring the man up if the focus was on her experiences in the digital hell dimension.

There was an awkward pause before-

“ _...No.” _

“Okay,” Jeri nodded. “I don’t think they’ll bring it up. Psychiatry has come a long way from Sigmund Freud. Most of his work has been shown to be wrong anyway, I think.”

“ _ You think. _ ” There was an ounce of amusement in that.

“I’ve been reading up on it,” Jeri said, wrinkling her nose. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll make a great teacher to Impmon’s partners. You did great with me after all.”

“ _ You were a good student. I enjoyed teaching you, _ ” Rika responded, and there was a pause before- “ _ You know, I was really happy when you wanted to learn. I never had a girl friend who was interested in Digimon before. I mean granted you were the first girl friend I had … but … you know … details.” _

Jeri drew her legs up to her chest and huddled on her seat. “Yeah,” she said with a small smile. “I was glad that you wanted to teach me. I admired you from the day we first met. You were so strong and confident…”

Her finger traced a circle on her desk. “I wanted to be like you.”

A light blush crossed Jeri’s face just then and she suddenly became flustered.

“A-Anyway… Yeah, you’ll do fine. Be careful with Mako though. He can be a bit… Well… You know how boys his age are. Bullheaded and excitable.”

“ _ Isn’t that boys at any age?”  _ Rika snorted before there was another momentarily lapse before she spoke again. “ _ I hope you don’t still want to be like me. I like you the way you are.” _

Jeri smiled. “Well… I admire a great deal about you, so, yes, I do want to still be like you. But…with a lot of me in there of course.”

Her expression softened as she smiled, her finger continuing to trace along the desk for a moment longer before pausing. Her eyes firmed and she looked back up.

“Rika… Would you… Could you teach me the game again? Just like before?”

“ _ Of course _ ,” Rika responded instantly. “ _ I would love to.” _

Jeri smiled brightly at that. “Thank you Rika!” she said excitedly. “I…”

A light bulb clicked on as something her friend had said earlier came to mind.

“Wait… You remember teaching me?”

“ _ Yes _ ?” Rika replied, confused by the question, and in the background it sounded like she was standing up again. However, after a second, a lightbulb of her own seemed to click in her head. “ _ Oh yeah! Wow, I’m sorry … my memories came back earlier before I fell. Henry chewed me out earlier today for forgetting to mention it, so no need to chastise me. And ah … Renamon’s shaking her head at me again.” _

Jeri sighed. “Tell her I’m mirroring her right now,” she said. “Rika… That’s pretty irresponsible of you, you know. That’s…kind of important information. For everyone.”

“ _ In my defense, that has been literally the  _ last _ thing on my mind _ ,” Rika retorted, and once again there seemed to be the pouring of water in the background.

“I’ll forgive you since you literally went to hell and back,” she said, but a small frown crossed her features. “Is there anything else we might need to know? And is there anyone else who might need to know that your memories are back so that you don’t keep having this conversation?”

“ _ Uh…”  _ there was an awkward silence. “ _...Only you and Henry know. Henry reminded me earlier today, and then I forgot again with all of this until you reminded me just now. _ ” There was another silence and then- “ _ Hey Jer? Do you have memories of a time and place with a red sky?” _

Jeri raised an eyebrow at that. “You mean other than when we went to the Sovereign’s level of the digital world?” she asked.

“ _ Yeah. I mean … a red sky … in our world. _ ”

“I…don’t think so?” Jeri replied, more a question than an answer. “I’m sorry, but after the digital world, I was stuck in the D-Reaper. Until Takato rescued me I didn’t get much of a chance to see the outside. Why do you ask?”

“ _ I…”  _ There was a pause. “ _ No reason. Just … dreams is all. Sorry. _ ”

_ Why do I get the feeling that that’s not the case? _ Jeri frowned before shrugging, not sure what to make of Rika’s response. Maybe it was related to the Dark Ocean?

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

“ _ No… sorry I brought it up _ ,” Rika said, and then there was the sound of some metal rattling, and Rika seemed to be talking to someone in the background - probably Renamon - before she returned to the conversation with the brunette. “ _ Anyway, Ai and Mako are coming over tomorrow morning - sooner is better than later - but afterwards you want to go out and grab lunch and I can resume our lessons?” _

“Sure,” Jeri nodded. “Do you want me to tell any of the others that your memories are back?” She forced a small laugh. “I’m sure you might forget again and I bet some of us might appreciate knowing.”

“ _ I’ll do it. Renamon will probably make sure I don’t forget  _ again.  _ Since you know, that seems to be a common thing with me,”  _ Rika sighed. “ _ Anyway, I’ll give you call tomorrow then?” _

“Sure,” Jeri nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Talk to you then.”

“ _ It’s a date _ ,” Rika said before the phone line went dead.

Jeri blushed brightly, becoming flummoxed again as she lowered her phone. She stared at it for one long minute before setting it aside. Dangling one foot off her chair, she leaned her head on her knee, pushing against the floor as her heart focused on Rika’s last words.

“Don’t be silly,” she scowled at herself. “She doesn’t mean it like that.”

Her heart paused, not liking what she was telling herself, before continuing again with a heavy, pained sigh.

**###**

Clicking the end on the phone, Rika leaned back and gave a sigh staring at the device before lifting up the small mug of tea she had made for herself and Renamon, taking a sip. It made her uncomfortable when it was clear that she made Jeri upset and she wondered if she would ever stop caving so easily to the smaller brunette girl.

_ At least I didn’t see her cry _ … she thought, pulling up her contact list, part of her wondering why she had to go and say it was a date. She doubted Jeri would take it as meaning anything but-

_ You’re playing a dangerous game, Nonaka. Keep a damn grip on yourself _ , she berated herself mentally, starting a mass text, her finger hovering over Takato’s name in the contact. Her violet eyes narrowed slightly as her heart squirmed uncomfortably.

Yes, getting a grip on herself would be fantastic right about now.

Sighing, she passed over Takato’s name in her phone and added the others; Kazu, Kenta and Suzie. After a secondary afterthought she even added her brother’s number. She supposed she should tell Ayaka too, but honestly she rather not deal with the copper-haired girl right now - or ever really. She was perfectly fine playing telephone with Ayaka via Jeri.

Approaching Rika from behind, Renamon placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder, her eyes full of concern.

“You seem troubled, Rika,” she said gently. “I thought your conversation with Jeri went well.”

“Huh?” Rika asked craning her head backward to look at her partner. “Oh, no, it went fine.”

_ Right up until the part where I started getting all mushy at any rate _ , she thought, but Jeri always seemed to make her do that. So nothing out of the ordinary there. It didn’t help that her feelings for Takato though weren’t the  _ only _ thing that returned. Still besides that stupid slip-up at the end, she managed to keep the same cool she had when dealing with this particular issue in the past.

Renamon tilted her head to one side questioningly. “If you say so,” she said. “But you feel…tense. Is informing everyone that your memories are back difficult for you?”

“No, just awkward,” Rika said, composing a message to everyone  _ but _ Takato which essentially boiled down to, ‘Got my memories back; Henry and Jeri already yelled at me for forgetting to mention it.’ before hitting send. “It’s just … I’m not quite sure how I should tell Takato. Or what I should even say.”

She took another sip of her tea before putting it back down on the table. Running her thumb around the rim of the mug, she spoke once more.

“We dated a few times, you know. Never really  _ went _ anywhere because of the mind wipes. It wasn’t that long ago he confessed to me. I would say again, but in the past it was always the other way around.” She paused before her voice became lower. “I turned him down. Even though I didn’t share the same feelings for him at the time, seeing that broken hearted face was the worst. I could barely look him in the face for a week after that.”

“I see,” Renamon replied. “Henry said as much to me. He described it as…most complicated. Given your current situation, I imagine that it can’t be easy for you.”

Sighing, she drew her partner into a hug. “Regardless, I will stand by you.”

“Thanks,” Rika whispered, putting her hands on her partner’s gloves, feeling comforted by the kitsune’s presence.

She sighed and once more scrolled to Takato’s contact. Her finger hovered over the call button.

“Still … I need to tell him. He, at least, deserves to hear it via something other than a text.”

Rika wasn’t sure if she was talking to Renamon or herself with that last bit.

Renamon nodded in understanding. “Do you need some privacy?”

Rika shook her head and clung to the kitsune’s arm a bit tighter. She knew it was childish, but she wanted her partner with her. She didn’t do so well with expressing feelings (or the term in general) and Renamon always did a fantastic job of grounding her, or at the very least made her stop before saying something  _ too _ insulting.

_ Right … stop being stupid about this _ , she instructed herself and pressed the call button.

**###**

Takato was sitting at his desk, his pencil doodling a sketch in his notebook while behind him, Gigimon nibbled on a piece of bread – Guilmon Bread that Takato had started working on again – when his cell phone buzzed, breaking him out of his thoughts. Raising an eyebrow, he picked it up and upon seeing who it was, he felt his heart freeze a little.

_ Rika…? Why’s she calling? _

“Takato?” Gigimon asked, looking up at his partner, his keen nose having picked up on Takato’s sudden rise in tension. “Are you okay?”

“Uh… Yeah. It’s Rika. Hang on.”

Hitting the reply button, he raised it to his ear.

“Uh… Hi? What’s…um… What’s up?”

“ _ Hey Gogglehead,”  _ came the voice of the redhead from the other line. There was an awkward pause, as if she was struggling to find the words to something before she just did want she did best; say everything in the most candid, blunt way possible. “ _ I was talking to Henry earlier today about something from the past, and he was surprised that I remembered it. Turns out I forgot to let people know I got my memories back when … ya know … the whole echo incident in the hospital.” _

Takato blinked in surprise at that. “You… You remember?! Oh… _ wow! _ ” A wide smile spread across his face. “That’s… That’s great!”

All worries vanished momentarily as he shifted in his seat. “So…how are you feeling?”

“ _ Meh _ .  _ Haven’t really thought about it much to be honest, _ ” Rika replied. “ _ Kinda caught up in other things, ya know?” _

“I get that,” Takato nodded in understanding. “We do have a lot going on.”

He paused, wondering what else there was to say.  _ If she says that she remembers everything, then…does that mean…?  _ He paused and frowned slightly, feeling his heart pause in his chest.  _ No. Don’t go there. She doesn’t need that right now. _

He drummed his pencil on his table, feeling uncertain now. “So…um… Well, here’s hoping that things calm down sometime soon, huh?”

“ _ Yeah, but knowing our luck it isn’t going to _ ,” Rika grunted, and her voice became quieter and more mumbled, although the word “ _ second line _ ” and “ _ complete bullshit _ ” could be heard.

“It could be worse,” Takato laughed lightly. “At least you’re not in the reserves. I bet if that happened, you’d turn into a Deva on us.”

“ _ Please, if they put me on reserves, I would make Megidramon look like an ugly, harmless kitten, _ ” Rika snorted.

“I’ve seen you get mad enough to vouch for that,” Takato chuckled. “Anyway, let’s try not to worry about it too much. We should focus on making sure that everyone’s safe, you know?”

“I’m  _ not worried. Are you?”  _ Rika asked, her voice becoming slightly more gentle.

Takato’s expression softened as the tip of his pencil tapped on his sketchbook and stilled.

“Trying not to be. You know how I am. Worrying is in my DNA.”

“ _ Yeah. Well. Don’t let things get to you, speaking from experience. I know it’s easier said than done, but… _ ” her words trailed off, although the implication was there.

“Yeah,” Takato nodded. “You know that better than anyone.” Heaving a sigh, Takato set his pencil down and leaned back in his chair. “Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.” He paused and then laughed again and pressed his hand against his head. “What am I talking about? You already said that you’re not worried. Anyway, we’ll get through this. Things’ll calm down and then…”

He paused, his eyes turning toward the ceiling in contemplation, his humor fading as he became sober.

“…then we can move on with our lives.”

“ _ Yeah. Hopefully no Mnemosyne to ruin that,”  _ Rika agreed with a sigh. “ _ Anyway, just wanted to call you and let you know what’s up. See ya later?” _

Takato nodded. “Yeah. See you later. Take care…Rika.”

With nothing more to be said, Takato hesitated for a second before hanging up. Looking at his cell phone for a moment, he heaved a heavy sigh.

“Rika said that her memories are back, Takato?” Gigimon asked. Turning, Takato nodded.

“Yeah. She’s back to…well, maybe not one hundred percent, but she remembers, so that’s…something.”

Wandering over to him, Gigimon stood up on his tiny, stumpy hind legs, waving at his partner with his front legs, begging to be picked up. His heart breaking at the sight, the boy set his phone down and did as requested, hoisting him up into his lap.

“Does that mean that she remembers that she liked you as more than a friend?” Gigimon asked, settling down.

“I’m pretty sure that comes with everything,” Takato nodded. “But…”

Gigimon turned his gold eyes at his partner. “You don’t sound sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure, it just… Well… How to explain it.” Takato scratched the back of his head before shrugging. “I guess… It doesn’t matter, Gigimon. We’ve got more important things to worry about right now. It’s…up to Rika what she wants to do about that.”

As he ran his hands along Gigimon’s smooth scales, he turned his gaze out the window and took a deep breath.

_ I still hurt her, _ he thought.  _ It doesn’t matter what happens after this. Memory or not, I still hurt her, and I’m never going to forget that. _

**###**

After hanging up, Rika sighed and placed her phone on the table next to her tea, hugging her partner closer to her. While it wasn’t as bad as it could have been - thank  _ gods _ he didn’t ask her about their shared past - the implication was there, like an awkward elephant in the room.

And while it was there before, now  _ both _ parties were acutely aware of it.

“That sucked,” she said softly.

At that, Renamon raised an eyebrow in surprise. “It didn’t sound like it did. Takato seemed amiable enough and even happy to hear that your memories had returned. The two of you even shared a joke.”

“It’s the things left unsaid,” Rika explained. “The words not spoken. They are still there, even if it’s not brought up.”

Renamon nodded and ran a claw through Rika’s hair. “And that bothers you,” she said. “Perhaps someday the two of you will be able to say what neither of you can now. You just need time, Rika. I’m sure even Takato of all people can understand that.”

Rika nodded her head.

“I sure hope so.”

**###**

Mako peered around the corner of the hallway, looking around suspiciously before rolling like he was a secret agent forward.

“Mako, quit it!” Ai hissed, holding Impmon close to her like a doll. The way he was acting, it was like they were doing something suspicious. Which, granted, they  _ were _ but no need to call attention to it.

“Are you two finally back?” Mom yelled from the kitchen.

“Yeah!” Ai yelled back, ignoring Mako’s gestures to be quiet.

“Well we are having dinner once your father gets back from walking Bo, so wash up!”

“We will!” Mako assured her, grabbing his twin’s hand and dragging her toward their room. Ai found it a miracle that he didn't slam the door before locking it.

“This is so awesome!” he squeed as Ai put Impmon down on her bed. The rookie Digimon looked around, and Ai noticed the red scarf around his neck was worn and frayed.

“A lot really has changed,” Impmon murmured. “After all the suits told me, I’m surprised you two still remember me."

“Well it has been six years,” Mako pointed out smiling, bouncing on the bed next to Impmon, causing the Rookie to bounce a few inches in the air in return. “And I mean our  _ minds  _ may have forgotten you, but our hearts didn't. We're happy to have you back.”

“I'm happy to be back,” Impmon smiled, watching curiously as Ai began to root around in one of the drawers. He wasn't quite sure how their reunion would be, especially with his Tamers so young when he left; honestly he thought he might have to convince them he was their partner, and despite the dangers currently going on, it went better than he could have possibly hoped.

_ Although with the Dark Ocean and dat ominous presence … _ he thought with a frown. He didn't know what exactly this Dark Ocean was, even after multiple attempts to explain it, but if it could pull Miss Ice Queen in, it  _ had _ to be dangerous.

“Impmon, here.”

Ai’s voice broke his thoughts and Impmon looked up to see her holding up a red scarf.

“Ai…”

“Your scarf looks like a rag, and no partner of mine is going to be tramping around looking like a hobo,” she declared, untying the fabric around his neck and putting the new one on.

“Ah what does it matter?” Mako asked, rolling his eyes as Impmon gingerly put a hand on the new gift. “We are going to be front lines anyway.”

“Doesn't that bother you?” Ai snapped. “We have no business being up there! I understand why Takato should be in reserve, but I agree with Akira’s sister -  _ she  _ should be up there!”

“Wait, who is Akira-” Impmon tried interrupting, but it seemed the fight between the twins started once again.

Some things change while others stay the same.

“Except Rika has PTSD-” Mako shot back only for Ai to interrupt him in turn.

“We don't know that!”

“Sure as hell seems that way!”

“Whatever the case may be, we have no idea what we are doing and if something dangerous happens-”

“Impmon knows what he is doing and Rika is teaching us the card game! We'll be fine! We can  _ do  _ this!”

“This isn't some  _ game  _ Mako! People have already died, and you want to be front and center for the next round?! We're only 10!”

“The others were only 10 when  _ they  _ fought last time. We at least have back-up of people who know what they are doing!”

There was a momentary pause, and Impmon sensed either a lull in the fighting or a temporary truce. He opened his mouth to speak only for the twins to round on him.

“What do  _ you  _ think Impmon?!” they demanded in perfect unison. Impmon looked between them uncomfortably

_ Hoh boy… _

**###**

Suzie glanced up at Henry as she laid out the digimon cards in between them. Her older brother’s grey eyes had an intensely deep, introspective look to them, much that he had for as long as she could remember. They often signaled that he was deeply troubled about something.

She could guess why.

“Okay,” she said after a moment. “It’s your turn, brother.”

Henry didn’t reply right away, his mind caught in such deep thought that he didn’t hear his sister’s question. The sound of ocean waves seemed to drown out everything, swirling… Swirling around one image… One face… That of Takato and that black aura that surrounded him…

Terriermon toppled down from off the bed and toddled on over, waving an ear-arm in front of his partner.

“Yo. Earth to Henry! You awake?”

“Hm?” Henry blinked and at once the sound of waves crashing on the shore disappeared. “Sorry. What was that?”

“You’re supposed to be teaching me how to play your silly card game so I can  _ properly _ be a Tamer.” Puffing her cheeks out, Suzie crossed her arms over her chest. “I want to be able to rescue my knight from the Dark Ocean when the time comes.”

Henry scowled at that. “Suzie… I thought I told you I don’t want you to be  _ near _ Takato.”

Terriermon glanced first at Henry and then at Suzie as Lopmon made her way over to them, a concerned expression on her face.

“And I thought you two were friends,” she rebutted.

“He’s dangerous right now…!”

“Henry, you  _ broke _ a friend’s arm when you were a kid! You’ve told me how dangerous  _ you _ are because of martial arts!”

“Takato nearly destroyed the entire digital world,” Henry replied coolly. “Suzie…” He dropped his head into his hands, tightening his fingers in his hair. “I don’t want to argue with you about this. Look, Takato’s already getting help. You shouldn’t be involving yourself in this. Not when you need to be concentrating on training.”

Suzie bit her lower lip,  _ not _ happy with her brother’s response.

“What’re you going to do then?” she asked. Raising his head, Henry looked up at Lopmon’s card on the table in front of them. Drawing his hand from his deck, he set his Terriermon card on the table and played a modify card.

“I’m going to start with a speed boost upgrade card and…”

“I mean what are you going to do if I try helping Takato.”

Henry froze at that. Grey eyes flashing, he glanced up at her.

“Don’t,” he said sternly. “Suzie, I don’t want to risk losing you until this Dark Ocean business is resolved.”

“Uh… You guys,” piped up Terriermon, waving an ear at the two siblings. “Hate to remind you about this, but Takato is getting help from someone who knows what they’re doing. Chill out.”

“They have experience with the Dark Ocean?” Suzie chided with an irritated snort.

“Do you?”

Suzie scowled and shuffled through the cards in her hand.

Henry sighed and glanced at his partner. Patting his head, he returned his attention to Suzie.

“Suzie… Takato isn’t in love with you. He’s not going to be. Not when he loves Rika.”

At that, Suzie twitched, feeling her blood run cold as Terriermon spun at his partner.

“Whoa! Henry! Don’t you think that’s a little…?”

“It’s  _ not _ about that!” Suzie exclaimed, slamming her cards on the table. Turning an angry glare at her brother, Suzie surged to her feet. “It’s not! I’m talking about how you’re treating one of your best friends like he’s some kind of enemy and you’re not bothering to do anything to help him! What is  _ wrong _ with you?!”

“Suzie…” began Henry, taken aback by her sudden explosion. Tears sprung in Suzie’s eyes as she brought her hands to her chest.

“Henry… I know you think I’m silly for thinking you and Rika are meant to be together. That I want to be with Takato. That I think it’s all true, but…” She turned toward her brother pleadingly. “I just… I want to help him. He’s hurting inside so bad right now. That’s how the Dark Ocean took Rika, remember? You can’t… You can’t just leave him to that place…”

_ Like he did with her? _ Henry thought uncharacteristically, darkness swimming in his vision. He closed them and shook his head to clear it, and when he opened them again, they were gone.

“Don’t go near him, Suzie.”

_ “Idiot!” _ Suzie yelled, storming out of the room and slamming the door shut with a resounding  _ bang  _ that caused the walls to rattle, earning the girl a loud scolding from their mother.

Lopmon turned to the boy, equally as shocked as Terriermon was.

“Wasn’t…that a bit harsh of you?” the Deva asked carefully.

Henry looked away, feeling guilty, but he held firm. “Suzie can’t go through life with a fantasy in her head all the time. “She has to face reality sooner or later.”

“Yeah,” began Terriermon with a grimace. “But you could have worded it better. And…she’s kind of got a point. Takato  _ does _ need our help same as any of us. We’re supposed to be a team after all. And friends. I mean, I was dangerous too when we first started out and Takato pulled back from when he turned Guilmon into Megidramon.”

“That was differe…” began Henry, only to be interrupted when his door clicked open and an irate Mayumi poked her head in.

“Henry, I don’t know what you did to make Suzie so upset, but you go and apologize to her this  _ instant! _ Do you understand?”

Henry pressed his lips into one thin line, nodding.

“Yeah,” he replied, getting to his feet. “I will.”

As the boy headed to the door, Terriermon and Lopmon exchanged worried looks.

“Somehow I get the feeling that a momentai isn’t going to be very helpful this time around,” the cream-colored dog-bunny sighed as Lopmon wrapped an ear around him companionably.


	51. Boiling Darkness

Himiko folded her arms over her chest as she gazed at the security footage once more…once more in what felt like forever now. Raising a coffee cup to her lips, she took a light sip, grimacing at its lukewarm temperature. Her eyes felt like they had been rubbed by sandpaper, she had been staring at the screens for so long, and not even the buzz from caffeine was capable of changing that.

She wondered if she even blinked in all this time. It sure didn’t feel like it.

The lights above her flickered and she scowled slightly before glancing over at her computer.

_ Hn… Minor network disruption. It looks like… _

The lights dimmed now and Himiko felt her heart leap into her chest as one of them  _ sparked. _ Instinctively her hand reached down for the panic button, only to stop when the room returned to its usual brightness. She sat there for a moment longer, holding her breath before returning her attention to the camera images.

Her eyes were drawn to one in particular, a timestamp on it from two days ago. As she watched, the air warped and stretched like a curtain, taking on a tall, humanoid figure. Smoke curled from around the entity, only for it to flatten out and then disappear, leaving everything as it had been before, as if nothing had happened.

Save, that is, for the two burnt impressions of booted feet blackening the carpet, smoke rising from them.

“Ms. Hata?” came the knock at her door, causing Himiko’s head to shoot up, startled.

_ “What?!” _

The Hypnos agent blanched at her tone, causing Himiko to quickly become apologetic. It seemed everyone, including her, were becoming a lot more frayed around the edges of late.

“Sorry. What did you need?”

“You might want to see what’s outside your office.”

Getting up, Himiko swallowed, not liking what she might find.

Scarred upon the wall across from her door, was the burnt outline of a figure with horns.

**###**

Ryo’s thumbs moved over the plastic buttons of the PSP Riley bought him to keep him occupied and out of trouble. It also provided a handy escape from the current tense atmosphere which had taken over Hypnos.

It had been a couple of weeks since the rest of the Digimon partners minus his own (and Jeri’s - though he felt like that went without saying) returned. Yamaki, who didn’t exactly appreciate having his program laughed at -  _ again _ \- had been working with Tally to beef up the firewall to it’s previous state. Which was a good thing since Digimon, slowly but surely, have started to approach and try to break through the firewall on top of echoes.

Suddenly the alarms sounded once more.

“It’s back again!” Yuki yelled from her perch on the chair, her and Tally’s fingers flying across the keyboards.

“Get a lock on it!” Riley roared, jumping to her feet as the small area around him sprung to life. Ryo for his part simply tucked his legs closer to his chest, knowing not to get in the way now. Yelling and shouting made it hard for him to concentrate on his game though, and he frowned, his cursor hovering uncertainly over where he should place his troops.

“We’re locked on!” Tally yelled after several tense seconds then - “SHIT!”

The alarm died down, the danger passed but the uneasiness which filled Hypnos only mounting. Glancing up, Ryo noticed Ayaka - along with a couple of the Monster Makers - entering the room. The adults went to talk to Riley, asking if the ghost which seemed to be lurking within the building had returned. Ayaka, on the other hand, was approaching him.

Smiling, he saved the file and turned off the game.

“You just missed the excitement,” he greeted her. “Any new updates on why you seem to have the same condition?”

After the rounds of scans, the Monster Makers had determined those with a prolonged exposure to the Digital World had a higher percentage of library data, as they called it. The library data seemed to directly correlate in some fashion to the memory loss and the frequency of it. Why Ayaka, whose closest correlation to the Digital World was Jeri Katou, had at the same frequency as him had been stumping the Monster Makers since it was first discovered.  

Ayaka snorted and looked around the Hypnos control room. “Not at all,” she replied, casting her eyes about, a part of her wondering why they were in this room since it was far away from the typical meeting room that she and the Tamers met in.

“This looks like a secret place. What, are we supposed to be extra protected here or something?”

“This room has multiple firewall layers to shield it against cyberattacks, particularly from memetic organisms,” Riley explained, approaching the two teens, a frustrated look on her face as her teeth clenched together. “It is the safest place to be in Hypnos barring a physical attack.”

She glanced at the two Monster Makers, Daisy and Janyu, as they flanked the copper-haired girl. “So it’s a dead end?”

“I wouldn’t call it such,” Janyu replied. “But progress is difficult. If anything, I would say that the data inside her is starting to resist our probes, as if it’s developed a firewall of its own.”

Riley scowled, not liking the sound of that.

“Can you get around it?”

Daisy shrugged. “A little bit. For now, anyway.”

Riley turned her attention to Ayaka and patted the girl on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get things worked out.

Ayaka made a grunting sound at that. “At this point, I’m not expecting anything.”

“Awh, don’t say that,” Ryo said, putting his PSP to the side. He would need to charge it soon anyway. “Mad scientists tend to come through. They have in the past.” He turned to Riley. “Speaking of coming through, you guys figure out what our little ghost is yet?”

Even though the control room was supposed to be the safest place in Hypnos, lately he hadn’t been feeling too safe. He could barely sleep a wink now, and now it felt like there was eyes watching him everywhere he went. Of course he relayed this to Riley, but they hadn’t figured out much about it.

The rest of the Tamers didn’t seem to be having much luck either. All they had was that it was some ‘darkness’ which only Beelzemon and the Sovereigns seemed to sense. Any additional information on what it could be resulted in a literal shoulder shrug from Impmon.

“ _ Look, Mr. Hero. If I knew what it was, we wouldn’t be havin’ this convo, ya hear? Cuz I would have already taken care of it,” Impmon grunted, shoving some snacks his twin Tamers bought him from the vending machine down his gullet _ .

“I’m afraid not,” Daisy replied with a shake of her head. “We drafted Impmon to patrol the halls in case that…whatever it is, comes here, but…”

“Yeah,” Janyu nodded in agreement.  _ “But. _ ” He frowned up at the rows of screens thoughtfully. “It’s perplexing how it seems to be almost  _ fixated _ on this building.”

Daisy gritted her teeth together. So much of Hypnos had become tense of late. She could see the guarded looks from coworkers as she passed them by, such was the atmosphere in the building that she got the impression that she was being judged for something. What that something was, she didn’t know, though she suspected it had to do with her role in creating digimon and, by extension, Hypnos.

“Well if it’s a Digimon is it really that surprising?” Ryo asked raising an eyebrow. “I mean this place is kind of a big deal. Like humanity’s castle or whatever. Take the enemy castle and you’ve won the war.”

And they said video games aren't educational.

“Interesting chess analogy,” Janyu observed. “There might be something to that. Hypnos  _ is _ something of a nerve center for Japan, given its role in intelligence gathering. If we were taken out, Hypnos and even the Tamers would be effectively crippled.”

Ayaka raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

Ryo decided not to tell him it wasn’t so much a chess analogy as it was the main point of the video game he was playing. Chess sounded more sophisticated.

“Well, we’re working on so that doesn’t happen,” Riley sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She hadn’t slept in a proper bed in a week and she was worried she was becoming like Himiko with the amount of coffee she was beginning to drink. However, they managed to actually lock onto the target this time before it disappeared; the changes developed to speed up both locking and deployment protocols seemed to be working at least. Of course they would need more data before figuring out what to tinker with next. “In the meantime, Ayaka, you’re free to go home.”

“Ah, before you do, want to grab some lunch in the cafeteria?” Ryo asked hopefully. He didn’t exactly get many people to talk to; Ayaka was the face he saw the most. Rika and Renamon would stop by, although it was mostly to drop something off for - and argue with - Himiko.

Well Rika would argue with her cousin. Renamon would calmly drag her partner out of the building reminding her quite cheerfully if they didn’t hurry, she would be late for school.  

Ayaka eyed Ryo hesitantly, her eyes blank and calculating before finally she shrugged. “Whatever,” she replied. “It’s not like I’m doing anything anyway. Unlike the Tamers,  _ I _ don’t have a partner, so I’m not going to get drafted to fight Hypnos’ stupid battles.”

Ryo smiled, though the way she looked at him for whatever reason made him feel uneasy. However, he shrugged it off. Everyone was on edge lately. Some food would be good for the soul and the mind.

“Right this way, madame,” he said, offering his arm, waggling his eyebrows roguishly.

Ayaka eyed the boy with what could only be called dry amusement before brushing by him. “You can  _ lead _ the way, but no matter how good looking you are, you’re not a knight in shining armor.”

“Ouch,” Ryo smirked, but with a flourishing brow, he decided to show her he  _ could _ be a knight in shining armor.

Just because.

**###**

Holding Gigimon in his arms, Takato raced up the stairs toward the old hideout, the tie to his school uniform flapping over his shoulder as his feet climbed the hill at a rapid pace. Spying the others, a wide, if nervous smile drew itself upon his face and he quickened his run.

“Hey everyone!” Takato exclaimed, reaching the top. “Sorry I’m late!”

Turning toward him, Henry gave the boy a curt nod.

“At least you’re here,” he said stiffly, earning a raised eyebrow. “Now we can get this meeting going.”

Feeling an odd squirming in his stomach, Takato glanced over at the others, only to find his gaze settling on Rika as she leaned against the iron gate.

“Oh wow…” Gigimon breathed in Takato’s arms, his voice low in the hopes of not drawing the firebrand’s ire. “Rika looks…different.”

Takato swallowed. A small blush crossed his features at the sight of her bare legs – for some reason she was still wearing her school uniform – and moved up to her face, pausing on her eyes before, with an effort, he forced himself to look away.

_ Don’t…go there, _ he berated himself, looking over at Kazu instead, the boy smoking a cigarette in small, light puffs, Guardromon imitating him with a stick next to him, causing Takato to frown slightly. It had been a while since he last saw him puff.

A small, feminine hand reached out and snatched the offending stick out of Kazu’s hand as he withdrew and threw it on the ground.

“That’s enough of that,” Jeri scowled at the teen, her foot crushing it into the dirt.

“Enjoying the view, Takato?” Terriermon giggled from atop Henry’s head. He grew bored waiting for Henry to return all day and upon seeing Takato check out the Digimon Queen, he couldn’t miss the chance to stir up trouble. Suzie scowled, and squeezed Lopmon closer to her chest, the Rookie gasping out a need for air, bothered her knight was checking out another woman.

Her stupid, idiot, no-good brother’s woman at that. Though she supposed she couldn’t blame him  _ that _ much; Rika was  _ incredibly _ pretty - stupid model genes. Though she didn’t understand why he was staring so much. She was just in her school uniform.

“It’s a nice view!” Calumon chirped happily, landing next to Rika and looking her over before smiling cutely up at her. Rika smiled slightly at the In-Training, feeling slightly weird when Takato looked her over. It reminded her of the same feeling she had all those years in the tunnel. It wasn’t a bad feeling, exactly, but she expected him to complement her.

Just like last time he didn’t say anything.

This time she didn’t ask.

“I don’t understand how you can be the last one here. Don’t you go to the same school as Kazu and Kenta?” Ai frowned, glancing over to the other two boys who both arrived at the same time. Masahiko really wanted to go to the meeting with them, but had to have a make-up test. Akira stayed after school with him to keep him from sulking, asking her to say hi to his sister.

“Yeah, but Chumley got chewed out by the teacher for not paying attention in class,” Kazu said, his fingers twitching, already missing the nicotine before looking sadly over at Jeri. “And come on, it helps with my nerves.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” Takato said as Jeri poked a finger into Kazu’s ribs. “N-Not views of course!” he quickly stammered out, his mouth suddenly finding itself running from his brain before the two had a chance to reconnect. “I-I mean, sure it’s a nice skirt and…I mean… It’s not…right?”

Takato’s mouth shut with a sharp click as he sensed all eyes on him now. Crimson stained his features and his eyes glanced back at Rika once more, half afraid of what her expression might be, and just as quickly darted away.

“Um… Can we start the meeting now before I make things even  _ more _ awkward than they already are? Unless someone wants to hit me now…”

“Later,” Henry said, giving Rika a hard look to head off any trouble, Jeri doing likewise before returning her attention to Kazu. Rika grunted in annoyance, bothered they would think she would go all the way over there and hit Takato. In the past, perhaps, but she didn’t exactly  _ mind _ the fact he was clearly checking her out. At least on some baseline level which was harder to control with logic. Irritating things, emotions.

Still the part of her brain which wasn't controlled by lingering feelings was rather pissed at his behavior. There was a time and place for everything, and it wasn’t like she was magically over the fact he left her, let alone forgave him. Still, it was something stupid to pick a fight over, especially since her stance on the issue of their relationship hadn't changed.

If anything, it's only been cemented.

Trust was  _ very  _ important to Rika, and right now Takato didn't exactly have that in spades.

“You need to control your nerves better!” Jeri hissed under her breath at the boy. “You’re a Tamer, remember! And those things  _ don’t  _ control your nerves! Didn’t you pay any attention in health class?”

“I think we all know the answer to that,” Kenta said with a slight chuckle as he pushed his glasses up on his face, MarineAngemon giggling at his Tamer’s smart remark.

“Admit it though. They make me look cool,” Kazu told Jeri, winking at her with an impish smile on his face. It was the main reason he started after all. All the cool guys smoked in TV and movies, and Kazu was a cool guy. So it was only natural he did the same thing.

“Very cool,” Guardromon assured him, and his fingers squeezed his twig cigarette too hard and it snapped. “Oh…”

“Where’s Impmon?” Rika asked, deciding to ignore the fact Kazu was hitting on Jeri and teaching his impressionable partner nonsense, looking at the twins. The fact the boy still drew the brunette’s attention at these meetings bothered her, but she squashed  _ that _ feeling down too. There was no use on becoming jealous.

It was no use in a lot of things.

“He’s at Hypnos. They’re hoping he can find the ghost which is haunting the place,” Mako said cheerfully.

“Speaking of ghosts,” Ai sighed. “We haven’t learned anything new from Impmon. He just says the feeling seems to be getting stronger, but what it is or any useful details he couldn’t give us.”

“Ugh,” Kazu groaned, leaning his head back, hitting it against the tree. He couldn’t stand the fact they were just sitting around like they were before shooting the shit, and not doing anything. They should be out there punching whatever this was in the face and wrapping up this mess once and for all! They couldn’t move forward until this thing was finally closed out.

“For once, I share Kazu’s sentiments,” Rika grumbled. “Himiko didn’t have anything to say either.”

Not that she would; Himiko said she should be focusing more on her therapy sessions and less on getting into battle, rubbing it in her face she wasn’t “allowed” to fight on the front line.

_ What is she going to do if I do?  _ Rika thought, crossing her arms, sulking silently.  _ Ground me? _

Takato turned toward Henry with a questioning eyebrow. “Henry, have you figured out why our digivices aren’t picking anything up? I mean, they usually pick up on this sort of thing before Hypnos, so…I don’t know… Maybe if we…uh…change their frequencies like a radio…?”

“Takato, you’re talking like you know something about digivices and you don’t,” Henry sighed in interruption. “I’ve tried experimenting with it before, but there’s just not too much to them externally.”

“There’s got to be  _ something _ we can do!” Takato said, agitated. A thin sheen of darkness surrounded him all of a sudden and he blanched, feeling a cold chill course through him. “Sorry…”

Renamon’s eyes snapped up at the boy in alarm before turning to Rika. Opening her mind toward the girl, she spoke through their link.

_ “Rika… Did you see that?” _

_ “Unfortunately. Looks like therapy is going  _ fantastic,” Rika responded mentally, narrowing her eyes, hoping sarcasm could traverse through the mind. She felt a sudden course of unease and fear run through her and somewhere in the distance she heard the sound of waves. She shivered involuntarily, hugging herself as a breeze swept through.

Henry drew his hands into tight fists and Terriermon murmured, ‘Moumentai,’ to his partner, though he couldn’t help but feel uneasy as well. It appeared the counseling sessions weren’t helping him as fast as one could hope.

“Takato, you should go home.  _ You’re _ not supposed to be here, remember? You’re on reserve,” Henry told him curtly.

The boy scowled. “Hey, I should at least know what’s going on, right? Besides, Himiko only said that about fighting.”

“Yeah, Henry,” Suzie said, instantly jumping in to defend her prince before the princess had a chance. “If he has to fight, he should  _ know _ what’s going on too. Kinda stupid for one of our fighters to be in the dark.”

“Well, if just talking about this is getting Chumley upset - which I get man, trust me - perhaps he should go home like Henry said. I mean no offense, but you gotta chill,” Kazu said, looking apologetically at Takato. While he didn’t want to leave him out, the dark sheen was  _ not _ making him feel any better. “Getting all worked up when nobody seems to got anything new isn’t good.”

“Not good at all,” Guardromon agreed, MarineAngemon making his poohing noises which only Kenta and Guardromon seemed to understand.

“Either way, Henry’s not wrong on the D-arc’s at least. Beside, it’s not the first time our D-arcs have failed to pick up something. None of our D-arcs picked up IceDevimon and being his stalking victim, I can assure you, a Digimon cunning or strong enough can avoid the signal,” Rika pointed out darkly, her mood becoming more sour at the mere  _ thought _ of the monster. “Plus if it’s an echo, we aren’t going to know anything either. I can vaguely sense them, though not as much anymore considering Hypnos is doing a fantastic job at cleaning them up.”

“This feels like a familiar conversation,” Takato grumbled, frowning slightly. “I thought we were here to have a meeting about what’s been going on with Hypnos and now it feels like I’m not even a part of this.”

He felt a cold darkness welling up inside him, feeling hurt by the accusing looks. The fear in them…

“Why…am I even here then?” he asked aloud, meeting their gazes one at a time. “Why was I even told at all that we were having a meeting?”

Jeri shifted uncomfortably next to Kazu, touching her wrist. “I thought you should know,” she said quietly, amber touching crimson before flicking over to Kazu. “He  _ is _ on the team, after all, and our friend. No matter what’s going on, he’s our friend, and he should be here.”

“Jeri, he’s too  _ dangerous _ to have on the team right now.”

Henry felt surprise wash through him as the words left his mouth and he saw it reflected in Jeri, Takato and Kenta’s eyes. Renamon next to Rika, and although her expression didn’t show it, she was a bit taken aback by this sudden statement from the half-Chinese Tamer. Rika, though she wasn’t surprised by the sentiment - out of the Tamers, she remained closest with Henry even now -  _ was _ surprised for him to actually be tactless in saying so. Usually that was  _ her _ thing.

_ It’s been discussed before…but never in front of Takato, _ Renamon thought, glancing over at the boy to gauge his reaction. Shock was plainly written on his face.

It was, surprisingly however, Gigimon who reacted first.

“What do you  _ mean _ he’s too dangerous?” he exclaimed from Takato’s arms.

“Gigimon!” Takato said, tightening his grip around the digimon.

“No, Takato! He said you’re bad! He said it when he  _ knows _ better!”

It was Ai who spoke next. She had been keeping quiet - wanting to stay out of this as much as she possibly could - but after the dark aura which made her shiver in fear and the Chinese’s boy assertion, she felt it prudent to speak up.

“Bad and dangerous don’t mean the same thing,” she said cooly. “There was a black light on your partner seconds ago when he got agitated. If something so insignificant can set him off, how are we supposed to feel when his feelings get stronger? I agree with Henry. He’s  _ dangerous _ .”

“Ai-” Mako started angrily only for Ai to round on him furiously before he could even get another word out.

“And you shut up, Mako! You’ve been treating this as nothing more than a game, yet you are learning it so slow! Weren’t you listening to them earlier? If he gets set off, he has the potential to destroy  _ worlds _ ! What about that don’t you understand!” she yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Takato before rounding on him, her eyes blazing. “You are starting dangerous sparks that can start world-ending  _ fires _ due to impatience, and then seem  _ surprised _ when everyone freaks out? Come  _ on _ !”

“Hoh boy,” Terriermon whispered, sharing a worried look with Lopmon, feeling like this was going to turn ugly. He was shocked his Tamer uttered the thoughts that’s been plaguing him since he came back, but the Digimon never expected him to open this can of worms.

It wasn’t that Terriermon didn’t see his concerns … it was just … the rabbit-dog was usually the one who took things “too far.” Not the other way around. And Henry’s words, they were going to have lasting consequences.

“Takato’s done nothing wrong, Ai!” Suzie yelled, standing up to defend Takato along with Gigimon. She wasn’t shocked her brother said such cruel things - before perhaps, but after he revealed his true colors … Ai on the other hand, while emotionally detached to things that didn’t seem to relate to Akira, was normally able to see things for what they were. Yet she was getting sucked into this propaganda her brother created.

“Why don’t we all just calm down…” began Jeri, only for Henry to frown at her. The ocean waves were rising in his ears, yet so focused on the conversation was he that he barely heard them.

“Jeri, you were  _ there _ when we were in the digital world and he created Megidramon. He could have destroyed everything.  _ Everything!” _

“Well, yeah,” chimed in Kenta, adjusting his glasses. “But…he turned into Gallantmon and…”

“He couldn’t have done that first?” Henry cut in, the darkness flaring inside him.  _ Why are he and Jeri defending him? They know what he can do! _

Renamon cast a look at her partner, curious about her take on things.

_ “Rika?” _ she asked, allowing her feelings to trickle on through their link.  _ “Do we take a side?” _

Rika’s lips pressed together. She could see the sensibility in what Henry was saying, but at the same time treating him like a bomb which was going to explode was only probably going to make the clock tick faster. That and he was going to therapy for this wasn’t he? She always thought Takato and Jeri were alike in more than one way, and she felt perhaps it was better for him than it was for her.

Especially because she didn’t need it.

“ _ I think we should sit this one out,”  _ Rika decided. “ _ If we’re going to work together to defeat whatever is coming, we’re going to need someone to mediate, which will probably be you, let’s be honest.” _

“Well, Beel-Leomon,  _ did _ just get murdered in front of us,” Kazu said, almost saying Beelzemon killed Leomon, but for once, not wanting to add flames to the fire. “ _ Still _ , I get what Henry and Ai are saying.” Taking a cigarette out of his pack, he put it in his mouth before continuing, needing the nicotine to calm down the bubbling stress which was beginning to rise.

“I don’t think Chumley would mean to blow us all up, but that doesn’t mean he won’t on accident. Again. I mean it would be one thing if Chumley pretends emotions don’t exist - especially in battle - but let’s be honest. The man’s driven by emotions. I mean do I need to remind ya’ll of the hospital? I say let the shrink do his job and just send good news. Like when he can fight. Ignorance is a bliss and shit like that.”

“What he said,” Ai agreed, not exactly happy who she thought was the idiot of the group able to put into words what she was feeling and thinking. “Intent doesn’t mean anything if he can’t control his emotions. Need-to-know basis seems like a smart idea.”

“Kinda cold though,” Mako growled.

“It’s a war,” Ai replied simply. “We do what we must to win and not get accidentally mass murdered by one of our supposed-to-be teammates.”

“He would  _ never _ mass murder anyone by acci-!” growled Gigimon, only for Takato to clamp a hand over his partner’s mouth to silence him. His expression was tense and his eyes were clouded. Deep inside of himself, he felt something bubbling up. Something  _ dark. _

Relaxing his grip on Gigimon’s mouth, he smoothed his hand over his partner’s scales apologetically.

“All right,” he said heavily, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He opened his mouth to say something more but he found that he had nothing more to add that would make this conversation any more pleasant. This ‘meeting’ hurt him, but…he knew that Henry was right. Truth was not pretty, but he had to face the facts. He was a liability.

_ I said I was a danger after all. I guess…I just didn’t think my friends thought so too. _

That realization hit him hard, and he realized even further just how much he had been deluding himself. Adjusting his bag, he finally looked up and met their eyes one by one before finally coming to rest on Henry’s.

He took another breath before nodding in resignation.

“Takato?” Jeri asked, starting toward him, but as though her voice had broken a spell, the boy turned and started down the steps, not bothering to look behind him.

“Bye everyone.”

That’s when the little In-Training, who had been looking between the arguing humans fretfully, finally leapt into action. Everything had happened so fast, but Calumon wasn’t going to let scared words break everyone apart.

“No! Don’t go!” Calumon cried, stepping in front of Takato, his little stubby arms wide, completely blocking the path - in his mind. “I’m sure if you all eat some cream puffs, and talk things out, everything will be fine. Friends shouldn’t fight! They should smile! Like this!”

To give an example he smiled widely, gesturing intently to his upturned mouth.

“Like  _ this _ !” he insisted.

Takato drew to a halt, his expression tired, yet a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. It didn’t, however, touch his eyes. Bending down, he placed a hand on the In-Training’s head and patted it.

“You are a pillar of cheerfulness Calumon,” he said regretfully. “But…I don’t think all the smiles in the world are going to help this time. I’m sorry.”

Getting back up, Takato stepped over Calumon and continued on his path, descending down the path until he was out of sight.

Jeri’s expression was one of abject horror. It truly felt that their team  _ was _ coming apart at the seams now. She almost didn’t register time she was so deep in her shock. With an effort, she shook herself back to reality and quickly started after the boy, only for Henry to step in front of her.

“Jeri, just let him g…”

Neither he nor Jeri saw it coming until the loud smack of her palm across his face broke across the air. Jeri heard no sound of waves crashing upon the shore, but the muscles in her arm felt full of all the fury of the darkest tempest in any world all the same, and it caused Henry’s face to whip around, surprise painted on his face.

Jeri felt no less stunned than he, but with her shoulders rising up and down angrily… The way her breath came out in harsh billows… She doubted her face registered anything other than fury.

It took her a second longer to raise a hand and press it against the swelling, rapidly bruising skin on Henry’s face.

“Sorry,” she apologized, her tone rough like sandpaper. She meant it, but her anger was loath to relinquish its grip on her heart.

“Calu,” Calumon whispered, his ears withdrawing. He was scared. He didn’t understand. What could have happened to make everyone act this way?

“Oh shit,” Kazu whispered, never expecting Jeri to hit  _ anyone _ let alone Henry. Still, he couldn’t help but think better the Chinese boy then him. After all, he was trying to be there for her and win her back and if she was pissed off at him, that wouldn’t work out.

“Moumentai,” Terriermon said uneasily, and even though Suzie was shocked, squeezing Lopmon closer to her chest, she felt her brother deserved it. If Jeri didn’t do it, she  _ would _ have. Still might.

“ _ And this is where keeping our mouth shut comes in handy,”  _ Rika told Renamon mentally, pushing away from the gate. Walking over, she bent down to pick up Calumon, and grabbed Jeri’s free hand, looking at Henry apologetically before everyone else.

“We’re calling it a day,” she said simply, leaving no room for discussion before starting to pull Jeri down the stairs. “Come on, I’m taking you home before I corrupt you more.”

“But…Takato…” Jeri began hesitantly, resisting Rika’s tugging on her hand as Kenta went over to Henry, inspecting his bruising face.

“Let’s get some ice on that,” he said as Jeri was pulled down the stairs.

**###**

Rika didn’t answer any of Jeri’s inquiries about Takato. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to say. She would be calling Henry later tonight to make sure he was OK, and a part of her felt guilty she wasn’t thinking about doing the same to Takato. However, if she didn’t even know what to say to Jeri about the subject, how the hell was she supposed to talk to Takato about it?

Especially with the awkward elephant in the room and the fact feelings still remained strong. It was best to keep a distance, especially since she wasn’t sure if their relationship or lack of one would make the situation worse.

Calumon - thanks to Renamon’s quick thinking - had been momentarily quieted with his own protests with some ice cream. Since it would look weird for a “stuffed animal” to be eating ice cream, the two girls - three for those who saw them as Renamon continued to hide in plain sight - took a momentary break just outside the park.

Glancing at Jeri awkwardly, she looked away after a moment, feeling like she should say  _ something _ , but the redhead was never one for words. Actions, she found, were easier to convey feelings and thoughts.

Jeri massaged her wrist with shaking hands, she pressed her lips tightly together.

“I shouldn’t have slapped him,” she said quietly. “I can’t believe I did that. I need to apologize again…”

Closing her eyes, Jeri felt a small tear trace its way down her cheek. “Oh Rika… Why…? Why is this happening to us?”

Rika reached out and gently stopped Jeri’s hand which seemed attached to her wrist. Using her other hand, she pulled the sleeve up to cover her palm and wiped away the tears which were beginning to stain Jeri’s face.

“You can do that tomorrow in school,” Rika assured her gently. “And … the Dark Ocean still lingers. You hear the waves, don’t you?”

_ Still, even after it’s gone, it’s not like the wounds inflicted while it was here are going to disappear _ , Rika thought, glancing at Calumon and Renamon, the In-training looking positively heartbroken. Normally sweets were enough to cheer him up, but it didn’t seem to be doing the trick this time.

“But if we  _ know _ that, why aren’t we fighting against it by pulling together?” Jeri asked, leaning into Rika’s hand as the tears only grew. “Rika, you  _ know _ Henry wouldn’t have said those things if it weren’t for the Dark Ocean… Right?” She blinked at the girl in confusion. “Tell me he’s said all those things because of the Dark Ocean. He doesn’t really think Takato’s a threat…does he?”

“He may have thought it in the back of his mind,” said Renamon. “Or somewhere that even he wouldn’t have heard it from. The Dark Ocean, I suspect, thrives on taking what is hidden and dark and bringing it to the light.”

Her azure eyes glanced over at Rika meaningfully. “You would know that, correct?”

“Sounds pretty much on point,” Rika admitted, unable to keep the slightest of blushes from crossing her cheeks at Jeri leaning into her hand. However, she was able to ruthlessly squash it down into the pit of her psyche where she kept the rest of the emotions she couldn’t or didn’t want to deal with.

Time and place for everything after all.

“I don’t like the Dark Ocean, culu,” Calumon whispered, and Rika looked sadly back at the In-training Digimon.

“None of us do, buddy,” she said, returning her attention back to Jeri, now trying to figure out what she was supposed to do with the crying brunette. She never did well with tears after all. “An-anyway, speaking from experience, falling into despair with this thing  still around is a pretty terrible idea, so let’s not do that.”

“I wouldn’t if you let me go after Takato and if Takato would reply to my messages,” Jeri huffed. Pulling out her cell phone for what had to be the hundredth time, she checked to see if Takato had texted her back. Still nothing.

“The two of you are  _ so _ unbelievably stubborn sometimes,” she grumbled irritably.

“That’s why you love us,” Rika replied, smiling, hoping to make light of the situation. Still, while part of it was a joke, another part of her spoke a bit more seriously than what she wanted.

“I love you because you’re kinder than you let on,” Jeri grumbled. “Both of you are very kind, very sweet people who are so strong. Mnemosyne took that away for a little while and…and I  _ hate _ that.”

Tightening her grip on her phone, she glared at the screen. “Damn it, Takato,” she swore. “Please… _ answer!” _

Rika’s heart clenched uncomfortably. Even though she knew Jeri meant it purely in a platonic way, these feelings which had been under lock and key in her psyche for so long seemed intent on making themselves  _ much _ harder to ignore than they were in the past. It was like the floodgates had been opened, and she had opened Pandora’s Box; not only did it contain memories, some of which didn't even seem to be real, but brought forward festering emotions, only made stronger since seeing the light.

The fact she was still emotionally compromised from the Dark Ocean didn’t exactly  _ help _ things.

“Leave him be for now, OK?” Rika said, putting her hand over the phone, not wanting Jeri to stress staring into the empty mailbox. “Sometimes people need to be alone. If he doesn’t answer by tomorrow, we’ll crash his house. Sound like a deal?”

“I don’t know if I can just…leave him alone,” Jeri replied, wiping an arm over her eyes. “It feels like we’ve  _ been _ doing that and it’s not helping things get better. What if it doesn’t work this time? Do we leave him alone even  _ more?” _

She sniffed, her expression downcast.

“I don’t think this is working, Rika. I get the feeling something’s going to break at the rate we’re going.”

Rika was quiet for a moment, once more at a loss for words. Finally she spoke again, this time her voice quieter than a whisper.

“Jer … when you tried …” she took a deep breath and continued on. “When you tried  _ going away _ , afterwards, what did you want in regards to other people?”

Jeri looked at Rika for a moment before answering.

“I wanted someone to talk to,” she replied. “Rika, even when I was all smiles before I tried to… _ leave _ , deep inside I was desperate for someone to talk to. To open up to. A part of me wanted someone to notice what was wrong with me, because I…” She hesitated and swallowed before continuing. “Because I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. That didn’t change afterward, as much as it hurt and as much as I wanted to be left alone.” Her fingers curled together as she continued. “I couldn’t bring myself to say it because it hurt, but…talking to someone… It was like bleeding out an infection. It took me a very long while to admit that.”

She furrowed her brow at Rika. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I think you and Takato are very similar,” Rika admitted, removing her hand from Jeri’s face, though she still kept her other one on the scarred wrist. Kicking her feet awkwardly, she paused a bit before continuing. “When I’m upset, I don’t want to be around other people. I want time to think and mull it over. Reach a conclusion at my own time. So I always try to give people that right - that ability - to just figure things out for themselves until they’re ready.”

Rika frowned, pausing, glancing at the scarred wrist and the phone which went unanswered. Her thumb gently rubbed the marred flesh. Once more guilt from all those years ago filled her at being blind to Jeri’s problems, her pain. That because she was smiling, nothing was wrong.

If she only had noticed before, then Jeri wouldn’t have been in so much pain.

“But … I don’t know. I’m not like other people - I barely understand them”, she continued, tearing her eyes away from the ugly reminder. “It’s like a guessing game, and I was just thinking, maybe, I could help if I knew your own thought process and compare it to what I’ve seen of Takato’s and his current behavior but-”

Rika sighed and leaned back, looking at the sky.

“Humans are irrational and their line of logic impossible to follow,” she finished. “It’s why I like games so much. In a controlled setting, it’s the only time I can really  _ understand _ anyone. Winning is just a nice bonus.”

Jeri eyed Rika for a moment before glancing at her phone again, tapping its surface with her fingers as she sent another message out to Takato.

“You’re pretty human to, don’t forget,” she said. “I’ve seen you be pretty irrational.” She paused, her brow narrowing slightly. “You almost sounded like the D-Reaper just now… Talking about how ‘humans are irrational’ like you’re separate from the rest of us.”

“It was more of a general commentary, and I’m aware.” Reaching out she poked Jeri in the cheek, prodding the skin slightly, trying to get her attention. “Still if he wanted to respond, I think he would have by now.”

Jeri’s amber eyes flashed angrily at that. Taking hold of Rika’s hand, she pulled it away, glowering at her.

“Rika… You  _ saw _ him back there! What Henry said to him  _ hurt. _ He can say that he agrees… We know he thinks that! But to hear that his closest friends don’t trust him anymore… What makes you so sure he wants to talk to us again?”

As Jeri continued, her face twisted with growing anger. “I thought you at least would have…” she began, only to catch herself, her lips twitching as she fought back the words, _ I thought you at least would have cared _ . Looking away, she returned her attention to her phone. “I’m calling his parents. I want to know that he at least made it home. Even if he doesn’t want to talk anymore, I want him to know that someone will be there for him.”

A look of hurt flashed across Rika’s face, and once more guilt stabbed at her. Removing her hand from Jeri’s wrist, it found itself twirled around the lock of her red hair. She felt it was best to leave him alone at the moment  _ because _ of what was said,  _ because _ it was hurtful. Try when those feelings had a time to settle in and he was more open to talking.

_ Maybe I’ve become corrupted. It’s like understanding people has gotten worse _ , she thought glumly, wondering if she should just go. If she should have intervened back there at the end at all.

“Hello? Mrs. Matsuki?” Jeri asked, turning her attention away from Rika for the moment. “It’s me, Jeri. I was just wondering if Takato had come home yet.”

There was a pause as Jeri listened to Mie and after a moment she nodded regretfully. “Okay, thank you. Could you tell him I called, please? Thanks.”

With that, Jeri hung up.

“He hasn’t come home yet,” she said quietly. At this, Renamon adjusted her seat.

“Perhaps I should look for him,” she suggested. “Make sure that he’s all right.”

“Yeah. Probably a good idea. Let me know,” she said, taking the In-training Digimon and held him in her arms, hugging him tightly. She pressed her lips together, hoping Takato didn’t do anything stupid.

With that, Renamon stood up and promptly vanished from view, leaving the two girls alone.

“I’m…sorry if I upset you,” Jeri said softly. “I’m sorry that I hit Henry back there. I just…” She squeezed her eyes shut and the color in her cheeks rose as she fought back tears. “I just hate seeing us all like this. Dark Ocean or not, we were all  _ friends!  _ Now it feels like we’re doing our best to tear apart from each other.”

Opening her eyes, she turned them skyward. “It’s almost enough to make me wish for the end of the world, just to get it over with.”

“I don’t want the world to end, culu,” Calumon whispered, Rika standing up now that the little Digimon had finished his ice cream. “How can everyone smile again if it does?”

“You should listen to Calumon,” Rika said gently, placing him in Jeri’s arms. However, she didn’t respond to the apology; even if Jeri had only said it in anger, it wasn’t like she was wrong exactly. That and if she said it was OK, or it didn’t upset her, she would be lying.

Still, she didn’t want Jeri’s thoughts to linger on her, especially with them so preoccupied with Takato. Even if she had given up going after the boy, it was clear she still loved him deeply. Perhaps when all of this was over, she would encourage her to give it another go. After all, Takato couldn’t be hung up on her forever, and Jeri  _ was _ his first love.

It would be how things should have been.

“Anyway, I’m heading home,” Rika told Jeri, slipping her hands in her pocket. “I’ll let you know when I find out, so don’t worry too much, OK?”

“Okay,” Jeri mumbled, pulling Calumon close to her, her amber eyes rising to meet Rika’s violet ones. “I didn’t mean what I said about the world ending. I don’t…I don’t want it to end. It’s just…frustrating how things are right now.”

She tried to force a smile on her face and got to her feet to join her friend.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” she asked.

“Not if you are going to force that fake smile on your face,” Rika said honestly and probably a bit tactlessly. The fake smile always bothered her, and she really didn’t want to look at it right now in particular. “Other than that though, it’s up to you. I’m not going to disappear again.”

Hurt flashed across Jeri’s eyes, causing her smile to drop off her face. She adjusted her grip on Calumon, fumbling through her emotions. “I’m sorry if I made you mad,” she said before returning her gaze to Rika. “I’ll go with you.” She paused before deciding to be a little less tactful herself. “There’s more than one way for you to disappear you know.”

“What other way are you afraid of then?” Rika asked, beginning to walk toward her house, wishing suddenly for Renamon’s company. The air was getting heavy and awkward, and Rika just wanted to escape. “And you didn’t make me mad.”

That much was the truth.

“Losing your friendship if I walked away or left you alone,” Jeri said, falling into step beside her. “But if you don’t want me to walk you home, I won’t. I won’t force you to accept me being by your side.”

“But Rika walks away and leaves people alone all the time,” Calumon pointed out, confused. The In-Training had seen the redhead girl storm off or push people away enough as a child to remember that much. “It’s how she found me, remember?”

“I like being with you,” Rika assured her, glancing over. The way Jeri phased the first part though made her sound really needy and petty and Calumon didn’t exactly help things, though he seemed to take it a lot more literally. Still she knew even if it didn’t ruin their friendship, it would certainly make their relationship a lot more strained; Takato proved  _ that _ much. “I just don’t want to force you to spend time with me is all. I’m not going to get pissy because you didn’t walk me home.”

“I guess,” Jeri said quietly. “I just…worry sometimes. Ever since the hospital, I’ve been afraid that leaving you might mean losing you. And you mean a lot to me.”

Hugging Calumon close to her, she caressed the In-Training’s head. “I’ll explain it to you later.”

Calumon nodded, feeling like there was something going unsaid between the two of them. Something adult. He didn’t understand what was going on, but that was typical. However, it seemed to the little In-training it was even more serious than it was before.

_ Calu... _

“I’m not that needy, Jeri,” Rika smiled wryly. “Beside, I’m used to being alone, and what happened at the hospital was … different. Beside, we’re still friends, so it’s not like you have anything to worry about.”

“It doesn’t  _ feel _ different,” Jeri replied. ““You and Takato were friends, but that…didn’t change what happened between you two after the hospital.”

She bit her lower lip as she said that, half afraid of what Rika’s response would be.

“Look, unless I  _ insist _ you stay, I’m not going to get mad or upset if you do your own thing, OK?” Rika sighed, scratching the back of her head. “Like I said, I’m not that needy. Silence and being alone doesn’t bother me. So stop treating me like I’m somebody who will throw a hissy fit anytime a person wants to do their own thing. Feeling like you are forcing yourself to hang out with me is a thousand times worse than being alone.”

Jeri bit her lower lip at that at that.

“That’s good to know, but…it might be a good idea if you let everyone know that. Sometimes…you’re hard to understand. It’s hard to know how you’ll react to things.”

She drew to a halt. “A little honesty with the people who care about you will help with that you know.”

Adjusting her grip on Calumon, she gave Rika a worried look. “I guess…I should go for today. We’re both stressed out and I don’t want to cause any trouble. I just… I worry about you a lot. We all do. Because we all care you know.”

“I know,” Rika replied gently, though she couldn’t help but think that when Jeri meant about honesty, she was talking about opening up. She didn’t know what the brunette wanted from her though. It sort of felt like Rika was expected to read everyone’s minds and act from there. It was a pipe dream in many ways.

“Still, save your worry for Takato. He needs you more,” Rika told her, smiling, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her eyes flickered down to Calumon and she stroked his head. “Make sure Jeri doesn’t worry herself into a stupor, OK Calumon?”

Calumon nodded his head and saluted. He didn’t know what a stupor was, but it sounded bad.

Biting her lower lip again, Jeri bowed politely to Rika and then, with another look over her shoulder as she turned away, walked away without another word, not trusting herself to say anything more.


	52. Icarus

There was no dark light around Takato as he made his way through the streets, though a dark cloud hung over him anyway. He made his way slowly and without direction. Thoughts of home were distant in his mind. He knew that he had to return there soon, but he just couldn’t bring himself to go there at the moment.

He didn’t want to go home. Not with how angry he was.

_ Henry… _ He grimaced. Feeling his hoodie shift, he glanced over his shoulder, finding Gigimon climbing onto it, his gold eyes shining worriedly.

“Is everything all right, Gigimon?” he asked.

“I’m wondering the same thing about you,” the digimon said. “You smell upset.”

“I am,” Takato nodded with a heavy sigh as he climbed the steps to a bridge, not for the destination in mind but for a break in his walking. Bringing himself to rest on the railing, he gazed outward. “I wish I wasn’t. I wish…I wish a lot of things.”

_ Rika… _ The face of the flame-haired girl came unbidden to his mind and he tightened his grip on the railing.

“Therapy isn’t doing anything,” he said. “Today was proof of that. I’m…I’m at a loss on what to do. It’s almost like how we were in the fight against Beelzemon. I feel so… _ useless.” _

Sighing, he pushed back. Sniffing the air, Gigimon stood up on Takato’s shoulder.

“I smell Renamon!”

Takato’s shoulders sagged. “Oh great…”

The kitsune appeared into view in the shadows, though there was a shimmering moment and a woman stepped out, regarding Takato - even though she was easier to read when she appeared as a human, her features were still blank. Turning to Gigimon, she smiled and nodded.   
  
“Can’t fool your nose,” she said simply before returning her attention to Takato. “Is your phone dead?”

“I turned it off,” Takato replied, a guilty look crossing his features. “Sorry. I just…didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now.”

He paused before he asked. “Jeri or Rika? Who did I make mad this time?”

“Neither; they were worried when you didn’t answer calls to your phone seeing if you are alright,” Renamon answered simply. She wondered if she should say Rika thought it best for the longest time to leave Takato be, but she was interested in something else. “Why would you assume I’m here on Jeri’s behalf?”

Takato frowned. “Because Jeri worries a lot. And I think Rika would want to make sure she doesn’t worry. I…don’t think she’d send you if it was just herself. It’s Rika after all.”

“She did want to respect your desire to be alone,” Renamon acknowledged. “She started to waver a bit when Jeri insisted that when someone is hurting they should have someone to talk to.” She paused. “Would you like to do that? Talk?”

“Talking…” Takato winced. “I’d like that, but I don’t know if it’ll do any good. I do that a lot with my therapist. It’s not the same though. Not like it is with you and the others, and…with everything that’s happened, I don’t know if I can talk to anyone. It’s like I’m just going around in circles, making people angry or I do something that makes them lose their trust in me. I’m not sure if talking is going to do any good anymore. I hear the Dark Ocean still, so… I think…I don’t know. It feels like something is going to happen. It’s just a matter of what and when.”

He glanced at Renamon. “What do you think?”

Renamon thought about it for a moment. Dealing with Takato was different from dealing with Rika. Her partner seemed oblivious to the very concept of emotions, something she seemingly regressed in the past six years. 

“Something  _ will _ probably happen regarding the Dark Ocean,” she decided upon finally. “What it is, I cannot say, but we cannot simply give up and let it control us.” She paused for a moment regarding Takato carefully before deciding to cut to the chase. “Rika … is a very difficult person to understand. Even though I’m her partner, I learn new things about her everyday, and smaller pieces of the puzzle click into place. As you know, I’ve made her mad in the past too, but we talked things over. It’s not an easy process, but to say you aren’t seeing immediate results in your relationships with others is … a poor way to think about things - especially with the Dark Ocean twisting and corrupting the darkness in your soul.”   

Takato pressed his lips together before nodding reluctantly. “It’s not easy though. I’ve always had this need to just…fix things. I think that’s why I liked digimon or any story with heroes. They always fixed things. I know it’s silly. Reality and fantasy aren’t the same thing. I’m just not good at solving problems.”

A small, mirthful, if bitter smile crossed his features. “You know, I remember when we were kids, when Henry’s dad finally found out about Terriermon, I kept wanting to do something, and Rika told me to back off. She was wiser than me.”

“She’s related to her grandmother, so why wouldn’t she be wise?” Gigimon asked. “I think Renamon’s right, Takato. You keep twisting yourself up into knots thinking about how you should fix everything right away. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from Primary Village, it was that we can’t fix everything right away. Some things take time and lots of talking…and lots of eating. That’s what you and Rika did before, remember? After you asked Himiko to ‘take care of you?’”

“Yeah,” Takato nodded. “Talking. That’s not something I do very well though. Maybe that’s why the therapy isn’t taking either, but…I think maybe there’s something I can do that’ll help. Well… Maybe not, especially with Rika, but…it’s something I haven’t done in a while. A  _ long _ while.”

“Perhaps you should try; remember, destiny is what you make of it,” Renamon said simply. “I will not lie to you and say it will be easy; we both know how closed off she can be, but you proved before that isn’t a reason to work at it.” A small smile crossed her lips. “Plus, Rika struggles at communicating too.”

That’s when Renamon chuckled.

“Still it amuses me that you are overthinking all of this considering as children Rika was ready to strangle you half the time for not thinking much about the situation at all,” she admitted. 

Takato gave a light laugh. “Somehow I don’t think I can do anything that  _ won’t _ make Rika want to strangle me. I guess growing up hasn’t really changed me much except for the whole thinking part. I need to find some balance between the two or something.”

He scratched the back of his head. “Maybe if I listen more instead of thinking and acting so much…”

His voice trailed off, the thought dancing just beyond his reach, but not quite out of sight.

“Listening is always a good start,” Renamon agreed. 

“See?” Gigimon asked, tail wagging behind Takato’s head. “This is a start too! You’re listening to Renamon! You can’t go wrong with her. She’s always been right before.”

“Yeah,” Takato said, smiling softly at Renamon. “You have no idea how much we’ve all missed you. For someone who says she doesn’t understand humans all that well, you have a pretty good understanding of us.”

“Well I do try to listen,” Renamon replied simply. “Ask questions. Seek answers. It wasn’t an easy journey and it isn’t one which is completed by any stretch of the measure, but I’m wiser today than I was yesterday.” She smiled ever so slightly. “Plus my partner is Rika. Everyone else is easier to understand next to her.”

Takato gave a light laugh at that. “I can’t exactly argue with you there. I know I always had a hard time understanding Rika. Losing my memories of her made that even worse.”

His expression softened. “All right. I promise to listen more. I just wish I thought of that sooner. It…would have saved a lot of head and heartaches.”

_ Especially the heartaches, _ he thought, remembering the disaster at the hospital.

“Thanks for listening, Renamon. You didn’t have to do it.”

“I wanted to,” Renamon replied, placing a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, squeezing it, before removing it. “You should turn your phone on though - I’m sure your mailbox is full.”

Takato nodded as he pulled out his cell phone, turning it on. “Either way, I owe you one.”

As his phone activated, he grimaced at the sheer number of messages waiting for him, all. All of which were from Jeri.

He felt a slight pang in his heart upon seeing nothing from Rika, but he ignored it.

“Ouch. This is going to take a lot of apologizing…not to mention a lot of chocolate ice cream.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Gigimon said, confused by the dread in his partner’s voice.

“Gigimon… Jeri will make you buy her a  _ lot _ of ice cream if you make her mad. That’s hard if you happen to be short on funds.”

“You sound like you have experience,” Renamon joked lightly. 

“We’ve all been there at one point or another,” Takato said before admitting, “But yeah. I’ve got a lot of experience. During one of the times before Rika asked me out, she thought Jeri and I were dating because I just kept making her mad and I ended up having to keep buying her ice cream.”

He scowled. “I don’t even know what I was  _ doing _ to make her mad. Maybe I wasn’t listening?”

“I don’t know,” Renamon admitted. “However, unless you wish to go speak some more, I’ll go inform Rika you are doing well enough - is this an acceptable answer to give?”

“I think I’m okay, so yeah. You should get back to her so she’s not worrying about you.” Smiling, he bowed politely to the vulpine digimon. “Thanks again, Renamon. For everything.”

Renamon nodded, stepping back in the shadows and disappearing.

**###**

Jeri made her way down the streets, thoughts of the disastrous meeting still paining her like salt rubbed deeply into a wound. Takato’s continuing descent into darkness; Henry’s declaration of distrust for the boy; and Rika…

_ I know she didn’t tell me to stay but…I still feel like I left her when she needed someone. _

She bit her lower lip, deeply regretting not staying by her side. Raw experience had taught her that just because someone didn’t insist on company staying, it didn’t follow that they were fine with people leaving them.

_ Still… Rika always speaks her mind. If she really wanted me to stay… _

She tightened her fists together, wishing that she understood Rika better. When she was open, she was open, but there were so many instances where she would close herself off and become impossible to read. There were times that Jeri felt that the only way she could ever truly get Rika to open up was through the things she enjoyed, like the card game.

That, she remembered, had been one of the rare moments that she ever saw a piece of Rika’s true self emerge from her walls; where her smiles were the most honest.

_ I wish she could be like that all the time, _ Jeri thought mournfully.

Calumon looked up at Jeri sadly, not quite sure what to say to the girl to lift her spirits. Part of him felt like they were in the D-Reaper bubble again, and all he could do was stay by her side and beg her to fight.

“You look upset.”

Calumon turned to see a copper-haired girl - one he recognized as Ayaka, Jeri’s childhood friend. Perking up slightly, he waved cutely to the other teenager; surely  _ she _ could help Jeri!

“Calu! Hi Ayaka!” he greeted cutely, causing the girl to turn to him, smiling ever so slightly. 

“Hello creampuff,” she replied, though he noticed there was the slightest of lags between the two words, as if she were thinking about what she wanted to say. 

“Ayaka,” Jeri greeted in a quiet voice, her eyes widening slightly in surprise upon seeing her friend. Clearing her throat, she continued in a louder voice. “Did…Did your scans go all right today?”

Ayaka nodded her head, falling in step next to Jeri. 

“Not that there was information forthcoming - not that I am expecting any. It seems the Monster Makers don’t know what they are doing,” she replied with a snort before shrugging her shoulders. “Enough about me, however. You look like something upset you.”

Jeri frowned slightly at her friend. Something about the way she talked bothered her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

_ Maybe she’s just annoyed or maybe she saw her ex-boyfriend again? Ayaka was like that after they broke up. _

Still, another part of her wondered if this had anything to do with the girl’s worries regarding the gaps in her memories.

_ How would I know what to look for though if that was the case? _

For now, she let the matter be. Ayaka tended to outbursts of odd behavior when she was upset, as her long association with the girl had proven.

Still… There was  _ something _ about how she talked…

“Takato,” she said simply. “Well, more like  _ everyone,  _ but Takato had a bit of trouble with Henry. Henry made it clear that he didn’t trust him anymore and I…I slapped him for it. Now I feel bad and Takato… He’s not answering my calls.”

She glanced at Ayaka thoughtfully. “Maybe you should talk to him?” she asked. She didn’t know if it was a good idea, but Ayaka had taken to having a great deal of concern for him of late. In spite of recent events, perhaps her combative personality would be enough to make their friend see some sense.

“I doubt I can do anything you couldn’t,” Ayaka snorted before pressing her lips together. “Still if you all can’t even trust each other now, I’m worried the Dark Ocean will take another victim - or worse.”

“Worse?” Calumon asked fretfully. He wasn’t exactly sure what this Dark Ocean was even now - nobody seemed to be able to explain it to him - but the fact it seemed to be the cause of so much pain and sorrow made it just as dangerous as the D-Reaper. “What do you mean, worse?”

Ayaka shrugged once more.

“Who knows - the Dark Ocean becoming part of this world?” she replied simply. “With the firewall down … anything is possible.”

“Anything is possible,” Jeri agreed regretfully. “Still… Right now, I’m worried that the Dark Ocean might take Takato. He had that black light around him again. It doesn’t seem to be going away, and with how everyone just seems to distrust him…”

She looked at Ayaka pleadingly. “Could you at least help me help him? Please. I’m worried. If he could have someone he could talk to… Someone he can trust… It would help him a lot. You’ve listened to him before. I know you’ve had…difficulties, but…I think it would mean a lot to him if you tried.”

“I think you fit that role better than I,” Ayaka retorted, more firmly this time, crossing her arms. However she seemed to have a thoughtful, worried look in her eyes. “As for helping … it may be too late for that.”

Again, that strange feeling about Ayaka nibbled at the back of Jeri’s mind. She had sounded much this way following her car accident.

“What do you mean?” Jeri asked. “Ayaka, you’re scaring me. Did something happen?”

A spark of fear flashed through the girl and her amber eyes widened. “Is…Is  _ that _ why he’s not answering? What  _ happened  _ to Takato?”

Jeri hadn’t realized she had grabbed hold of her friend until she was frantically shaking her, fingers digging into the girl’s shoulders. Tears were brimming in the corners of her eyes, leaving Jeri to choke back a cry.

“I’m sorry,” she shuddered, loosening her grip, Jeri dropped her scarred wrist into her hand and hugged it close to her. “But…please, I need to know if you…know something.”

“...I don’t know any more than you regarding if he’s OK or not. I didn’t even realize he was missing until you told me,” Ayaka replied after a moment, her eyes wide and lips pressed together as if she had absolutely no idea how to react to Jeri’s outburst. Neither did Calumon, who was dropped - though luckily he floated gently to the ground - and was now looking fearfully up at Jeri. “I was more talking about his relationship to the Dark Ocean; if he’s showing visible signs of being corrupted by it, that’s troubling.”

“Calu … Renamon is looking for him,” Calumon reminded Jeri, hopping up and tugging at Jeri’s skirt. “I’m sure he’s fine! Renamon can find him!”

“If Renamon’s looking for him, I think you should wait to hear back from her before you start to panic,” Ayaka said, hesitating for a moment before wrapping her arms around Jeri and patting her back, attempting to soothe her. 

With a shudder, Jeri loosened her grip on her arm. That feeling again about Ayaka… It was growing much,  _ much _ stronger. There was  _ something _ about the way she spoke…

_ The way she hugs… _

That’s when Jeri’s phone buzzed.

Pulling it out, Jeri flipped her phone open and checked her messages, finding one from Rika. Pulling away, she opened it, and read it off.

“He’s…okay?” she asked, almost surprised. “She says he’s okay.”

Tapping out a response, she pressed for something approaching details before firing it back.

“See?” Calumon said, looking just as relieved, Ayaka slipping her hands in her pockets. “He was fine! No need to panic.”

“Waiting for information paid off, didn’t it?” Ayaka agreed. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it seeing as you are doing better. I need to get going - we’re not allowed to be wandering around the city after all.” 

Jeri blushed at Ayaka’s non-scolding ‘scolding’ of their being out and shifted in embarrassment.

“I’m going to his place and wait for him there,” she muttered. “I want to see him and make sure that he’s all right. I mean  _ really _ all right and not just whatever he thinks he has to say to be left alone.”

“Well, he is better than Kazu,” came the dry reply. “Hopefully he’ll get the hints this time. Good luck.”

Jeri tilted her head in confusion at Ayaka before a light blush crossed her features.

“Hints…? You mean…” The crimson in her face deepened as she felt her hair prickle. “Ayaka! I… Takato and me…” She huffed and crossed her arms together. “You  _ know _ Takato doesn’t see me like that anymore. I’m…I’m not even sure I like him the same way.”

She bit her lower lip, her thoughts pondering those words for a moment.  _ Did _ she still like Takato in ‘that way?’

_ It…wouldn’t matter, since he still likes Rika. And I… _

Rika’s face flashed across her vision and her hands tightened around her sides.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Ayaka drawled, waving her hand lazily as she began to walk away. “Be more assertive - you two belong together. See ya.”

Jeri watched Ayaka go for a moment before shaking her head.

_ We belong together? That sounds like destiny talk. I don’t…believe in destiny, except what we make of it. _

Starting forward, she headed in the direction of Takato’s home, not at all sure about what she’d find, or how she would feel once she got there.

**###**

Henry was fuming as he shut the door behind him, Terriermon hopping off his shoulder and onto the bed. Behind his door, he heard Suzie stomp by, indicating her own displeasure. He could guess as to why this was, given that Jeri made her own opinion on the matter quite plain. He could still feel the swollen bruise throbbing on his face and knew that if Suzie were given the chance, she would add a few marks of her own.

“Now that we’re alone, you want to talk to me?” Terriermon asked, turning toward his partner. The half-Chinese Tamer shrugged.

“Are you going to hit me too?”

“Henry… What’s gotten into you? I hate to say it, but you’re starting to act a little crazy!”

“It’s…” Henry sighed. “It’s nothing. I’m just stressed, and I worry about Suzie. You know how she feels about Takato and…with him…being…”

The boy was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone buzzing. Taking it out, he flipped it open and saw that it was Rika.

“We’ll come back to this,” Henry said hitting the reply button. “Hey Rika.”

“ _ Heya Henry. You put some ice on that cheek yet?” _ came the response from the redhead girl. Blunt, straight to the point and utter lacking in tact; the trademark of the Digimon Queen.

“I will in a little bit,” Henry said, taking hold of his computer chair and sliding it out. Setting himself down, he heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m going to wait for Suzie to settle down so she doesn’t just decide to come out and try and belt me across the face.”

“I don’t know if she’ll  _ ever _ settle down,” Terriermon remarked. “Takato’s her prince you know.”

Henry waved his partner off in annoyance.

“Anyway, how’s it going? How’s Jeri doing? Is she all right?”

“ _ Ya know, worried sick. Guilty for slapping you. She’ll be fine though - I had Renamon look for Takato, and she told me he’s doing as well as he could be _ ,” Rika replied. “ _ How about  _ you _ though? How you holding up?” _

Henry paused and then shrugged despite Rika not being able to see the gesture.

“Wishing that everyone saw eye to eye on this more. Feeling like a jerk for making Jeri so mad. I feel like I kicked a puppy or something.”

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed again.

“So…yeah. Not happy with how things are. What about you? Or did I already ask you that?”

“Getting so that your brain can’t figure out what’s going on anymore,” Terriermon quipped, hopping down off the bed and sauntering over to his partner.

“Terriermon…” Henry warned as the dog-bunny digimon climbed up to Henry’s shoulder, where his cell phone was.

“Henry’s working himself up like always and just won’t admit it,” Terriermon said to the phone, ignoring his partner’s protests. “You might want to hit him over the noggin or something the next time you see him.”

“ _ You already asked me that _ ,” came the slightly amused response. “ _ And Henry always over thinks when he’s stressed. Nothing new there.” _ There was a pause before Rika spoke up again. “... _ Real talk though, Henry, what do you think is going to happen?” _

“What I think?” Henry glanced at Terriermon. “I think…we’re going to have to be ready to fight. If the barrier to the Dark Ocean is this thin, who knows what’s going to happen. We have to be ready for anything.”

His face hardened. “We may need to be ready to fight Takato too. The Dark Ocean has a strong hold on him already, and he has the Digital Hazard. Whatever we think of him… However we  _ feel _ about him, we need to be ready for the worst.”

“Henry…” began Terriermon in protest, only for the boy to shoot his partner a harsh glare.

“We were  _ all _ there in the digital world when he lost control for even a second. You  _ know _ what he can do.”

“What I  _ know _ is that someone needs to momentai,” Terriermon replied, planting his tiny hands on his hips.

“ _ What about me? I was the one who fell into it after all,”  _ came a slow, thought out reply. 

“You escaped,” Henry frowned at the wall before him, Rika’s image so firmly planted in his mind now that it seemed as though he were looking at her. “You haven’t shown any darkness around you, and you  _ don’t _ have the power to destroy an entire reality.”

He paused before continuing.

“Do you want to take the chance that your mother and grandmother might get killed because of what we  _ don’t  _ do?”

“Low blow, Henry,” Terriermon scolded with a scowl, earning him a reproachful look from the boy.

“ _ Never thought the words would escape my lips, so Terriermon appreciate them, but I’m agreeing with your partner,”  _ Rika responded. “ _...Henry, we’re all tainted by the darkness. You’re right in saying we need to be careful due to the hazard, but alienating Takato I don’t think is the answer. I think it just opens the wounds further and allows the darkness to spread even more. We both know that Takato thinks with his feelings, not his head.” _

“That’s my point though,” Henry sighed. “He thinks too  _ much  _ with his feelings. You of  _ all  _ people know that. All I was saying was that we limit his ability to spread the darkness until we get things figured out.”

He pressed his hand against his forehead, feeling…odd. Like his head was stuffed full of wool. He could hear something that sounded like distant waves crashing on a shore. Gathering his focus, he pushed the sound aside with an effort.

“We can’t afford to have any mistakes because of how  _ we _ feel. Takato’s already the most dangerous with that. But…maybe I should talk to him. If I can get him to understand…”

“ _ Henry, no offense, but after this afternoon, I don’t think that will go well _ ,” came the blunt response. “ _ I know there is the whole saying that friends pick up each other’s habits, but you picked a terrible one of mine to emulate.” _

She sighed. 

“ _ Hey Henry, did you know that Takato asked Himiko to kill him if he got dangerous?” _

Henry drew a hand into a tight fist, his brow darkening. He was silent for a moment before speaking.

“I’d say that he was being pragmatic,” he said. “Look, I don’t agree with him, but…he knows what he’s capable of. Maybe we should consider our options if he does lose control.”

“ _ We should, but I’m firmly against murder _ ,” came the terse response. Even though Rika had regressed in personality since Mnemosyne’s interference, it seemed this one character trait remained strong. “ _ Look, I’ll talk to him and see what I can do to help with his mental state. Besides Jeri, he’ll probably hear me out.” _

“Come on, Henry,” Terriermon pleaded, hugging his partner’s head with his long ears. “Takato may be freaking out a little, but he hasn’t gone nuclear. Give him a chance. At least Rika’s the one making  _ sense _ for a change.”

He giggled at the phone. “I hope you appreciate that one, Rika. I’m saying  _ you’re  _ the one making sense for once.”

“ _Well we’re agreeing on things._ _The world is truly ending_ ,” came the smart-ass response. Rika’s voice became a bit quieter as she talked to someone in the background. “ _Renamon, we’re going shopping tomorrow for rations to survive the upcoming apocalypse.”_

_ “Did someone say shopping?”  _ Rumiko’s voice came from somewhere in the background.

_ “Not that kind!”  _

Henry chuckled at that. “I guess you’d better run before your mother abducts you. I know how hard that can be since you take after her.”

“ _ In what way?” _ Rika asked. 

“The way you kidnap people,” Henry chuckled. “Especially the ones you like.”

“ _ I do not- ah man, she’s serious. Gotta go!” _ that’s when the line went dead before Henry could say good-bye.

Henry gave a light laugh and lowered his phone, closing it shut. Looking at him, Terriermon frowned.

“Henry… You’re not going to do anything crazy with Takatomon, are you?”

“As long as he doesn’t do anything, I promise,” the boy replied, pocketing his phone. “Terriermon, just because I don’t trust him right now, doesn’t mean I think he should be…” He paused and grimaced. “Well… We should consider our options, but yes, he should get a chance to prove himself. I just… I worry about my sister, okay? She pines after him you know.”

“Somehow I don’t think you have anything to worry about with that.”

Henry shrugged. “I’m her brother though. I’m supposed to worry.”

Raising a hand, he touched the swollen flesh of his bruise and winced.

“I’d better get some ice on this,” he sighed, heading for the door.

**###**

Despite Rika and Henry’s best attempts to keep her away from Takato, Jeri was now waiting in front of the bakery for his return. Cradling Calumon in her hands, while she was worried about Takato, her fears had been alleviated somewhat by Renamon checking up on him. At the very least, she knew he hadn’t been sucked into the Dark Ocean.

_ Yet _ , a dark part of her whispered, and she pressed her lips together, hating that darkness. It was a reminder of the shadow that hung over all of them, tainting everything that had been special about their friendship.

She still couldn’t believe Henry and Rika - weren’t they supposed to be his best friends? Yet Henry called him dangerous, and Rika didn’t seem to be worried about him in the slightest - she didn’t even jump to Takato’s defense during the argument. In fact, she didn’t say a thing.

_ What can I do … it seems like I’m the only one trying to keep everyone together, _ she thought miserably. Her lower lip trembling, she tightened her grip around the tiny digimon in her arms. That’s when Calumon’s little paws hit against her skin.

“Oh! Oh! Jeri, look! There he is - see! He’s fine, just like Rika promised!” the In-Training cooed, pointing to Takato who was walking back to his home, lost in thought. It didn’t seem like he saw her yet. Jeri’s expression softened, seeing the look of deep thought in his eyes. It wasn’t something she was used to, but it did help give credence to Rika’s message. It was, if nothing else, yards better than the darkness that almost seemed to seep out of him of late. 

He still hadn’t noticed her however, causing her to frown a little. Stepping in front of his path, she cleared her throat. 

“Ah!” Takato jumped back, clearly surprised by Jeri’s unexpected presence near his home. At once, Gigimon leapt out of the boy’s hoodie, his tiny face set in a fearsome – or at the very least, fearsomely cute – look as he growled dangerously before spotting Jeri.

“Ah…hah?” Turning on his stumpy legs, he looked at Takato quizzically. “Takato… It’s only Jeri.”

“I noticed, Gigimon,” the boy said, picking the In-Training up into his arms. “I just…um…” He glanced up at Jeri, his brow furrowing in thought. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I didn’t expect to see you here. Is everything all right?”

“I was about to ask you the same question,” Jeri replied, her eyes full of concern as she glanced at Gigimon and his immediate reaction. She supposed with everything going on, it was only natural, but it made her uncomfortable. Did Takato think she was against him too, in spite of her defense of him at the meeting? “Didn’t you get my text messages? And phone calls?”

“I did…eventually,” Takato admitted, looking ashamed. “I turned off my phone. I kind of wasn’t in the mood for talking. B-But I sent a message back when Renamon told me to check! Here! Look!”

Digging out his phone, he flipped it open, only for his shoulders to sag slightly as he saw the message staring back at him with a message of its own.

_ Failed to send. _

“Ah nuts…” he sighed. “Of course I’d have a bad signal.”

Closing his phone up, he looked at Jeri apologetically. “I owe you a lot of ice cream.”

“You do,” Jeri agreed with a tiny, relieved smile, recalling Rika’s words that sometimes people wanted to be left alone. She pressed her lips together, still feeling like they had done too much of that. After all, there were times she pushed people away while she was  _ sick _ , but wanted nothing more than companionship. “But we can put that off for another time. You didn’t answer my question - are you alright?”

“Besides going crazy?” Takato asked, rubbing the back of his head while his lips twitched in an effort to force a smile. This only caused Jeri to scowl, not appreciating his choice of words in the least. “I’m fine.”

The joke fell flat on his ears as he lowered his hand.

“But…honestly? No, not really. But…I guess that’s natural, huh? All things considered, I mean.”

Jeri’s eyes softened and she stepped forward. Her hand ached to rub her wrist, but holding Calumon was providing a good way to keep her from doing it if she didn’t want to draw even more attention to the terrible habit. 

“You want to talk about it?” she asked gently. 

Takato scratched the back of his head, adjusting his grip on Gigimon, looking uncertain at her question. “I…” he began hesitantly, wanting to brush her question off and seclude himself in his room, but his conversation with Renamon earlier on his journey home echoed in his mind.

“Yeah,” he finally said. “I mean, I don’t know what to say really. What…What  _ is _ there to say?”

“Did Renamon make you run out of things to talk about?” Gigimon asked, climbing out of his partner’s grasp and up to the boy’s shoulder. With a wag of his tail, he leaned forward and licked the boy.

“Um…no, I’m pretty sure she didn’t,” he replied before looking at Jeri and gesturing to the bakery.

“Maybe we should do this inside? I can get you something to eat and drink…maybe get started on my ice cream debt. I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t eat it all this time.”

Jeri smiled, feeling a bit relieved, silently thanking Renamon. Also a part of her couldn’t help but feel a bit vindicated.

“Sure. That sounds good.”

**###**

Humans never ceased to amaze Mnemosyne in the  _ sheer level _ it could mess things up. The AI was practically back at full functionality, but it seemed it was a bit too late. From the information it observed while in Hypnos and from Jeri Katou’s worries and impassioned pleas, it seemed even though Rika Nonaka escaped, the damage had been done. 

The wall between the Dark Ocean and the Real World had all but eroded and worse still, Takato Matsuki was on the verge of destroying  _ everything _ . It seemed like a small miracle, granted by Yggdrasil or perhaps even a human god, this hadn’t happened yet.

_ Digidestined … our saviors and damnation _ , it thought bitterly, sitting down on the bed, the mattress creaking slightly under it’s weight. Ancient Wisemon had predicted that it would be a Digimon of time which would destroy the Digital World, and created Mnemosyne to combat that threat knowing of it’s own passing. Mnemosyne neutralized all the threats presented by those who can mess with the flow of time, yet in it’s place a new threat emerged.  

Prior to the events of this world, nothing had caused the AI to become so invested with beings not specified in its programming. Yet when it saw the warning signs, how could it sit back and not act? After all, how the Digital World was now, it couldn’t survive another purge.

In the end though, they all flew too close to the sun.


	53. Darkness Wins

Impmon  _ hated _ this.

Staring outside of the tall skyscraper lording ominously over the city, he watched the sun slowly start to peek over the hill. Ai and Mako would be getting ready for school - or should be based on the conversations of their daily routine whenever the Digimon had a chance to talk to them between patrols. Which was  _ much _ less than he liked - barely an hour if he was lucky.

Everyone else got to spend time with their partners, catching up. Everyone except for him. Resting a gloved hand against the glass, he sighed before feeling  _ something _ wash over him, wrapping around him like a suffocating blanket and he pressed his nose to the glass and his green eyes desperately searched the sky.

There was some early morning fog covering the entire city, but nothing out of the ordinary. Yet he sensed a looming dark presence, and a wave of dread washed over him, and he zeroed in on a shadow on the ground about 20 floors below him.

That’s when the alarms went off, screeching in fright, just as a literal wave of fire washed over the building.

“The fuck!” Impmon cried, falling to the floor as the tower shook and trembled, yet held it’s ground defiantly. Scrambling to his feet, he pushed himself upwards, shifting into his Mega form. Pointing his gun at the glass in front of him, he pulled the trigger and shattered it to pieces, jumping and falling with the shards of glass, racing toward the ground.

Ignoring the whistling wind, the shadow was quickly becoming more well defined, but Beelzemon wasn’t going to simply wait until he saw it - whatever it was, it had to be the Digimon harassing Hypnos, keeping him from his Tamers and making bird brain nervous. He would take care of the threat and  _ finally _ be able to live with Ai and Mako.

“ _ Heartbreak Shot _ !”

A blast erupted from his gun, causing a slight kick-back as it slammed into the figure, making it pause, looking up at the Demon Lord hurtling toward it and Beelzemon smirked raising his claw, darkness wrapping around his talons. He was sure  _ this _ was going to have an impact.

“ _ Dark-” _

“ _ Slash Nail. _ ”

Long red nails stabbed him in the gut, and his attack fizzled out, his momentum stopped, only for it to slowly start again as he crashed backwards toward the ground, breaking the pavement. His hand going to his wound, he glowered up at his opponent, a purple horned beast with large wings, staring down at him as if a fly had interrupted it.

This Digimon wasn’t quite as large as MegaGargomon, but it still towered over him easily.

“Beelzemon,” it drawled, and the way the words came out - smooth and velvety, not at all like how the Demon Lord imagined it to sound like, expecting more of a wild, deranged animal. “So nice of you to … drop in.”

Red entered his vision; how  _ dare _ this bastard look down on him. Raising his Berenjena, snarling-

“ _ Double Impact _ !”

Two shots rang out, and they found their mark. While there were burn marks, showing  _ some _ level of damage, the fucker just smiled.

“You truly are gluttony aren’t you?” it asked and a leg pulled back and slammed into Beelzemon, sending him flying into a nearby car. Glancing thoughtfully at Hypnos before surveying the area, pupiless white eyes landed once more on Beezlemon, lips pulling back into a sadistic smile. “You want everything - including punishment. Don’t worry, I won’t kinkshame you; in fact, I’ll even humor you.”

Groaning, Beelzemon sat up as the Digimon walked forward almost at a lazy pace. However, instead of feet hitting concrete, Beelzemon heard water sloshing. Looking down at the ground, his eyes widened in shock and horror to see a tide had come in.

**###**

Robert ‘Dolphin’ McCoy bit into a pop tart as he gazed at the lines of code on the screen, frowning at them. As he looked it over, he thought he saw a shadow flit along the edges of his vision, and looking up, he found nothing in the lab. No sound disrupted the silence save for the gentle hum of the computers, and every shadow was where it should be.

Sighing heavily, he leaned his face into his hand, only to snap back up with a startled cry as the door opened, revealing Aishwarya ‘Curly’ Rai as she entered the lab.

“Good morning,” she greeted, raising a tired eyebrow at the balding, red-haired man. “I take it you didn’t sleep well either?”

Robert leaned back in his seat and glanced at the family photo of a young, blond-haired girl clinging to his arm, blue eyes smiling brightly.

“I keep thinking I see ghosts,” he replied, returning his attention back to Curly as she closed the door behind her and went over to a gun-shaped device – Himiko’s electromagnetic disruptor – and gave it a once over.

“Plenty of that going around with the bogeyman on the loose,” she acknowledged, giving a distasteful grimace. “According to Tally, the dimensional barrier between our world and this Dark Ocean has eroded another 5 percent.”

“Our progress at least jumped ahead another fifteen percent,” Robert joked, glancing at the lines of code on the screen. “Our repair program should be finished before the barriers crash…”

“Assuming everything goes right of course.”

Robert glanced at the woman and nodded grimly. “Yes. Assuming everything goes right.”

Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose. And threaded his fingers beneath his glasses, pushing them up.

_ “The perversity of the universe always tends toward a maximum,”  _ he said, quoting Finagle’s Law. “I get the feeling something’s going to go wrong just because it will.”

“You’re being pessimistic.”

“I am,” Robert acknowledged, glancing down at his family photo once more. “But I have reason to.”

Curly headed toward him and turned his computer screen around so she could take a look. “Everyone’s so on edge right now, it’s amazing that we’re able to get anything done. Are we going to be able to do defensive programming with this when we’re like this?”

“Assuming everything goes right…yes.”

Curly glowered at the man, not liking having her words thrown back at her. Robert chuckled and pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry. My humor is always odd this early in the morning. I’m too old for this now.”

“If you talk like that,” Curly said, taking his keyboard and mouse so she could work on the program, “then don’t be surprised if you age faster. I… Oh!”

“Something wrong?”

“Just a minor goof that I can fix.” She glanced at Robert. “You really  _ are _ tired. Why don’t you get some coffee?”

Robert grimaced. “I don’t like how it makes me go to the bathroom. How Himiko can handle drinking as much as she does is beyond me.”

“I’m sure it has something to do with tolerances and…”

Alarms suddenly cut across her words, causing both Monster Makers to look up, startled before the building shook violently, nearly toppling the two of them to the floor.

“Wha…What was  _ that?!” _ Robert exclaimed before the lights flickered and went out.

**###**

Takato wiped his arm across his brow as he finished putting the last of the bread dough in the oven to bake. Taking a step back, he untied his bandana and set it down before repeating the gesture to his apron. By his feet was Gigimon tugging at his pant leg playfully while his tail wagged.

“Gigimon, please stop that,” he chuckled. Leaning down, he lifted his partner into his arms. “One of these days you’ll make me trip and then you’ll be sad.”

“I’m sorry, Takato,” Gigimon replied, nestling into his partner’s grasp, licking at his hands lovingly. “I just saw you putting food in the oven and my brain went a little blank.”

“You’re as bad as a cat,” Takato laughed, grabbing a piece of freshly baked Guilmon bread from off the counter. Holding it out for Gigimon to eat – to which the reptile did with considerable eagerness – the pair exited the kitchen and started up the stairs for his room to change.

“Bread’s in the oven!” he called out before taking the stairs two at a time. Quickly reaching the landing, he bee lined to his room and closed himself off inside.

“And time to change,” he muttered to himself, wandering over to his bed and setting his partner up on it before turning toward his chair where his school uniform lay slung over.

“So what’s going to be the plan for today?” Gigimon asked between bites.

“Um…” Takato scratched his hair as he tugged off his shirt and grabbed his uniform’s top. “I think we’re going to skip out on the meeting today. You and me anyway. I don’t want a repeat of yesterday where everyone got all agitated.”

Sliding on his shirt, his messy hair popping out the top with a bit of a struggle, he cast his gaze over his desk where a mess of drawings were strewn from his sketchbook. After Jeri left, he dove directly into sketching whatever came to mind. It had been, as he told the echo of Renamon once upon a time, how he dealt with his feelings.

He couldn’t believe how he had let that gotten away from him since this whole business started. It had felt…quite refreshing to do so, even if much of the subject matter was painful. Like bleeding out an angry wound.

_ Feels like I forgot how much I loved this, _ he thought, pushing his hands through the sleeves and smoothing out his shirt. His eyes drifted over his latest work, each one telling a tale of his worries.

An image of a vaguely shaped, faceless figure sitting in an empty field of white which was, in turn, surrounded by a mess of angry scribbles, tangled and barbed in appearance.

A picture of himself and Rika, back to back, and a stylized tear splitting down between them.

A picture of Henry and himself, appearing to be half of the other, and an aura of darkness surrounding them.

Ayaka, her back facing him with hands stuffed in her pockets. Two Kazu’s standing side by side, one smirking while the other was sober. Jeri stood between them, looking sad.

Jeri again, by herself, cradling her arm.

Renamon, holding Rika protectively while the pair stared down some oncoming threat, their eyes blazing with defiance

And still more before finally ending on one that was simple, but covered from top to bottom with it.

A picture of pure, utter blackness with red eyes in the center, glaring out at the world beyond its surface.

Takato took his tie and began to wrap it together. He didn’t get very far when his digivice began to scream in alarm. His hands jerking, he snatched it up and turned toward his partner, who had already dropped his meal, eyes dilated and growling.

“Gigimon!” the boy began, only to be interrupted by a flash of blinding light from outside. With a cry of pain and surprise from the intensity of the light hitting his eyes, he craned his head toward its direction to find the Hypnos government building awash in flame.

“No…” he breathed in utter horror.  _ “No! Gigimon!” _

With that, the boy turned and ran toward the door, half-changed between his work clothes and school clothes, and not caring at all in the least for it or for Himiko and Riley’s warning to him.

Danger was afoot and he had a sudden feeling that he didn’t  _ dare _ miss this one.

**###**

Ryo staggered to his feet as Hypnos’ lights flickered back to life. Distantly he heard the sound of gunshots and the surprised exclamations of various Hypnos agents as they raced outside of his room, demanding details from one another. Hurrying over to the door, he yanked it open and poked his head outside.

“Hey, what’s going o…”

“Mr. Akiyama!” said one of the agents, his guard and babysitter, Akane Komagata, holding up her hands in a placating manner before grabbing him by the arm. “Please go back inside and close the door. We have a bit of a situation here right now. We  _ are _ handling it but we need you safe.”

Ryo arched an eyebrow at that. “But…” he began, only for Akane to pack him further inside and close the door shut in front of him, leaving him alone in his room.

Except…not entirely alone.

_ “Do you desire my help, Ryo?” _ spoke up a voice, and for the life of him, Ryo couldn’t be certain if it came from the shadows or somewhere inside his head.

“Who’s there?” he called out, spinning around, only to find nothing but his room to greet him. Clenching his eyes shut, he gripped the sides of his head.

_ This is a heck of a time to be going crazy, Akiyama! _

**###**

Rika pulled on her uniform, smoothing down her skirt. Renamon was drinking some tea, receiving a cup from grandma as she watched her partner get ready for school, holding her school bag.

While her partner's favorite drink was that energy drink Rika got for the vulpine when the redhead was a child, grandma got her hooked on tea. The two would have conversations on it - among other things - as Rika worked on her homework. At times, it seemed a bit surreal how easily Renamon reintegrated herself in the family structure despite literally  _ everything _ that’s happened.

“You should probably eat breakfast,” Renamon reminded her, handing over her schoolbag. “You’ll make it to school with plenty of time to spare. You usually do.”

“I’ll eat on my way there,” Rika replied, picking up her cards and slipping them into the outside pocket because for whatever reason, nobody thought to give skirts pockets because  _ clearly _ women couldn’t be trusted with them.

Bending down to pick-up her D-arc, she nearly had a heart attack when it suddenly wailing and screeching, it’s lights flashing and the fur on Renamon’s back bristled like an agitated cat.

“It’s a Digimon,” she warned. “A strong one.”

“ _ Rika that better be your phone alarm!” _ Mom’s voice yelled from the other room, and Rika glanced at her partner. Mama had made her feelings quite clear on Rika fighting in any more battles and Rika could swear she was getting along better with Himiko better because of it.

“Let’s go,” she said, Renamon nodding and picking her up, and by the time Rumiko reached her room, the duo was gone.

**###**

The swelling had gone down considerably, though there was still the faintest red mark on Henry’s cheek.

“Rika really rubbed off on Jeri, hasn’t she? That looked like it hurt,” Terriermon asked lightly, noticing his partner staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, still in his pajamas. Jaarin recently got out of the shower and was eating breakfast in the other room with Suzie and Lopmon, the former of which was still giving him the silent treatment after yesterday’s explosion.

“Luckily, no,” Henry sighed. “If Jeri started taking after Rika, she would have punched me instead.”

Rubbing a hand over the red mark, he sighed and let it drop down the sink, gripping the porcelain. It still frustrated him on some regard that Jeri didn’t seem to understand he was looking out for Suzie - for  _ all _ of them - but he wouldn’t hold it against her. He knew she didn’t mean to, and everyone’s nerves have been on edge. As long as nothing happened, there was still a chance he could fix this mess.

Of course the gods weren’t that merciful.

“Henry!” Terriermon said suddenly, hopping over to the window and pulling back the blinds, revealing the building where Hypnos was situated and his father had for all intents and purpose, moved into. That’s when they watched in horror as a wave of fire washed over the building like a tidal wave.

That’s when the door slammed open and Jaarin was catching her breath, looking panicked.

“Henry,” she said. “Suzie and Lopmon … your digital thingys … they just went off. Left.”

All color drained from Henry’s face, the horror and reality of the situation beginning to set in.

“Terriermon!” he yelled, running out the door, only pausing for a moment to grab his D-arc and cards, not even bothering to put on his shoes as he ran after his sister and her partner before they went and did something stupid.

**###**

Kenta always had anxiety issues, which, for the longest time, were not helped by Kazu. Ergo, he always had sleeping issues, and lately he had been having horrible nightmares which he was being dragged into the Dark Ocean and unable to escape. No matter how much he screamed or yelled, he couldn’t get back to the Real World and eventually, the darkness swallowed him whole.

MarineAngemon would always, of course, chase away the darkness from within him but the fear remained. Especially with the fight yesterday, the darkness was swallowing the group whole.

“Puoh.”

Kenta sighed, rubbing his eyes as he looked at his partner. He had been up for the last hour, just watching the news, hoping something there would alleviate his fears or some good news about a cat or a dog or  _ something _ . Of course, since when does the news report anything good? All was on was the latest echo report damage and how Hypnos (though it wasn’t being called that) was working with other governments to help stop the widespread destruction.

“If I stayed home every time I felt depressed, I would have never graduated,” he said, before giving the little Mega a wane smile. “Thanks for worrying about me though.”

“Puh!” MarineAngemon insisted before turning it’s head and wandering over to the window just as his D-arc started to beep. “Puah, pouh…”

Kenta sighed, picking up his card and D-arc. He had been expecting this for a long while, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go before something terrible happens.”

**###**

Kazu was having a nice dream - a  _ very _ nice dream - about Jeri.

Though that being said, he wasn’t quite sure if it was a memory or not, but at that moment, he really didn’t care. Straddling the girl, he was about to go down to steal a kiss from those sweet, pink lips when-

_ BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _

Jolting awake, his hand frantically hit his alarm clock looking for the snooze button.

“Fucking shit,” he grumbled, and even though he slammed his hand on the button - he had hit it so many times in the past he knew where it was - the stupid alarm  _ wouldn’t shut up _ . Squinting his eyes, he looked at the time only to see 6:16 flashing back at him. He furrowed his brow in confusion. He didn’t set his alarm until 7 a.m. if he was feeling particularly on the ball, though most of the time it was 7:30. He didn’t get out of bed until 7:45, which probably explained why he was always in a competition with Chumley for “the most tardy” award.

That’s when he noticed his rust colored D-Arc screaming and yelling, and he groaned, his heart sinking.

“Fucking  _ shit _ .”

**###**

Ai prided herself on being reliable. She always made sure she was the first one to the classroom in order to speak to Akira, who was also one of the first ones to arrive, usually with Masahiko in tow. Mako would distract Masahiko, allowing her precious time to speak to the boy.

Lately they’ve been speaking more about Digimon, making it harder for Masahiko and Mako to go off and mind their own business, but on the plus side Akira seemed more interested in her life. He even came over during their lessons, allowing her to practice against who wasn’t someone absurdly easy to play against (Mako) or utterly impossible (Rika).

Ai wasn’t delusional like Suzy was, but she knew she was definitely getting on Rika’s good side, and getting along with family members was an important part of any healthy relationship. After all, if you wanted to catch a fish, the best way to do so was cast a net.

The situation would be a lot nicer if the fate of the world didn’t seem to hang in the balance.

_ BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _

Walking out of the bathroom, looking groggy, Mako picked up the D-Arc and looked at it blankly before pushing a button. All of a sudden a holographic screen appeared, and Ai walked over to see what happened.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking at the screen, everything moving too fast for her to get any real glimpse before feeling a bit of a pain in her stomach. She frowned. Was she getting cramps? She could have sworn she just had her period …

“I don’t know. Looks like Impmon - no wait, that’s Beelzemon’s attack - is fighting something,” Mako said.

“Who?” Ai asked, and as if to answer her question, the D-Arc paused for a moment and a Digimon showed up on the screen. It looked like some sort of demon which could be found in Christian churches. Squinting her eyes, she looked at the name underneath it. “Daemon … real original.”

However, Mako had a different reaction, his face paling considerably.

“... This isn’t good,” he said running to grab the cards which they squirreled away in the drawer and throwing on the first pair of pants he could find, even though they were wrinkled and quite possibly stained. “Come on, Ai! We need to go help Beelzemon!”

“Well I’m not going to disagree, but what’s the rush? Beelzemon can handle his own and the older Tamers are much closer than we are,” Ai frowned, feeling like she was missing something. Mako paused and looked at her like she was a small child, a pained expression on his face.

“Ai, if I remember anything about binging Digimon Adventure 02 when Rika was missing looking for clues, let’s just say, if this Daemon is the same Daemon I think it is, we’re all pretty fucked right now.”

**###**

Jeri awoke with a start, her face a portrait of crimson as a bead of sweat crawled down her face. She looked around her in confusion, amber eyes narrowed, as if making sure that everything she saw was exactly what she thought it was.

“Caluuu…?” came the sleepy sound of Calumon from next to her, the tiny digimon sitting up and rubbing at his eyes with his tiny little paws. “Jeri, what’s wrong? You’re up and you’re looking all red and funny.”

“I’m fine,” Jeri said, patting him between his ears as the crimson staining her face died down a little. _ Just a dream, _ she thought. “I need to get ready for school, so go back to sleep.”

“School?” Calumon asked, ears perking up as all exhaustion left his body in one mad rush. Hopping into the air, he squealed excitedly. “Can I come too? Huh? Can I? Can I? CanICanICanI…”

“Calumon…” Jeri giggled as she swung her legs over the side of the bunk bed and began to climb down, a bit amused by how much she sounded like Henry scolding Terriermon just now. Beneath her was her brother, snoozing away. Of all the people she knew, he was without a doubt the only one who could sleep through just about anything.

_ Including when there are giant lion digimon sitting just outside the window, _ she thought, but all the same she disappeared from the room as quietly as she could, pausing just long enough to grab her clothes and digivice. Calumon floated behind her and followed her into the bathroom, only to be tossed out a second later.

“Ah-wha…?” he cried in surprise before turning to face a beaming, but embarrassed smile from the girl.

“Lady time,” she said. “I need my privacy.”

“But why?” Calumon asked, tilting his head to one side. “You’re just getting your clothes changed.”

Jeri stared at Calumon flatly for a moment. “We’ve been over this.”

“I know, but I still don’t get it.”

With a roll of her eyes, Jeri closed the door on the tiny digimon, much to his despair.

“I’ll be out in a minute, so no complaining or causing trouble,” she said through the door before shaking her head. Sighing heavily, she paused in front of the mirror before turning and flipping on the shower. As the steam rose, Jeri stepped out of her clothes and into the warm water, allowing it to fall over her body and hide the blush that again stained her skin.

_ It's just a silly dream, _ Jeri thought, but try as she might she couldn’t get it out of her mind. Taking a bottle of shampoo, she poured it into her hair and began to scrub vigorously, trying to blot out the memory…and failing.

It had been too surreal. Too… _ strange! _

She could still feel them next to her, warm and loving as they hugged her, caressing her skin. Their faces hanging over her, smiling down… Takato, Kazu and Rika. The three hearts who she held closest to her heart and they all looked down at her adoringly.

They were all naked too.

Jeri flushed even  _ harder _ than before, trying to put the memory of the dream out of her mind. It was just… _ wrong! _ All of it was wrong! There was no way something like that could ever happen and yet…yet…

In her mind’s eye, she replayed the last image she saw before waking up with a start. That of all three of them drawing toward her, lips parting in preparation to shower her lips with kisses. Her eyes were especially drawn to each of them in turn before settling on Rika and she felt her heart swell with emotion. Stamping her foot in the tub, Jeri made an annoyed, frustrated sound at herself.

_ I keep falling in love over and over… Takato… Kazu… And now… _ She swallowed, her lip trembling nervously, the realization settling heavily over her body.  _ …Rika. _

She was no fool, and over the years had gotten too used to confronting herself to be able to hide something like this. For a while, perhaps, but that could only last for so long before her walls broke down and she had no other choice  _ but _ to face what she tried to hide inside her.

She was falling in love again. She still loved the others.

She was in trouble.

In some ways, the situation with Takato had reawakened that ember within her heart. Or perhaps she hadn’t ever stopped and only stepped aside because of Rika. And now that everything was up in the air…

“Stupid heart…” she scowled down at herself, allowing the shower to wash away the suds in her hair. She wanted to cry.

Battles aside, someone –  _ two  _ people – would get hurt, and she feared for those who would be on the receiving end of bad luck. She hated that.

_ Why does this have to happen? _ she thought in despair, turning the shower off. She didn’t have much time to contemplate the question however, as no sooner did she shut off the water did her digivice suddenly begin shrieking in alarm. Slamming the shower door open, her eyes went wide with horror as she found Calumon lifting her digivice with his tiny paws, gazing at it curiously before looking up at Jeri with his wide eyes.

“Whatever it’s saying, it doesn’t sound happy,” he said as crimson flushed all across Jeri’s skin. Grabbing hold of the tiny digimon, she  _ again _ shoved him outside and slammed the door shut.

She was going to have words with him about how he got in, but for now…

_ A digimon is bio-emerging! _ she thought in grim realization as she turned on the tracking function.  _ And…it looks like a it’s a powerful one! _

Her eyes rose up toward the window where the skyline of her home was visible.

_ Takato… Rika… _

She scrambled to get her clothes on, and within minutes she was out the door at a run.

“Jeri! Hey Jeri!” called Calumon as he bounced after her. “Hey! Waaaiiit!!!”

**###**

Himiko didn’t ask permission for what she was about to do. She had been working with this prototype with Yamaki non-stop ever since Rika came back from the Dark Ocean which had been about - what, a month now? It proved to be effective against the echoes and was currently beginning to go into production despite not an adequate number of testing going into it, but now she was about to test it on a much bigger target.

Holstering the gun - which everyone else in the office had been calling it even though it’s proper name was the Electronic Digital Scrambler or EDS for short - she would learn if her goal to keep her cousin and the rest of the Tamers safe would come to fruition.

The basis of the EDS was like any other scrambler - it messed with the frequency, in this case the digital frequency, the Digimon operates on. There was more science to it than that, but the hope was when a Digimon was bio-emerging and needed to gather electricity and other data to stabilize, by disrupting that, it would end the bio-emergence. She wasn’t exactly sure what that would  _ mean _ to the Digimon, but honestly, she didn’t care.

The doors opened as she ran out of the foyer and she stopped short, looking down when she noticed she was wading through a pool of water.

_ What the- _

Her head snapped upwards to see a rather large  _ demon _ looking thing towering over Beelzemon, who was lying against a severely bent pole which just so happened to fit his shape. It didn’t take much brain processing power to figure out what happened.

Still with the fog surrounding them, it was very likely that the Digital Field hadn’t dissipated yet. Her talks with Rika on how  _ long _ the field lasted for unhelpfully were summed up with a shrug and a “depends.” Renamon, however, explained it a bit more concisely explaining it depended on the Digimon, it’s level and power, and how much it needed to stabilize itself. Her own Digital Field only lasted a minute, while she had been in others which went on for a half an hour.

“Right, let’s test you out,” she grunted, switching the EDS on and pointing it at the Digimon’s back. It took about five seconds to charge up to maximum power, and after Himiko took a mental note to somehow cut that time down, she squeezed the trigger and fired.

In all the other test runs with the echoes, the affected party would look like a static TV for a second before dissipating into nothing. The Digimon paused, it’s oversized hand about to smash down on Beelzemon when it began to flicker and Himiko smirked victoriously.

It worked.

However, less than a second later it stabilized and the monster turned around, now looking down at her. Himiko noticed it had no pupils in it’s eyes, yet it seemed to regard her with a sense of impressed curiosity, as one might do to an inferior organism doing something it didn’t expect.

“...Ah, so humans have something like that now,” it said, and Himiko was in shock of how well it spoke. “You fleas really have evolved, haven’t you? Here I thought Digimon were the only ones capable of such feats. Well no matter.” It took a step forward and the water around it shook as waves now lapped against Himiko’s body. She gritted her teeth and fired at it again. Same response. Flicker, than nothing. “You’re still too powerless against me.”

“ _ Double Impact!” _ Beelzemon’s voice rang out and two shots slammed into the Digimon’s back, causing it to stumble a bit and turn back toward the Demon Lord who staggered back to it’s feet. “Ay! Shit for brains! We ain’t done yet!”

The larger creature sighed before looking at Himiko apologetically.

“Just a moment.” Turning back toward Beelzemon, it grasped the Mega with its hand and even though the demon struggled valiantly, it couldn’t escape its foes grasp. As if to drive the point home, Daemon tightened his grip, digging his claws brutally into Beelzemon’s skin, causing shards of data to float free while black ichor flowed down the Demon Lord’s hands, staining his robes. “I was in middle of a conversation. I know you are gluttony but-” it raised its hand and slammed Beelzemon into the ground, leaving a crater where the Digimon landed. “You cannot have everything. You’ll need to learn to share.”

Himiko took a step back in horror as the large Digimon returned its attention toward her.

“Now, where were we?”

**###**

Takato was in a hurry.

The wall of fire he saw erupting over Hypnos more than made up his mind, even without Gigimon digivolving straight to Guilmon and telling him that this time this digimon was  _ bad!  _ There had been no choice. No thought. Just a single desire and the will to see it through. Light erupted from his gold-rimmed digivice, cascading outward and enveloping himself and his partner almost immediately upon dashing out of the bakery, and within seconds, Gallantmon was jumping through the air, propelled up by his powerful legs. His red cape billowed behind him, free and seeming like a flag; strong and proud, willing to brave any storm in defense of others.

It felt so good to biomerge with Guilmon once again. Felt so good to be  _ Gallantmon _ again! It felt as though, at long last, he was complete.

_ “We are together again, and nothing will ever separate us again,” _ he heard Guilmon’s voice say from the darkness surrounding his data sphere, and for that moment in time, he could believe it. Come whatever may, he and Guilmon at least would never be apart any longer.

Bounding off a rooftop, he leapt back into the air, his gold-colored eyes searching for some sign of whoever or  _ whatever _ was attacking Hypnos. He saw nothing as of yet, but there was an oppressive force on the air. He could feel it. The darkness surrounding his data sphere wavered, as though Guilmon were shivering at the heavy weight.

_ “This is bad, Takatomon,” _ Guilmon snarled.  _ “This is  _ very _ bad!” _

_ “You don’t have to tell me twice,” _ Takato nodded.  _ “But…where…?” _

_ “There!” _

Swiveling his eyes downward, Takato’s mouth fell open. Lying broken and battered in a massive crater was Beelzemon, while across from him stood a Daemon – a  _ Daemon! _ And across from him stood Himiko, holding some kind of weapon. Takato felt his heart almost stop beating for a moment before his face set itself in a hard, determined expression.

_ “Guilmon…” _ he thought as their combined body began to arch downward, descending toward the streets below.

_ “Yeah?” _

_ “We’re going to have to fight this guy picture perfect, understand? I know this digimon from the show. He’s tough. If we slip up for even a second…he’s going to kill us. Can we go Crimson Mode?” _

_ “I’ve been trying… But I don’t know how to do it. Grani… I can’t hear his voice.” _

Takato nodded.  _ “Then we do this the hard way. I don’t know how we’re going to take him down, but we just will. There’s no choice.” _

Outwardly, his armor flickered, white to black and red to blue before returning to normal, the black miasma returning as his fears made themselves known in his heart. He ignored it all however. Himiko needed him.

_ Did…Did she try shooting this guy with a gun? _ he thought in bewilderment before shaking his head. There was no longer any time to consider what her intentions were. There was only action.

His armored boots slammed into the streets and at once dashed forward, electricity sparking around his lance, coiling upward and coalescing around the tip before he thrust it forward.

_ “Lightning Joust!” _ he shouted, sending a stream of electricity surging toward Daemon. The attack struck true, detonating with explosive force and eliciting a cry from the Demon Lord. Gallantmon charged headlong into the smoke, relying on Guilmon’s senses to guide him so he could close in and deliver the killing blow. He knew that even his surprise attack wasn’t nearly enough to do anything to the Mega…

He was right.

With a great flap of his wings, Daemon stood revealed, fire blooming around his palms. Rising up from off the ground, he suddenly flew toward Gallantmon and laughed.

_ “Double Dust!” _ he shouted, thrusting his fists forward, and in the next moment Takato felt a tremendous pain erupt across his face where the Demon Lord’s fists had slammed into him, and he found himself hurtling through the air, careening toward a box truck.

The Royal Knight sheared through the truck with tremendous force, causing it to rip in half from the impact in an explosion of boxes and crates before finally slamming into the street, digging a trench in the pavement that sent sparks flying from his armor. Finally, coming to a halt, Gallantmon slumped, dazed from the sheer amount of strength Daemon possessed.

_ Okay… _ Takato thought.  _ That…could have gone better… _

With an effort, he struggled to his feet. He expected Daemon to be powerful. In the show, the Mega fought Imperialdramon in his Fighter Mode to a standoff, and even then, it was clear that Daemon was the superior Mega who would have inevitably overpowered the dragon warrior. Still, he hadn’t expected to be manhandled quite  _ this  _ easily.

_ “We’ve got to come up with a plan… Something to handle this guy,” _ Takato said to Guilmon, feeling his partner start to nod, only to hesitate.

_ “Takato… I smell something funny…” _

Testing the air himself, the Royal Knight stiffened and once more fear flared up in his heart, causing the miasma to rematerialize around him.

_ Did we hit a gas main…? _

Daemon floated into view.

“Is that a chink in your armor I see there, Royal Knight?” he gloated. “A stain from the Dark Ocean on your soul? No matter…” His eyes widening with black amusement, he thrust a hand forward, a sphere of fire forming in his palm. “Allow me to take advantage of it.  _ Evil Inferno!” _

The fire shot forth in one gigantic stream and slammed into Gallantmon with such intensity that Takato and Guilmon both screamed as every nerve in their body was set ablaze.

A second later, as the gas fumes ignited from the intense heat, Gallantmon’s nerves had another reason to scream and an explosion rocked the street, engulfing the Royal Knight before black smoke swallowed it all.

Gallantmon crashed forward onto his knees, unable to see a thing, but still sensing Daemon on the other side of the smoke. Every part of him was in pain now, but there was worse…

_ He killed them… All those people just now. He killed them with that attack. _

The black miasma was back, coiling all over his body. He remembered how, in the show, Daemon showed no hesitation in attacking innocent civilians. Imperialdramon had barely saved them then.

Gallantmon… _ Takato… _ had failed.

_ He doesn’t care who he hurts. He was going to kill Himiko. He killed all those people… _

A red light awoke in the center of his chest plate, where the mark of the Digital Hazard lay, and white began to turn black again.

_ He’ll kill everyone who gets in his way. He’ll kill all of our friends… _

His eyes snapped open, revealing a murderous, eerie red light burning within. He could feel Guilmon’s savage nature opening up, flooding Takato’s senses, sharing his rage and shock at what just happened…the senselessness of it all. Their thoughts were almost one now, and it was difficult to tell who was thinking what at this point. Red took on a blue tint and Gallantmon rose to his feet once more.

_ We have to destroy him! _

The thought erupted from the center of their being, clear and concrete, filling them with new strength. Faster than they could think, they surged out of the smoke with an animalistic battle cry, garbed now in black and blue armor, an azure cape flowing behind him, and they stabbed their lance at Daemon, who looked quite surprised at this turn of events. He caught the attack nonetheless, laughing darkly.

“And so the knight falls, and from one attack.” Turning the lance down, he slammed his fist into the Royal Knight’s visor. “And it’s all for nothing,  _ ChaosGallantmon! _ Oh, how that must grate on your soul and your honor, knowing you failed in everything.”

ChaosGallantmon barely heard any of this, so subsumed was he by the rage overtaking him, that he plowed through the attack, this time slamming his shield into Daemon’s face, causing him to stagger backward. Not content with that, he pressed on, crushing the Demon Lord into the streets with his shield. The hazard sign flashed on his chest as an eerie black light began to form in the center of his shield.

_ Judecca Prison!” _ he boomed with a snarl, and his attack detonated at point blank range, sending the dark knight flying backward, armor cracking from the force behind the blast. Managing to keep his feet, ChaosGallantmon adjusted himself, waiting for the smoke to fade.

It did, and Daemon stood revealed, looking none the worse for wear.

“Amusing,” he said, narrowing his eyes dangerously. “Pray that was not your best effort, because otherwise your end is going to be  _ very _ swift.”

The darkness surrounding ChaosGallantmon was growing in intensity, and the hazard was flashing erratically. He stalked forward with a snarl, the instincts of Guilmon’s viral nature imbedding themselves further into the knight’s mind, branding themselves into the very core of his being. The boy was gone. There was only the dark knight now. A beast with a lance and very,  _ very _ far removed from a knight. A… _ monster,  _ and little better than the one in front of him…

_ …A scream… A tear-stained face full of terror… Jeri…retreating from him… _

_ “Don’t come near me…” _

A flicker of a face, Jeri’s horror from a time so very long ago, flashed across his memories, and the knight drew to a halt. The hazard light dimmed, and the color of his armor began to recede, becoming gray in color, joining the fading red light that revealed a pair of gold colored eyes.

_ J-Jeri…? _

Daemon snorted upon seeing this and smoke arose from behind his cloak.

“Ah… I should have known. A human child playing at being a warrior. Just like all the  _ others.” _

A stream of fire shot forth and slammed into ChaosGallantmon as he brought his shield to bear.  Orange washed along its surface from the sheer intensity of the heat, causing Guilmon and Takato to cry out in pain once more. The knight nearly collapsed back to one knee, struggling to maintain their fluctuating strength. Pain seared the whole length of his arm, nearly causing Takato to pass out from the sheer intensity of it.

The fire increased in intensity as Daemon bore down on him.

“This is why your kind falls in the end,” he laughed. “You’re unwilling to do what it takes to win while the darkness grows. Even in defeat, the darkness becomes stronger and changes shape. You chain yourselves.”

The orange grew along ChaosGallantmon’s armor, spreading into his arm and toward his shoulder. Steam began to rise as the metal groaned and creaked, beginning to soften. White spread along the surface of the shield.

“You couldn’t protect anyone. I can smell your hesitation to cause harm, even now, in this form. You should just give up and let me take what I came here for. You aren’t willing to risk anything. You have  _ nothing _ to fight for,  _ knight!” _

The metal on the surface of ChaosGallantmon’s shield began to melt and slide down, dripping onto the ground while behind it, the orange glow reached Gallantmon’s chest plate.

_ “Takato…” _ Guilmon cried.  _ “We can’t…listen to him… We can beat him if we try! If we…try…” _

From within his data sphere, Takato felt his eyes start to close shut, and he heard Guilmon’s cries, frantic for him and in pain from the fire that washed over them, melting the street beneath them, causing their feet to sink into it. He thought of Rika and her face, the way she had looked at the hospital…

_ I don’t…think Rika’s ever going to smile again after this… _

_ “Dumbass, you expect me to  _ smile  _ as you go off putting your life in danger because you want to be some damned  _ knight?!”

Takato’s eyes shot open as he gasped, and for a moment the world seemed to stand still, the pain in his arm crawling along his body, claws digging deep within. With a sudden surge of new strength, his armor flickering back and forth between Gallantmon and ChaosGallantmon, he lunged forward and slammed his melting shield into Daemon’s face, causing him to scream as the molten metal burned through his cloak and into the skin below. Takato felt his strength fade rapidly and he collapsed to the ground once more, leaning on his lance as his armor smoldered.

“Can’t… I can’t lose here…” he gasped. “Not to you… I won’t…hurt my friends like that again…”

He felt Guilmon smile and he forced himself to his feet.

“We’re going to win…” he rasped, his arm shaking as he hefted his lance. “Doesn’t matter how we do it… We’ll beat you.”

Lightning crackled around the lance and Gallantmon thrust it forth, sending a stream of electricity surging at Daemon…who simply narrowed his eyes and caught the attack with his palm, crushing it down in a shower of embers.

“Amusing,” he sneered. “But futile.”

Flying toward the knight suddenly, he smashed his fists into Gallantmon’s visor, sending him crashing to the ground with a cry. Landing in front of him, Daemon raised his palm and the knight, flickering to black once more, looked up to find Daemon’s hand raised in front of his face.

_ “Evil Inferno!” _ he shouted before Takato and Guilmon’s vision of the world was awash in fire once more.

Or should have been.

On Daemon’s arm was a single prayer sutra, with the simple kanji of ‘seal’ on it. Daemon looked down at it, almost perplexed, before turning to see another foe - this one a priestess in armor resembling that of a fox.

Sakuyamon.

“That smell … ah yes, the  _ Digidestined _ who recently fell into my Ocean, yet escaped,” Daemon drawled, reaching to the prayer sutra and pulling it off, wincing a bit as it sparked angrily. “I always wondered why it is the Digidestined closest to  _ gods _ fall into my ocean - though I suppose I can blame that on Yggdrasil. Ah, but not that I’m complaining! You gave me the spark of power I needed to come over to this place, and for that I thank you.”

The prayer burned up into ashes, as he turned his back from the knight and Demon Lord.

“Though, your usefulness has come to an end,” Daemon said simply. “If you were a simple Kuzuhamon, I would spare you as thanks … but you are  _ much _ too powerful to let you live.”    

“You’re welcome to try,” Sakuyamon replied evenly, glancing at Himiko - who she noticed had a gun similar to the one that day where the other partners appeared - before her eyes turned back toward Gallantmon, pressing her lips together.

She had seen him flicker back and forth between ChaosGallantmon and Gallantmon in the few seconds it took for her to arrive and biomerge, and now he seemed pretty stuck on the  _ chaos _ version of that.  _ That _ would need to be fixed, quickly.

She also felt 10 lives wink out, though Beelzemon - who was beginning to twitch from his place on the ground - wasn’t one of them. and above the fighting, more lives starting to congregate in the air. Reporters no doubt.

“ _ This isn’t a good situation _ ,” Renamon noted as they brought their Kongou Shakujou up in the air.

_ “Nope _ ,” Rika agreed, Sakuyamon slamming the staff on the ground.

“ _ Amethyst Mandala!” _ she yelled, a pink barrier erupting from the point of impact and spreading outwards from around her, Sakuyamon acting as the center point for the radius. Where the purifying barrier went, the Dark Ocean vanished, drying up like it was never there to begin with, and washed over ChaosGallantmon and Daemon, the Demon Lord hissing as it raised it’s arms to defend itself.

Sakuyamon smirked at that. It may have the type advantage, but there were more than one advantage types when it came to Digimon. Too bad though she wasn’t a vaccine like Angemon or his line - the damage dealt would be a  _ lot _ more.

“Gallantmon, get your head in the game!” she yelled, Himiko noticing another opportunity for a shot and fired. Sakuyamon watched, her eyes widening as Daemon’s figure flickered for merely half a second before solidifying once more.

“Worth a shot,” Himiko grunted as the fog finally disappeared. She was disappointed in the results, but at this point, she felt she couldn’t be surprised. However, there was still a chance the EDS could work when Daemon was severely injured, and she held on the hope it could be the advantage her cousin and the other Tamers needed. She hated this helpless feeling, but she wasn’t going to simply watch from the sidelines. There was still more she could be doing as an adult.

Gallantmon shook his head as he felt his senses clear and his armor shifted from black to a mottled grey and then, finally, to white.

_ “That felt a breath of fresh air,” _ Takato muttered, relaxing as his armor finished cooling. Turning, Gallantmon’s gold colored eyes fell upon Sakuyamon and he felt his heart skip a beat. With an effort, he forced his attention back on the matter at hand and nodded to her.

“Thanks, Sakuyamon,” he said. “Glad to have you here.”

That’s when Daemon, taking advantage of Gallantmon’s lapse of attention, wheeled back around at the knight - taking a swing at the miko too - as the tide once again began to creep in.

“ _ Hammer Knuckle!” _ it yelled, putting it’s fists together and swinging around like a tornado, Sakuyamon dropping to the ground, grimacing as water slapped against her face as the Dark Ocean only seemed to become deeper, as if in a spiteful response to her earlier actions.

Gallantmon raised his shield and blocked the attack, grunting as he found himself pushed backward. Water rose up around his ankles, and Takato winced.

_ Where…? _ his mind began, only for Daemon to strike him again with another  _ Evil Inferno.  _ This time however, Gallantmon fought a little smarter, angling his shield downward so that the streaming fire surged down into the water. He didn’t know where it had come from –

though if he were to hazard a guess, it would be from the Dark Ocean – but if it was water, than it should react like water when heated suddenly.

Steam burst into the air, blinding both himself and Daemon.

Blind, that is, save for Gallantmon’s nose. Angling his lance, he shot out another  _ Lightning Joust,  _ striking his opponent full in the chest and causing him to stagger backward in surprise.

“There! Hit him, Sakuyamon!”

However, it wasn’t just Sakuyamon who came in with the attack, but was joined in with Beelzemon, who had finally staggered to his feet, and Antylamon, who arrived to the scene from above, slamming down on the Demon Lord with great power, her arm coated in Chrome Digizoid.

“ _ Fox Drive!” _

“ _ Heartbreak Shot!” _

_ “Arm Bomber!” _

All three attacks hit their mark, and Suzy, panting, wearing pajamas, glancing over her shoulder for a second, appeared several hundred feet away. While she was out of the blast zone, she was still in danger.

“Himi!” Sakuyamon hissed, angling the bottom of her Kongou Shakujou toward Suzy. Her cousin didn’t need to be told twice and started to sprint over to where the youngest Wong child was standing. With the situation as it was now, Suzy - and all the others who weren’t  _ somewhat _ protected by the biomerge - would be in danger. While Takato’s slip into darkness concerned her a great deal - especially with his hazard - Sakuyamon luckily seemed to have momentarily fixed that.

Takato though would be having a long lecture after this, however.

Daemon seethed as the smoke of the combined attacks began to clear. Rising back to his full stature, he glared venomously at the Tamers.

“You are all beginning to annoy me,” he growled. Fire sprouting in the palms of his hands again, he thought for a moment before shooting them in opposite directions, first at Suzie and then at Himiko.

_ “No!” _ Takato shouted, moving quick as lightning as his armor flickered again in response to his panic, his damaged shield rising up defensively. Appearing in front of Suzie, he braced himself and the fire washed over his shield once more, but this time, so brief, that it washed over him harmlessly.

Looking over to where Himiko was, his heart beating fearfully, his nerves soothed to see the woman hugged close to Sakuyamon, a crystal barrier protecting them both. The tainted armor once more began to turn white as he looked down at the girl who was looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Suzie!” he chided. “Get somewhere safe!”

“But-” Suzie began to protest, not wanting to run to safety when everyone else was putting their lives in danger, only to be cut off with the booming voice of her brother.

“Listen to your damn  _ prince _ and get out of here!” MegaGargomon yelled and it was followed up by a- “ _ Mega Barrage!” _

A volley of ballistics, some of which Henry wasn’t sure was legal anymore, slammed into Daemon as the Demon Lord looked like he was gearing up for a second attack. This time, the Demon Lord was actually thrown back from the sheer concentrated firepower, but MegaGargomon grimaced. His ammo wasn’t infinite and it wasn’t like he could slash a reload card in this state. This battle wasn’t one they could afford to dawdle on.

_ Especially since Takato is here _ , Henry thought darkly, glancing at the knight, his fingers digging into his palm. If it weren’t made of metal, it would draw blood. It wasn’t like he didn’t notice the flicker of darkness, and he could only  _ guess _ what was going on before they got here.  _ I need to end this quick, before this situation gets any worse _ .

“You shouldn’t be here, Gallantmon,” MegaGargomon warned him, Himiko coming over to his sister and grabbing her by the arm, Daemon clambering back to his feet, shaking off the attack like a wet dog.

“Let’s  _ go _ ,” the older woman insisted. “It’s not safe for you here.”

“I’m a real Tamer!” Suzie snapped, annoyed, snatching her arm out of the older woman’s grasp and reached into her pocket and pulled out the very first card she received. “Watch! Let’s go Antylamon!” she yelled, and her partner nodded her head as Suzy slid a card through her D-Arc. “ _ Digi Modify! Radiant Form activate! _ ”

A pink aura surrounded the Deva and the large rabbit began to spin on it’s axis at Daemon.

“ _ Bunny Blades!” _

Daemon rose back to his feet and his eyes widened with surprise as he saw Antylamon charging toward him. Flying toward her at a rapid pace, he blasted the Ultimate away with a burst of searing fire. The Deva tumbled through the air but landed gracefully on her feet, burned and breathing heavily from pain. Her axe-hands rose up, ready to continue fighting…

Daemon wasn’t done yet.

Surging forward again, the Demon Lord brutally smashed a burning fist into her face, causing digital blood to fly free from her nose. Latching a clawed hand around her muzzle, Daemon laughed, a burning glow emanating from beneath the palm.

_ “Evil Inferno,” _ he growled, and in the next moment Antylamon screamed as fire horribly scorched her face, setting her fur on fire.

Takato snapped.

The screaming and death…the smell of smoke and fire… All of it brought to mind that horrible day in the digital world when Beelzemon butchered Leomon. It awoke every battle with the D-Reaper that they had been forced to retreat from. Red awoke in Gallantmon’s gold colored eyes once more and he charged forward.

No more.  _ No more _ would he allow another teammate to get hurt. He would no longer stand by and watch as another partner digimon get tortured and murdered in front of them.

White shifting to black without so much as a second thought, ChaosGallantmon was bringing his lance crashing down toward Daemon’s forearm with an animalistic yell, lightning flaring along its length…and then Daemon shifted, spinning Antylamon’s injured body to intercept ChaosGallantmon’s attack. While the black remained, the red winked out of his eyes as Takato shouted in horror.

_ “NO!!!” _

He tried desperately to pull back, but it was no use. He was committed. The lance smashed into Antylamon and lightning ripped through her body, causing her to scream once more. With a laugh, Daemon dropped the rabbit Deva.

“Oh,  _ you _ are a fun one, aren’t you? Tell me, are you unable to destroy everything around you?”

“You…” From within his data sphere, Takato was shaking. The darkness was surrounding him again and now… _ now _ azure wings were starting to flicker from his back, though not quite solidifying into reality…but the hazard was burning on his chest.

Sakuyamon, her eyes wide in horror, started to rush out to assist the Deva only to lock in with it’s red eyes, the rabbit shaking her head and mouthing something so quietly Sakuyamon couldn’t hear. However, the light which was beginning to fade from her life suddenly came back in a strong force.

MegaGargomon didn’t see this, however, nor did he have the ability to feel it.

All he saw was red as Suzie screamed in horror, before breaking down and crying, Beelzemon, seeing his own past in the attack, swearing.

He  _ knew _ that Takato was a danger. He  _ warned _ everyone, he  _ warned _ Suzie, but everyone refused to listen. Now it was his  _ sister’s _ partner who was going to pay the price for Takato’s destructiveness. Except he wouldn’t show the same mercy Jeri showed to Beelzemon. Takato was too much of a danger.

Black crept over the green metal, covering it like an ugly tar.

“ _ Burst Shot _ ,” he snarled, and instead of aiming at Daemon, he shot right at ChaosGallantmon, the  _ true _ enemy here.

ChaosGallantmon had only a second to hear the attack and connect it to the shadows that were zeroing in on him at a rapid pace. Looking up, he saw a swarm of missiles belonging to one and only MegaGargomon – his armor black – surging toward him.

ChaosGallantmon shifted back to white as he dumbly tried to understand what was going on, raising his shield again purely on instinct. Missiles struck him and detonated, and Takato gasped in surprise and shock as one of his armored plates on his side collapsed from a missile finding a way past his defenses, metal shrieking as it tore open. He dug his lance into the ground to brace himself, lest he collapse.

_ What…What’s going  _ on?! a part of him shouted as his wings winked out of existence. Yet the red, glowing hazard continued to gleam ominously.

_ “Henry…” _ he growled, eyes blazing as he turned up toward the Mega level digimon.

_ “ _ This is  _ your _ fault! We  _ warned _ you, we  _ told _ you, but you don’t care who you hurt,  _ do you?!” _ BlackMegaGargomon shouted furiously, his missile tubes cycling through their magazines. “ _ Who else are you going to kill before you are happy?!” _

“Henry!” Suzy yelled out in horror, looking at what her brother had become, what her  _ prince _ had become, somewhere in the background hearing Sakuyamon yelling-

“ _ SON OF A BITCH!” _

Daemon smirked. The shift in the battle went farther than he had expected with the arrival of this  _ BlackMegaGargomon _ on the field. He didn’t complain in the least however, as he had other, more important priorities to consider.

_ Such as claiming my long sought after prize, _ he thought, turning his attention to Hypnos wherein the genesis of Dark Spores and Dark Trees lay.

Flapping his wings, he took off toward Hypnos, his claws flexing eagerly in anticipation of finding the  _ Digimon King _ and the Lord of Time.

**###**

Jeri could only stare at the screen dominating the store window, Calumon hugged closely to her chest. Other people surrounded her, whispering among themselves, but she couldn’t hear them, even though they were literally right next to her.

Takato and Henry were fighting … except … they had been corrupted.

On the television wasn’t the gallant white knight nor the towering green castle that was Gallantmon or MegaGargomon. No, their color scheme had turned black -  _ dark _ \- as she watched  _ ChaosGallantmon _ and  _ BlackMegaGargomon _ begin to trade blows.

As she watched, BlackMegaGargomon unleashed salvo after salvo at ChaosGallantmon, who was doing his best to evade the attacks, only for them to fly after him with deadly accuracy before slamming into his body and sending him crashing to the black ocean below. Covered in mud and ichor, she saw the knight stagger to his feet and there appeared – though she couldn’t be quite sure as the camera angle was off – black blood flowing from his visor.

The dark knight raised his lance, and electricity crackled at its tip as he took aim at BlackMegaGargomon.

“No…” Jeri gasped, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “Don’t… Please don’t do this…”

_ “Chaos Shot!” _ she heard the knight bellow, sending a stream of lightning surging at his former comrade, slamming into his armored chest.

BlackMegaGargomon answered back in turn by opening up another salvo of missiles.

Jeri clenched her eyes shut.

_ Someone… Please,  _ stop them!

“ _ Kongoukai Mandara _ !”

A bright light filled the screen - it was a soft pink, almost the color of sakura petals. When it dissipated, a figure stood in the middle of the two combatants, one hand gripping the lance while another was extended toward Henry, palm facing outward, and it seemed smoke was emitting from it but Jeri couldn’t see any scratch from what the cameras were showing.

Most insane of all though was she was wearing a miko’s outfit and had a fox mask on her, not unlike Sakuyamon’s - exactly like it actually, and where ChaosGallantmon and BlackMegaGargomon once stood, Gallantmon and MegaGargomon were now standing frozen in shock.

God’s messenger had arrived.

“You  _ stupid _ dumbass  _ motherfuckers _ .”

And she wasn’t happy.


	54. Light Extinguished

Takato shook his head from within his data sphere as the light brightened around him, shifting from dark blue to an orange and red color. He could feel Rika’s light washing over him, forcing the darkness back and quieting the shadowy whispers that echoed from the depths of his mind. The air _glowed_ from Sakuyamon’s radiance as she stood between himself and MegaGargomon, and a memory tickled at the back of his mind; a memory of when he and his friends were climbing down into a pit using Azulongmon’s beard. Just as then, Rika and Renamon had saved them from danger. He felt himself beginning to relax and he lowered his damaged spear and shield, revealing the cracked, battered armor of Gallantmon’s form, smoke curling from its surface.

In spite of her lips twisted into anger, never before had he thought Sakuyamon – _Rika –_ looked so beautiful. The totality of her being was here, in its fullness of honesty, grace and power like they had never seen her before.

Feeling shame welling up inside him, he turned toward his ‘opponent,’ MegaGargomon as the last remnants of the shadow retreated from his armor, and he saw the damage – the wounds his lance had caused. As few and small as they were, he couldn’t help but wince.

_“Oh man… We really messed up this time, huh boy?”_

_“Yeah…”_ Guilmon replied from the darkness surrounding Takato’s data sphere.

MegaGargomon as well suddenly felt like his head was clear as he stood in swirling pool of pink, the black tarnish which had corrupted his armor disappearing like it was never there before. His palm was sticking outward, still smoking, but at the moment it barely registered in his mind as he stared at the beautiful miko standing between him and the once fallen night.

He too couldn’t help but be reminded of when he saw Sakuyamon for the first time, the warm feeling which seeped into every pore, yet somehow, _this_ experience felt more surreal, like time was standing still.

_Is this Rika?_ He thought dizzily.

“You _stupid_ dumbass _motherfuckers_.”

And with that the spell was broken.

“What the _hell_ do you two think you are doing? We are in a middle of a fight with a goddamn _Demon Lord_ , and you two decide to settle your fucking hissy fit fight _now?!_ ” Sakuyamon - no, _Rika_ \- yelled at them, the fear she felt seeing her two best friends trying to kill each other now easily converted to rage. Just like every other negative emotion she had she didn’t want to deal with. “What is wrong with you two! I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell you to get your acts together, _but look at where we are._ ”

Closing his eyes, Takato took a steady breath and, for a wonder, felt his mind quiet, becoming calm.

“I’m pretty sure we could tell you what was wrong with us,” he began, “but there’s no excuse…” He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Daemon stalking toward Hypnos, flame gathering in the palm of his hand. “And we don’t have time for it.”

“Yeah,” MegaGargomon grimaced, quickly turning now that he remembered where he was as Beelzemon tried desperately, bruised and battered as he was, to fend him off. He felt ashamed as well for his own part to play, but he would deal with everything afterwards.

_“Hey … isn’t that … Antylamon?”_ Terriermon’s voice came shocked from the darkness as the Deva stood up, and even though Henry knew they should be moving, his entire body was rooted to the ground in shock. He had seen her die, just like Leomon, so how was she still standing? Was he under some spell?

That’s when he noticed red encroaching on his vision as the pain from his wounds disappeared, almost like it was never there to begin with. Looking over in shock, he could see MarineAngemon hovering near his face, and turning back toward Gallantmon, the ruined weapon and armor seemed to be repairing itself.

“Man you guys are looking worse for wear. Good thing I came when I did. This is why we need the healer,” came Kenta’s voice, and MegaGargomon looked down to see the young teenager push up his glasses with a smirk, nodding at Sakuyamon. “I’ll take care of these two. I think it’s time for the Queen to rule, don’t you?”

“Glad to know _someone_ here can be relied on,” Sakuyamon grunted as she turned her attention back to Daemon, pointing her finger at the Demon Lord. Even if Kenta was overall unable to be relied upon in day to day life, MarineAngemon’s healing prowess wasn’t something to sneeze at. Nor was his ability to chase away the darkness, which was desperately needed because even now she could feel the Dark Ocean attempting to come back through her purifying barrier.

She couldn’t afford to babysit Gallantmon and MegaGargomon, even if she did manage to shake them back to sanity. Now that her objective of stopping the two boys from killing each other had been met, thanks to Kenta she could focus on her next objective.

Killing Daemon.

“ _Izuna_.”

**###**

Things were not going well.

Janyu stared at the computer screen, his mind and fingers racing desperately as he and his fellow Monster Makers struggled to complete their program; their _patch_ for the barriers between the worlds. The idea was simple enough sounding on paper. Backtrack through the same source that created the echoes and use that to create the echo of the barrier and slip it in place like a bandage.

Fairly easy sounding in theory, but reality simply didn’t exist in terms of theory alone. Nature had a way of throwing a wrench into every little thing a person thought or did just to prove them wrong; to remind them of how tiny and powerless they _really_ were.

Such was the situation that they were in now.

Alarms were going off; people were running about in a mad panic to stabilize the situation in whatever ways they could; and worse…the sounds of battle raging outside.

_Henry…_ Janyu thought, pressing his lips together as he read through the code.

Riley stood behind them, looking no less tense than any of them. She granted them full access to Hypnos’ supercomputers in the hopes of getting the program done as quickly as possible. Hypnos’ sensors were going crazy on Daemon’s signal, revealing him to be _incredibly_ powerful, far more than anything that their defenses could hope to handle on their own. That left them with few options, namely their unfinished, untested program.

_Time to sink or swim,_ Janyu thought, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth together so tight he thought they would crack under the pressure. _We may have the smartest minds and most powerful machines in the world, but it’s all down to us limited humans. Kami…! This is worse than it was with the D-Reaper! We at least_ had _time to put our plan into motion!_

Next to him, Dolphin gave a final tap and stepped away.

“That’s all I can do,” he said in a hushed whisper, wiping an arm over his forehead.

“Are you sure?” asked Riley, hurrying on over behind him.

“There’s not much I can do,” Dolphin replied. “That digimon is coming, and we simply don’t have time on our side.” Janyu glanced at his friend from out of the corner of his eye. The man was positively sweating and trembling. Normally he worked fine under pressure, but the situation was even starting to get to him, affecting his judgment and thinking. Even Janyu wasn’t all that sure about the build on his end.

He doubted any of his friends thought differently. Curly and Daisy looked more than a little bit rattled as well from the tension running through them.

The building shook and Riley steadied herself.

“You _have_ to be sure about this!” she said. “If we so much as slip and make the smallest mistakes…all of this could _end!”_

The sound of Yamaki’s lighter flicking closed echoed upon the air, and Riley turned toward the man as he adjusted his sunglasses. He had been helping as well as a last-ditch effort. Though he was an excellent programmer, it was questionable how much help he could provide given that his involvement on the project had been sorely limited; that is to say, no involvement at all beyond helping with the ultimately failed EDS gun.

_He had been made a glorified babysitter after all,_ Riley thought, composing herself.

“We have to trust those kids,” Yamaki said, flicking his lighter open. “Whatever problems they’re having now, we have to trust them to pull through and give us as much time as we need to finish this.” His eyes fell on Dolphin, causing the man to wince.

“Dolphin…” began Janyu.

_“I’m afraid, all right?!”_ Dolphin exploded suddenly, startling everyone. Clutching at the sides of his head, he spun around. “There’s just no way for me to know if this is going to work! I can’t even _think_ right, right now! Not with everything that’s happening! Trust the Tamers? With everything that’s happening right now? Are you out of your _minds?!”_

_“Mr. McCoy!”_ Riley shouted suddenly with enough force to cause the man to flinch. Upon seeing that she had his attention, she took a moment to compose herself before continuing. “Mr. McCoy… Please, you _need_ to get a hold of yourself if we’re all going to survive. Take a breath…and look over your work. How confident are you in it?”

Dolphin closed his eyes and did as she instructed, but it was clear to everyone that while Riley had managed to get a hold of his focus, his emotional breaking point had been reached.

“Sixty percent,” he finally said in a flat voice, leaning on the computer monitor’s counter in exhaustion. “That’s the best I can give you on my end. It’s finished, but until we give it a trial by fire…”

“It will work,” Janyu said suddenly before he could stop himself. All eyes were on him and he suddenly felt very self-conscious.

“Janyu…” Dolphin said in a quiet voice. “Come on… You’ve got the program in front of you…”

“I know,” Janyu coughed. “Just…hear me out. Right now we _need_ the program to work. We’re dealing with the digital world, and if our work on this program means anything, we’re pulling from the same place, so our desires should have _some_ power over it. We have the program and the desire. We _need_ to _believe!”_

Janyu felt as though he were grasping at straws now. He had never been quite the man of faith like his father had been. Numbers were a force to him; reality hard as concrete. But right now they _needed_ this to work for the sake of the teens and the digital world _offered_ them everything that could lend strength to them.

The Tamers worked miracles so often… Why couldn’t they?

“I’m finished on my end,” Janyu continued, tapping on his keyboard. “Everyone else?”

There was a hesitant nod from Daisy and Curly.

“Maybe if we wish hard enough we can turn this digimon into an ice cream cone,” Daisy chuckled nervously. “Let’s get this party started. We have enough evidence on our side to break reality with our minds.”

“We _did_ create a miniature Big Bang after all,” smiled Curly, although her lips trembled from tension. “This…should be easy.”

The air was tense, leaving Janyu with little sense that they were confident that this would work and were only doing this out of desperation.

_What choice do we have though? What choice do we have?_

“Plug in everyone,” Babel said on his end, cracking his knuckles, “and start wishing.”

**###**

Even though Himiko knew the ground level of the battlefield wasn’t the safest place to be, after her and Yamaki’s toy failed to do jackshit, the best she could do now was act as the eyes and ears for those inside. She was constantly texting reports of the current situation to Riley, which essentially boiled down to, ‘ _We’re fucking getting bitchslapped over here_.’

Never before had she wanted a cigarette, and somewhere in the back of her irrational mind, she was upset at herself for leaving her pack and lighter inside. It didn’t make matters any easier when she saw child after child arrive, Kazu Shioda recently arriving to the scene, Guardromon making a determined -

“ _Grenade Destroyer!”_

\-  if not utterly useless attempt to bring any real help to the situation. They said it was the thought that counted, but as Daemon completely ignored the poor Champion’s attack, once again targeting her cousin only to be stopped by Gallantmon and MegaGargomon (who on the bright side didn’t seem to be killing each other anymore) as MarineAngemon did his best to patch up Beelzemon and Antylamon, who received quite a beating as well. It seemed to have fallen into a pattern, with her cousin and Kenta playing support while the other four seemed to fall into alternating attack teams to keep the demon from reaching Hypnos.

She could only wonder how long it would last, especially considering they were very clearly stalling it and not making much progress in any other regards of damage.

That’s when she noticed something - a light surrounding the upper towers of Hypnos - started to flicker and glow, and she remembered the program the Monster Makers had been working on, and her heart beat painfully in her chest. She knew it was something to repair the barrier between the worlds - she wondered how long it would be for a fix, but at this point in time, literally anything was better than what was going down right now.

Once again Daemon started to flicker and then, just like her poor, marvelous invention, stopped. He looked confused for a half a second before glancing at Hypnos, almost amused, slapping away Gallantmon’s lance who had tried to take advantage in the lapse of attention almost like someone would be hitting away an annoying fly.

_Well fuck_.

**###**

Jeri’s chest was heaving as she finally staggered onto the scene of battle just in time to watch Gallantmon get punched into a building off to the side, causing nearly its entire front to cave in on him, shrouding him in smoke and debris. Missiles and burning fox spirits continued to rain down on Daemon, who simply dismissed the attacks with his own flame, burning them away with even greater heat and destructive force.

Jeri’s lips trembled, and it spread along the length of her body. Her friends were no longer fighting each other and were again actively working together, but it didn’t seem to matter. They were still losing. Daemon was just…too strong.

“Takato… Rika…” she whispered, clasping her hands over her mouth as tears began to slip free from her eyes and down her cheeks.

_Please… Oh please… Get up. Don’t… Don’t lose…_

As if hearing her silent prayer, Gallantmon shot free from the smoke of the ruined building and lay into Daemon again, lightning crackling around the tip of his spear, only for Daemon to grab hold of him and slam him to the streets with enough force to cause a massive crack to splinter along its length, causing Jeri to jerk and nearly lose her footing as the pavement heaved beneath her tumultuously.

There was another explosion as Daemon unleashed his attacks on the Tamers, and with a frightened gasp, she threw her hands up over her face before the sheer force of the blasts _this_ time hurling her off her feet and slam into a parked car, her lungs choking on emptiness as the air flew out of them in one mad rush.

Antylamon rushed forward, covered not only by MegaGargomon’s covering fire, but Beelzemon and Guardromon’s too, slamming her arm down on the beast. Somewhere off to the side, Kazu seemed to be helping coordinate with Kenta and Suzie in using Digi Modify cards, which might be more helpful in a less stressful battle, with things rapidly changing each second, instead of giving them an edge it only seemed to help keep their head above the water.

“Katou!” Himiko’s voice came in like a hazy fog at first as she gasped for air, and suddenly she was hoisted to her feet. “What the _hell_ are you doing here?!”

“We’re here to help!” Calumon announced quite cheerfully, only to be met with a blunt and harsh-

“ _How?!”_

“I just…didn’t want to be on the sidelines…” Jeri gasped, pulling air – _sweet_ air – into her lungs, blinking back the black spots that threatened to overwhelm her vision. “I…I wanted to help…in whatever way…I could…”

Her legs trembling, she nearly lost her balance again as another tremor caused another crack to splinter along the road, and Jeri fell into Himiko’s grasp.

“Why are you brats so _stupid_?” Himiko growled, nearly losing footing herself, but she wouldn’t let herself fall. She was an adult and now she had another stupid kid to look after. Calumon shrunk into himself as he saw the giant Demon Lord and how everyone was fighting valiantly to merely hold him back.

“Come on,” the older woman insisted, pulling her toward Hypnos and further away from the line of fire, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her cellphone to text Riley about the arrival of Katou. “You too, creampuff.”

That’s when she saw two other children running toward the scene, and she recognized them from the house. They had been coming over every day - sometimes with Akira - to learn the Digimon card game from Rika. They were the twin Tamers of Impmon.

“Ms. Hata!” Mako yelled out, waving his arm, and Himiko wished even harder for a pack of cancer death sticks. She had a hard enough time worrying about everything which was going on, now she had these two - a couple of greenhorns with literally no battle experience - on her hands. Even _Suzie_ had some fighting experience before this.

“Stay back you two!” Himiko warned, the twins stopping near her, both of their eyes widening in horror at the scene before them, not exactly helped as their partner was bitchslapped through another car. This was his fifth one. If Himiko didn’t know better, she would swear Daemon took a special sort of glee in torturing Beelzemon.

“Beelzemon,” Mako gasped, his eyes tearing up, and Ai gritted her teeth, and seemingly without thinking, took out some cards and their D-arc.

“ _Digi Modify! WarGreymon Brave Shield activate_!” she yelled just in time as Daemon launched another Evil Inferno. Himiko couldn’t help but be the tiniest bit impressed at the girl’s quick reactions, though a hint of pride for her cousin also shone through.

_Well Rika_ did _teach them…_

“What’s going on?” Mako demanded, rounding on her, looking at her fearfully, at least understanding the situation. “We have _five_ Megas out there fighting. I mean I know he could fight Imperialdramon to a standstill, but it was one against one there!”

Himiko didn’t know who Imperialdramon was, but she assumed it was from the show.

“Things have a way of not working neatly in the real world, kid,” she grimaced before turning back to watch the battle, adding under her breath, almost to herself. “Honestly, only a god can save us now.”

**###**

There was a saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ While this god didn’t hear Himiko’s prayers, it decided to answer it all the same.

After the launch of the program, there was nothing. Just the sound of pounding hearts and fervent praying, and misplaced hope that a miracle, not unsimilar to the one pulled six years ago, would come through in their darkest hour. Yet a single buzz from Riley’s cell phone - a message from Himiko - accompanied by three simple words that reported the failure of their program, broke the entire moral of the room causing a few of those in the room to break down and cry.

“We’re all going to die, aren’t we?” Tally asked, stating the thought no doubt going through everyone’s brain.

That’s when the lights went out, plunging the entire room into literal darkness as if the match the metaphorical feeling plaguing it.  

“The main generator just went out,” Riley said as she lit up her phone to provide _some_ measure of light for everyone to see by. “Don’t worry. Auxiliary systems should be coming on soon.”

The lights suddenly switched back on and Tally immediately set about to getting their equipment up and running again.

“Coming back online now,” she began to report, her hands flying over her control panel. “I…”

She frowned beneath her visor. “Wha…? I’m detecting a sudden influx of data into our systems! We’re…”

“We’ve been hacked!” Yamaki exploded suddenly, slamming his lighter down on his counter.

“Lock it out!” Riley exclaimed, but it was too late. Streams of code erupted on every screen in the room, and Tally clutched at her visor as her vision was overwhelmed by the influx of data.

“It’s too much at once! Our systems can’t take it! We’re going to crash!”

However, as soon as it came it stopped and a giant clock on every single screen appeared and in bright, almost mocking letters, three numbers came up on the screen with two words underneath.

_3:00_

_Program launching..._

“The program you humans developed was more advanced than I would have given you credit for, but at the end of the day, it failed. Though by some stretch of a miracle, it didn’t backfire and make the situation worse in the process. Though at this point, I suppose I’m not quite sure how even you all could possibly make it worse, but humans seem to have a natural process to ah, how does the saying go? Oh that’s right - _Fuck everything up_ \- so I shouldn’t jinx myself quite yet,” a velvety voice came from all the speakers, booming from around them.

Janyu’s eyes went wide with surprise as he turned to the other Monster Makers and saw that they too recognized the voice. It was the same one that had appeared within Hypnos the day they unleashed their echo of the Hazard Virus; the one that belonged to the entity Himiko tried to kill.

“Mnemosyne…” Babel said, getting up from his seat, echoing everyone else’s thoughts. “Here to gloat?”

Beneath his sunglasses, Yamaki frowned. So this voice was the mysterious entity that had been the source of all their problems. Exchanging a glance with Riley, he set about to activating the scanning equipment, hoping to track Mnemosyne’s whereabouts.

“That is more of a human reaction,” Mnemosyne retorted. “Though I suppose it would be incorrect to say I don’t get a certain sense of satisfaction out of saying ‘ _I told you so_.’ Humans have survived this long on sheer dumb luck, and will continue to do so despite trying to pick a fight with me. I am not a vengeful god, though the thought is rather tempting. No, I’m here to clean up the complete mess you’ve caused when you tried to delete me. By the way, I took the liberty of erasing the hazard program from your servers. Just in case you try to end the world as it’s known for a third time.

“At any rate, the second this program launches, a field will appear outside. Daemon _needs_ to be in that field when the countdown clock ends. It will reseal him in the Dark Ocean, where he belongs. After that, there will be another minute as the barriers are being repaired and reconstructed to pre-human interference levels. At the end of that countdown, _nothing_ that’s trapped in the Dark Ocean will be able to return.”

That’s when the words changed from _Program launching_ to _Program launched_ as the timer ticked down to 2:59.

“You better hurry and let the Tamer children know. Tick. Tock.”

Deafening silence fell over the room before Riley finally broke it.

“All right… That’s the situation.”

Collecting herself, the crimson-haired woman looked up at Tally. “Can we still transmit to the Tamers like we did before during the D-Reaper crisis?”

“Ah… Yes!” Tally nodded, putting her visor back on. The stream of data had declined to manageable levels. “The data stream is going to be choppy though.”

“Hook us up!” With that, Riley turned toward the timer, watching it tick down further and further toward its destination.

“This…is going to be _incredibly_ close,” she murmured, her nails digging into her palms. “Kami, no wonder why Yamaki flicks that damn lighter of his.”

**###**

Gallantmon’s armor groaned as he dug himself out of yet _another_ trench Daemon had plowed him into and he looked up to see MegaGargomon smashing his fists into the street, trying to punch Daemon, having expended all but his most powerful munitions against the Mega.

_This is not going well…_ Takato thought alongside Guilmon, so dazed from the latest blow to his head that he was having a hard time telling their thoughts apart.

_I don’t know how we’re going to beat this guy,_ he thought, shaking his head. _So far, he’s been taking every shot we’ve thrown at him and the most we’ve done is slow him down. If we could find his weakness…_

As he continued to work away at the problem, a screen lit up in front of Takato in his data sphere, while outside, a white, glowing, circular light suddenly sparked into existence surrounding Daemon at first, but quickly expanded to include all the Tamers, though Himiko and Jeri remained just out of its reach. As it grew, Daemon eyed it with narrowing eyes before slamming a ball of fire into a suddenly distracted MegaGargomon’s chest, sending him staggering backward before he collapsed on top of a building.

“So, you think you have engineered a way to defeat me?” he scoffed, raising a hand and forming a sphere of fire in front of it. “I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than parlor tricks…”

In response a pair of missiles combined with rapidly moving pink hearts flew through the air and slammed into the Demon Lord’s back, causing him to growl angrily as he turned toward Guardromon and MarineAngemon.

_“Takato!”_ exclaimed Riley suddenly. _“I’ve uplinked you, Rika and Henry! Thanks to Mnemosyne, we have a solution that will send Daemon back to the Dark Ocean and seal the barriers between the worlds, but to do that we need you_ all _to listen very,_ very _carefully and_ follow _our instructions! That white light… Daemon needs to be kept in it for two minutes and thirty seconds. The rest of you_ absolutely _cannot be there when the timer reaches zero, do you understand? If you don’t, you’ll be trapped on the other side!”_

“ _Mnemosyne is back?!”_ Henry’s voice was panicked and shocked as MegaGargomon pulled himself out of the building. Even if they managed to win this battle, at this rate the damage would be on par with the clean-up after Vikaralamon rampaged through the city. “ _How can we trust it! Do we have any guarantee this will work!”_

Rika had a sharp intake of breath, muttering something about playing Russian Roulette _again_ before Sakuyamon yelled out to the other Tamers who didn’t have the same benefits of being able to biomerge and having instructions essentially transmitted to their brain.

“New plan!” Sakuyamon Miko Mode hollered, backing up Beelzemon as he launched an assault on Daemon to drag his attention back away from the Champion and their healer. “We have little over two minutes to keep him in the light. We’re doing what the 02 kids did, so if you can help it, don’t get stuck in it at the end of the countdown! Otherwise we’ll be stuck with this bastard.”

“02 kids, what the hell does that mean?” Kazu demanded, looking through his cards, sweat dripping down his face. It was hard enough trying to keep up with this battle on his own, but he also was juggling helping Suzie and Kenta as well. Luckily, it seemed Ai was Rika’s prodigy and was doing quite well without his help.

“They sealed him in that season back in the Dark Ocean!” Mako exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. It was like his decision to binge watch the same episodes over and over again had paid off. “We’re sealing him!”

“All right,” Ai said, sliding a Targeting card through the D-arc. “Two minutes is a long time, but could be worse. Beelzemon!”

“I hear ya,” Beelzemon grinned, rolling his shoulders back and cracking his neck. He was exhausted, but even without Ai sliding a card or MarineAngemon giving him a pick-me-up he felt a new burst of energy came through his body. His eyes turned from red to green, and two black wings erupted from his back.

Two minutes, and his partners would be safe. Two minutes and this mess would be over.

He could do this. He _would_ do this.

“Loud-” he began to draw a magic circle with his blaster arm. “-and clear. _Corana Destroyer!”_

Destructive waves unleashed from the center of the circle, and not only managed to hit Daemon with deadly accuracy due to Ai’s earlier targeting card, but knock the Demon Lord off his feet.

The wave of power finished washing over Daemon as he struck the ground, but he was soon back up, his wings extending outward and levitating his body. Smoke curled from his cloak, but not so much as a single scorch mark marred him.

Takato flung himself at the Demon Lord without so much as a second thought, smashing the side of his lance across his skull, causing the metal to bend inward from the sheer force of the blow. Daemon staggered and Takato lashed out again, only for Daemon to catch it. His claws sunk into the damaged metal as his gaze, narrowed into slits, slid up to Gallantmon’s golden eyes.

_“Slash Nail!”_ he growled, striking out. Gallantmon had barely enough time to bring his shield to bear before Daemon’s claws tore through the shining metal. Attempting to dance back to escape further attacks, the Royal Knight grunted, realizing with looming horror that Daemon’s grasp around his weapon held him fast.

_Aw nuts…_ he thought as fire surged around the palm of Daemon’s hand as he raised it and took aim.

_“Evil Inferno!”_

He didn’t get a chance to complete his attack as MegaGargomon now joined the fray. The ground shook and then _shattered_ as the massive Mega landed, upsetting the balance of both knight and demon. His fists, joined together, came hurtling downward at breakneck speed, and Daemon made a last-minute change of targets. Fire streamed outward and washed over MegaGargomon’s hands, causing the metal to glow with a dull, red color as they slammed into Daemon’s outstretched palm.

The air _clapped_ thunderously from the sheer force of the blow, and the sphere of light trembled around them, as though threatening to break apart.

For the moment, however, it held.

“I am beginning to become _bored_ with you two,” Daemon growled, his arms straining against his two combatants. “Do you have any _other_ tricks left or is this all you have?”

_“Shield of the Just!”_

Bringing up his shield, energy swirled around it and he slammed it into Daemon’s face. Metal shrieked as Daemon staggered backward a few paces. Gasping in pain, Gallantmon nearly collapsed to his knees, his battered and torn shield hanging smoldering.

_“You know…if we’re boring you, maybe you should consider getting a new hobby,”_ Takato rasped, breathing heavily.

_“Yeah! We haven’t even_ begun _to bore you!”_ Terriermon shouted from MegaGargomon as he clutched his still glowing fists.

_“Will you two keep_ at _him!”_ Sakuyamon growled as she flew in, slashing her staff to the side and sending out a stream of fiery foxes at Daemon. The Demon Lord caught them with his fists and crushed them, growling angrily as they clawed and bit at his hands all the way, causing the hair at the junction where his robe began to catch alight, only to wink out a second later.

The first bit of actual, _serious_ damage they had done all battle so far.

_We’re running out of time,_ Takato thought as Beelzemon rained a stream of energy blasts from his arm cannon on the Demon Lord, who simply swatted them away, advancing again. With an exasperated sigh, MegaGargomon threw himself forward, crouching slightly forward as his jet engines drew up and fired, hoping to use his forward momentum and weight to crush down on their opponent and keep him from leaving the light.

The clock was running closer down to one minute and Daemon deftly flung MegaGargomon backward with a well-placed fireball, his jet engines the only thing keeping him from crushing Gallantmon behind him. Sakuyamon rained attack after attack alongside Beelzemon, trying desperately _just_ to slow him down or at the very least, buy some more time. Kazu stepped closer to the battlefield, his courage overcoming his common sense in his desire to back his partner up. Guardromon flew in, only for Daemon to snatch the android out of the air and slam him into Antylamon as she tried to tackle him from behind. Releasing them, they flew uncontrollably into Sakuyamon, the three colliding with a sickening _crunch._

_“Corona Destroyer!”_ Beelzemon boomed, unleashing his most powerful attack yet again, and this time the blast shook the light. With a startled squawk, Gallantmon leapt up into the air, joining his comrade’s attack with a lightning joust, causing a tremendous explosion. As the Royal Knight floated in midair, he took note of a murky water that was flooding the light. Whether this was more of the Dark Ocean seeping in through the barriers or from a burst water pipe from outside, Takato didn’t know. All he knew was that Daemon _again_ emerged from the smoke with not so much as a singe marring his cloak.

“Tch,” Sakuyamon grunted, pushing the android and rabbit deva off her, her head turning slightly to where the water was coming in. While some of it was the water main being broken, she could tell the Dark Ocean was beginning to seep back into the battlefield with her concentration momentarily broken.

‘ _Should we leave it? Holding the Dark Ocean has been taking too much of our power. Power which we could really use right now’_ Renamon asked her, as their hand moved upward all the same.

“ _We still have a little over a minute left, and I don’t feel like rolling the dice in having Gogglehead and Brainiac trying to kill each other again when we need them most_ ,” Rika retorted, Sakuyamon murmuring, “ _Kongoukai Mandara_ ” as the pink purifying aura once again chased away the darkness. “ _We’ll drop it at about the 15 second mark to hopefully give us enough time for all us to escape. If we have to drop it earlier, we will.”_

Casting his gaze at all his opponents, the Demon Lord snorted. “That’s enough now. As entertaining as this has been, I have business to attend to. Our game ends he…”

_“Gargo Missiles!”_

From his shoulder mounts, a pair of massive, giant missiles erupted from their housings. Recovering in the skies, Rika’s eyes shot open in horror. Henry had unleashed his most powerful attack; an attack that would most _certainly_ devastate the city beyond anything they had done so far, but it seemed desperate times had now called for desperate measures. Daemon, seeing this, laughed and raised his hands. There was another burst of hellfire, and they clove through the two missiles before their firing mechanisms could activate, shattering them into innumerable shards of data.

_No way…_ Henry gaped, feeling his heart fall into his stomach.

_None_ of their best attacks were hurting him, even in spite of Sakuyamon’s new mode change. Even in spite of MarineAngemon revitalizing them. Daemon seemed to have _limitless_ stamina!

And now… _now_ they were at the end of their rope.

Raising his arms skyward, Daemon summoned a tremendous column of flame.

“I must thank you Digidestined for the entertainment,” he laughed, “if it had been worth anything. But now it’s time to end this _farce_ of a battle and wash this city _clean_ of the human infestation. I _will_ have my prize and _none_ of you can stop me!”

_“It…looks like we’re out of options,”_ Terriermon remarked, despair plainly evident in his voice. A quick look at the clock showed why. They were down to their last minute and instead of keeping him in the light, he was about to break loose.

Gallantmon glared back defiantly, his golden eyes blazing.

“No… We’re _going_ to stop you! We’re _not_ going to let you win!”

A fire awoke inside the Royal Knight; a fire that he hadn’t felt in a long, _long_ time. It surged through his body like a sudden gust of wind and it pushed at him, _demanding_ that they not surrender because the odds were against them. They found a way to defeat the D-Reaper, and they would find a way to defeat Daemon.

_We even have it right there in front of us. We just need to keep him inside it._

Takato glanced at the clock sitting in the periphery of his data sphere. They were at less than a minute.

He knew what he – possibly _all_ of them would have to do to defeat Daemon.

_“Guilmon?”_

_“Yeah…”_ Takato heard his partner say from the void surrounding him. _“We can do it! I’m with you all the way!”_

_“All right! Let’s get this guy boy!”_

Gallantmon leapt forth again, the fire beginning to manifest around his body and expand outward, wavering before finally starting to solidify. The crimson highlights of his armor began to creep out along the white like an ever-expanding wave, and the Hazard sign emblazoned upon his chest began to alter and reform. As white wings began to emerge from his back, Takato heard the ghost of an old memory whisper to him from the darkness surrounding his data sphere.

_“Do you want to fly, Gallantmon?”_

_“Grani…”_

Crimson light exploded from around his body, flooding Mnemosyne’s seal with its intensity.

Daemon’s pillar of fire evaporated, blown out like a candle by the sheer force of power erupting from the Crimson Knight. Whipping about in surprise, the Demon Lord saw Gallantmon, angelic wings glowing behind him and a double-bladed spear in one hand surrounded by a ring-guard, and a straight sword in the other. He had only just enough time to register this unexpected change before Gallantmon Crimson Mode slammed into him, thrusting with his spear and sword as one.

The Demon Lord caught the two blades with his hands, causing a thunder clap to explode upon the air. Their edges bit into his tough skin, causing digital blood to fall to the ground, but he held them rigid, preventing them from advancing further toward him. However, Gallantmon strove forward all the same, and for a wonder, after several, tense seconds, managed to inch the blades along Daemon’s hands. The Demon Lord bit his lips beneath his hood, hissing as his flesh parted beneath their sting. The air sparked and fire burst from the strain of the two pushing against each other until, finally, roughly forty seconds remaining on the clock, Daemon rallied and ground to the blades again to a halt, stalemating the two.

“Amusing,” Daemon rasped as Gallantmon pushed and strained his blades, sinking them further and deeper into the Demon Lord’s skin. “I must admit, I am impressed.”

His arms were straining. He _was_ impressed, for he dared not let go or try to retreat. This… _Crimson Mode_ of the Gallantmon had sufficient power to actually be a danger to him if he backed down so much as an inch.

A plan… He needed a plan.

“You’re going _down!”_ Gallantmon growled, the light from his weapons and wings increasing in intensity. “Even if I have to go down with you, you’re going _back_ to where you came from!”

As if suiting words to action, the Hazard sealed within the orb on his chest began to glow, and Daemon found himself retreating another foot before bringing them both to a halt again.

“Such melodrama,” Daemon replied, laughing through grated teeth from the pain of the knight’s weapons. “And ultimately futile.”

Fire flowed from his hands and sunk into Gallantmon’s weapons, merging with their light and creeping toward the knight’s hands. Smoke curled into the air and Takato clenched his teeth shut to keep from crying out. He knew what Daemon was trying to do and he clamped down on his weapons all the more tightly, refusing to let them go even if his hands melted.

The figures of MegaGargomon and Sakuyamon suddenly loomed into view.

_“What have I told you about fighting without us?”_ Rika’s voice said from Sakuyamon before they too, joined the struggle. Bum rushing the still immobilized Daemon, she spun her _Kongou Shakujou_ around and jammed its end into his exposed eye, grinding the end into the socket and causing the Demon Lord to roar with rage, claws tightening on the blades, causing them to bite ever deeper, digital blood burning black along their lengths. Fire began to spray out in all directions from his body, and just then MegaGargomon came up and clamped his hands down on Daemon’s waste, further cementing him in place and holding the fire inward, causing his hands to begin to heat up as well. Just like Takato however, he _refused_ to let go.

_“Not_ futile,” MegaGargomon said. “We’re bringing you down, one way or the other!”

Daemon struggled against his opponents, the intensity of his fire only growing. Takato felt his mind starting to go dark, attempting to blot out the pain, but through sheer force of effort he willed himself to stay awake and inched his spear and sword still ever closer, their tips trembling scant inches away from Daemon’s chest.

_“We’re going to be with him when he goes back…”_ he said aloud, more to himself than to anyone else. He hated that. He hated the idea of _any_ of them going there…especially Rika, who had already gone there once.

He wanted desperately to tell them to get out of here so that the world wouldn’t lose so many of them, but the pain was causing his throat to start to seize up, and his vision kept blanking in and out of darkness. All rational thought was rapidly being destroyed and it was taking everything he could _just_ to keep from losing it then and there.

So he screamed. He poured every fiber of his being into his attacks, pressing against Daemon as his hellfire began to eat through the joints in MegaGargomon’s fingers, Henry’s own cries intermingling with that of Takato’s.

MarineAngemon was there suddenly, pouring healing heart bubbles onto their wounds, trying to soothe their pain, but Daemon’s power stepped up even further, and MarineAngemon looked over at Sakuyamon, a pained look on his face as his power began to flag, barely keeping up.

_“Puh! Puhpuh_ puh!!!” he pleaded in the language only Kenta could understand.

“Sakuyamon, help MarineAngemon!” Kenta yelled, having to get closer to the fight in order to hear what his partner was yelling. He could tell Sakuyamon had _no_ idea what he was saying - only Guardromon and himself could. Even though it was dangerous being this close, and time ticking shorter, he couldn’t leave this circle. Not until everyone else did.

“...Got it,” Sakuyamon said, holding out her hand as sakura petals began to surround her before lifting up in the air and moving over to MarineAngemon, circling closer before entering the tiny Mega’s body. “Hopefully you use it better than Justimon.”

MarineAngemon giggled happily as power coursed through his body and then proceeded to blow more of his healing hearts onto the Megas. Armor repaired and MegaGargomon’s grip became vice-like once more, clamping down _hard_ around Daemon, who grunted with pain.

He looked up just in time to see a berenjena shotgun pointing at his face.

“You’re going nowhere but down, just like Pineapple Head said,” Beelzemon growled before unleashing the thunder at point blank range. Daemon’s head whipped back, and continued to do so as Beelzemon fired round after round into the Demon Lord, striving to make sure that he didn’t get so much as a chance to recover. His grip loosening around Gallantmon’s blades, the knight took full advantage of this and drove forward, their superheated edges ripping through Daemon’s hands and skewering into his chest.

Victory!

Or…so they thought for half a second before fire erupted from Daemon’s body in one massive burst, causing Gallantmon’s sword and spear to shatter into shards of data while fire ripped through MegaGargomon’s hands again, and this time there was _no_ holding on. Grabbing hold of Beelzemon’s shotgun with bloody hands, he poured fire into the barrel and it exploded. Daemon laughed through the pain as Beelzemon fell back, clutching at his injured limb.

“I won’t go down so quietly,” Daemon seethed as his cloak burned away, his body expanding and revealing his hidden form in all of its horrific splendor. Blood red fur, matted by his injuries, and scores of tattooed pentagrams decorated his body, and his maw, gaping and fanged, bled freely as he raised his ruined, clawed hands. Fire licked at his claws as he prepared another attack.

_Damn it…_ Takato clenched his hands together and suddenly gave a powerful, almost inhuman roar, crimson light burning within his wings to match Daemon, and he threw himself again at the Demon Lord, punching through his fireball and smashing his armored fist into Daemon’s jaw. Blood flew free from his mouth, but the demon simply laughed, grabbing Gallantmon by the throat and squeezing with enough force to crush the armor around his throat. Takato gagged and then…

_“Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!”_

A shell of data shattered, revealing a tall, lithe cyborg creature with silver armor, long limbs with some pale, almost corpse-like flesh intermingling with the wires and cybernetics that composed its mechanical body. This was the form Kazu’s partner had when they first met, and now, at long last, he returned to it.

Andromon threw himself into the battle alongside Antylamon, whose hands once again had morphed into axes, one hand spinning rapidly, forming a drill-like blade, crackling with electricity. They slammed their attacks into Daemon’s arm and with a cry, Daemon found his arm shorn free from his shoulder, bleeding data and blood profusely now. Looking up, he saw Kazu and Suzie, both glaring venomously at the Demon Lord.

_“That_ is what we call _sweet revenge!”_ Kazu gloated as Suzie slashed another card. It was a card she hadn’t dared use before, but seeing her knight and brother hurt so badly…

Though she wept tears, she had _no_ words for the fire that raged inside her at the moment.

_“Digi-modify! Omnimon’s Omni Cannon activate!”_

An armored, wolf-shaped head materialized around Antyalmon’s arm and with a strained grunt, she took aim, a cannon erupting from its maw. Pure azure light began to glow at the tip. Seeing this, Ai’s eyes went wide with horror, recognizing the card and the sheer power it held. No more so than her brother, Mako, who knew the show from whence it came.

“Oh… _Fuck!”_

“Where the-” Sakuyamon yelped in shock, noticing the cannon as well, a delirious, ‘ _Where did she get_ that _card from?_ ’ running through her mind before jumping out of the range before it could fire, having no intention of being an accidental victim of it’s sheer power. “HOLY SHIT!”

Antyalmon struggled to aim, sweat crawling down her face before she finally mouthed the words that would end the battle.

_“Omni Cannon…”_

**###**

Jeri struggled against Himiko’s grasp, but in spite of her best efforts, the older woman was too experienced and too strong for her to break free from. Not that it stopped her from trying however in spite of the tears that blinded her vision.

“Jeri… Stop squirming! That awful Himiko lady is just trying to keep you safe!” Calumon pleaded.

“But I _can’t_ just stand by!” Jeri sobbed. “I’ve _got_ to do _something!”_

“What the hell are you going to do!” Himiko yelled, deciding to ignore Calumon’s rather rude remark. It wasn’t like she couldn’t understand Jeri’s sentiment though. Between Rika’s command and Riley’s text, she had a rather full view of the current situation.

Honestly, it made her sick to her stomach. This was the very thing she wanted to avoid. This fight. This pain. She didn’t want Rika or any of these children to carry this burden anymore, but nothing she did protected the obnoxious trouble child she grew to care for in such a short period of time.

She had always loved Rika - she was family, even if the rest of the Hata family ignored it - and taking on the responsibility of protecting the young woman filled her life with a sense of actual _purpose_ . She wasn’t just doing this to make the Hata family proud and look good; she was doing it because she _wanted_ to.

Yet now, once again, Rika and the rest of the Tamers had to fight a battle they shouldn’t have to fight. If she could go in there and sacrifice herself, knowing that would make a difference, she would do so in a heartbeat. Yet-

“You think I want to be sitting out here too? Newsflash, I don’t!” she continued, her voice cracking. “You’re useless, just like me. You have no partner. You have nothing you can offer to the current situation.”

That’s when the cannon blasted, everyone in the circle - not just Daemon - beginning to evaporate in shards of light as the clock struck zero. However, Ai turned and pushed Mako out of the circle, the twins standing closest to the edge of the circle, causing the boy to tumble on the harsh and unforgiving pavement.

And in that moment, Kazu’s eyes caught Jeri’s, his dark blue eyes tearing up, but he smiled anyway, his mouth moving, but it was hard to hear what he said over the deafening noise, but with the jaunty wave of his hand, the meaning was clear.

_Good bye._

Just like that, the orb of light vanished, taking all inside with it to the other side, leaving Jeri standing there in complete and utter shock, her lips trembling. After one, agonizingly long moment she found her voice, and it came out first with a stutter, tattering before rising in volume.

The dam broke, and Jeri screamed in horror and pain in the sudden peace of Shinjuku. She screamed despite Himiko trying to soothe her. She screamed her throat raw, and when she could scream no more, she fell into a merciful, sleeping blackness.


	55. Hope Lost

Himiko never really thought she was out of shape - not really. However, carrying Jeri back inside as she could hear the screaming sirens of the fire departments starting to come over now that the giant monsters were gone from the TV, Calumon and Mako hot on her heels, did she remember part of the reason she stopped smoking in the first place.

Breathing was  _ hard _ .

Still, she didn’t drop Jeri, and managed to field questions from a panicked Mako - “ _ Where’s my sister?!”  _ \- finally managing to get inside, Calumon floating out to the control room where she could see:

_ 0:00 _

_ Program Launched _

In mocking, green letters.

“Open the fucking firewall back up right now,” she gasped, setting the girl down on the first chair she could find, telling Calumon to watch over her and Mako to stay put. To be honest, she wasn’t sure how much either of those two would listen, but at this point in time she didn’t care. All she cared about was going back and getting her pain-in-the-ass cousin out of the Dark Ocean.

Again.

Her lips pressed together into one thin line, giving her the appearance that a scar ran along her face, Riley turned toward Himiko.

“I’m sorry,” she said to the former head of Hypnos, “but we can’t do that. The program is already in place and operating and…”

She indicated the screens surrounding them before saying the only thing that meant anything anymore.

“…Mnemosyne.”

Himiko turned and glared at the screen, her hands shaking, fingernails biting into her skin. Calumon, who was trying to wake up Jeri, and Mako, who stood shell-shocked in a room full of adults suddenly very aware how over his head he was looked to the computer screen as well.

Both heard about Mnemosyne, of course, but the way the older kids talked about it, both expected something else besides a computer screen.

_ What does it take to kill this fucker?!  _ Was all that was going through Himiko’s mind. Yes, Mnemosyne may have become their ally for this battle for whatever reason, but at what cost? Rika? The rest of those kids? How the hell was she supposed to explain to Rumi and Aunt Seiko that Rika was back in that place  _ again _ that almost killed her, now with a fucking demon that was going to make sure the job was finished this time?!

“Give. Her. Back,” Himiko snarled. “Give all those kids back!”

“... I can’t do that,” Mnemosyne’s voice echoed through the faculty after a moment. Himiko, in her bias, heard gloating, but in truth there was none. “The path is closed and nothing in this universe can open it.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” Himiko yelled, hot tears of frustration starting to leak out. Just like Rika - like the Hata family in general bar Rumiko it seemed - she didn’t cry. Didn’t show weakness. But there was only so much anyone can take.

“I  _ told _ you to make sure the children weren’t in the light when the timer reached zero … and they didn’t come back in the minute time I also put in there to allow for this possibility as the program was finishing up - it’s  _ not _ my fault what happened to them,” Mnemosyne snapped in return. “Despite your hubris,  _ I _ did everything I could to fix  _ your _ mess.”

“My mess?! The reason we’re in this situation in the first place is because you came in and decided to meddle in our affairs!” Himiko screamed.

_ “Himiko!” _ Riley snapped, starting toward her and grabbing hold of the woman by the arm, yanking her back before continuing in a lower voice. “That’s enough. I understand how you feel, but you need to calm down!”

She wasn’t sure what more could be done, short of hauling the woman out of the room by force if she refused to cooperate. She looked over her shoulder worriedly at the monitors. How could she get her to understand that Mnemosyne held all the cards at the moment? They didn’t  _ dare _ oppose it so openly. Not yet.

Her gaze fell on Janyu, who returned it levelly. They had had this ‘conversation’ earlier, and it had taken Yamaki to get him to step back. But she could see the anger still in there…smoldering in his fists as they trembled. Waiting for the opportunity to roar to life.

Himiko looked at Riley, trying to bite back her tears. She wasn’t so weak to break down and cry at work, though her voice certainly hinted at it. “Rika’s gone. Again. So is all those other kids, except for those two,” she jerked her head back to the two children before looking at Riley. “We’re supposed to be  _ adults _ . We’re supposed to be the ones protecting  _ them _ not the other way around. Yet nothing worked and now we’re being told they’re gone forever!”

Her shoulders slumped after a second as the full weight of the situation weighed down on her shoulders.

Gone forever. Perhaps once upon a time such words would have met with an indifferent shrug and consolation toward her aunt and cousin, but after months of getting invested in the little delinquent's life made Himiko care about Rika more than the fact she was just “family.”

“Excuse me … I … need to smoke.”

Riley nodded and released her grip on Himiko. “We’ll talk later,” she nodded. “Get yourself together first.”

As Himiko proceeded to leave the control room, her walk stiff and her shoulders slumped in defeat, Yamaki, who had stood off to the side, turned his attention up at the monitors.

“So what happens now?” he asked, flicking his lighter open. “Are you going to wipe all of our memories again?”

“A lower priority at the moment. You’ll know it if I do. Or won’t,” Mnemosyne said after a moment. “Have fun cleaning up all that property damage. I have other things to take care of.”

With that the screens returned to normal as if they were never hacked in the first place, and the AI who named itself after a God was gone.

A second later, Janyu’s cell phone smashed one of the screens as he hurled it with a cry. All eyes fell on him, his shoulders heaving; his entire body trembling with rage.

“My… _ son…  _ My  _ daughter!” _ he rasped angrily. “We should have deleted that monster when we unleashed the hazard!”

“Janyu…” Riley began carefully, but the man slammed his fists on his computer console.

_ “No!” _ he shouted. “I want to find my  _ son and daughter! _ I  _ will  _ not…”

“That’s enough.”

Yamaki’s words cut across their argument with surprising thunder for all the quiet his tone had. Surveying the group, he adjusted his glasses. “We’re not getting anywhere debating about this. Janyu, we talked about this. We  _ will  _ find your children, but we need to see to ourselves first, otherwise there will be  _ no _ finding them or the others. Remember, they have their digimon.”

“Yamaki…”

“Janyu, if you continue like this, your access to our systems and our resources will be revoked,” interrupted Riley sternly. “As much as we sympathize, we do  _ not  _ have the luxury right now to do this without being able to protect ourselves! We are  _ vulnerable  _ to Mnemosyne! Do you understand that?!”

Janyu met her gaze levelly at first before looking away, his face one gnarled knot of anger. He didn’t answer, but she took his silence as an answer to her question.

Yamaki flicked his lighter closed before turning to Riley. “Disconnect all devices from this room. Everything.”

Above, Tally and Yuki scrambled while Riley frowned.

“Are we sure that’s going to do anything?” she asked. “So far, Mnemosyne has shown considerable ability with listening in on our conversations regardless of anything we do.”

“That’s why we’re disconnecting  _ everything,” _ Yamaki said. “Including the power.”

At that, the lights in the room winked out of existence, and a second later, the dim light of Yamaki’s flame sprang into view, pushing the darkness back a short way.

“Consider this a  _ Prometheus  _ meeting,” Yamaki said. “Since Mnemosyne is in the business of naming itself after a Greek goddess, than this,” he indicated the small fire of his lighter, “will be our answer to it.”

“Very low tech,” Janyu said from the shadows, his voice heavy and dark as the light of cell phones being turned off vanished into shadow. Hurrying, Riley did the same.

“We need a plan to bounce back from this,” Yamaki said. “Mnemosyne  _ will  _ attempt to erase our memories again. We need to take advantage of the time given to us while it still considers doing so a low priority. I’m assuming that no one wants to give up just because the Tamers are gone?”

“What do you mean ‘gone?’” Mako’s voice rang out in the room, cracking slightly. “Are you saying Ai and the rest aren’t coming back? That you can’t  _ bring _ them back?”

Riley turned toward the young boy. Approaching him, she knelt down so they were more level.

“Right now, we don’t know  _ how _ we can get them back. Mnemosyne used our program to restore the barriers between the worlds, and that prevents us from doing a great deal. We don’t even have an idea where the Dark Ocean  _ is _ with regards to the digital world, so for now the most we can do is focus on the short term; find a way to keep Mnemosyne from doing what it’s been doing so we can find everyone and bring them back.” She tilted her head to one side, looking at the boy sympathetically. “Do you understand that?”

“But the Dark Ocean … it’s part of the Digital World. Kind of,” Mako choked out before rubbing his eyes. “It’s … it’s terrible there. I’ve seen the show. And … and they’re there with Daemon. How … how long will we even have … before …” Tears began to well up in his eyes. “Before …”

However, he couldn’t finish his sentence and he broke down crying.

_ Before they are dead _ wasn’t something he could say out loud. They couldn’t beat Daemon here. There was no chance on his home turf. Not with how badly injured they were. Ai was going to die. Impmon was going to die.  _ Everyone  _ was going to die.

Yet here he was. Safe. Because of his sister.

Reaching out, Riley folded her arms around the boy and pulled him into a tight hug. It wasn’t professional, but she felt that he needed to be comforted right now.  _ Something _ needed to be done to drive away the darkness in his heart, even if it was a small act.

“We’ll do the best we can,” she said softly, threading a hand through his hair, rocking his shuddering body against her. “I promise you that we won’t stop looking for them, and we’ll do everything within our power to bring them home.”

_ It may not be much, but it’s all we can do right now. _

**###**

Ryo poked his head in the infirmary bay where he heard the Tamers were being kept. He still didn’t know what was going on, but he heard bits and pieces as he snuck over to check on the other kids. Even though he still didn’t have all his memories - or most, really - back, he still felt like they were friends.

Yet when he slipped in the room, all he saw was a younger boy who he didn’t really recognize and Jeri Katou, Calumon sitting on her lap trying desperately to get her attention, just finishing a rather impression backflip. Yet those amber eyes seemed to be devoid of life.

“...Where’s the others?” he asked, closing the door behind him, looking around.

“Gone,” came the dull, listless reply from Jeri, not even looking at the boy. “They’re all gone.”

“Calu…” Calumon slumped, recognizing this from when Jeri was in the D-Reaper. This expression. This tone of voice. He looked at Ryo sadly before scampering over to Jeri and climbing up on her lap.

“What do you mean … gone?” Ryo asked, his throat constricting.

“We … were fighting Daemon. Mnemosyne … it made this light. We … weren’t supposed to be in it after a couple of minutes or whatever. It was hard to keep track of the time. Everything was happening so quickly,” Mako said, looking up at Ryo, his eyes red from crying. He had some bandages on his forehead, and Jeri likewise on her hands. For the most part though both of them seemed fine all things considering. “But the clock struck zero. Ai pushed me out … but everyone else … they’re stuck in the Dark Ocean. With … with that monster.”

He looked down and continued softly.

“... The grown-ups are putting dealing with Mnemosyne before finding my sister and the others even though we were losing so badly,” he choked out as hot, angry tears came out again.

At that, Jeri’s eyes widened and she turned toward Mako.

“They…w-what?” she stammered out, life of a sort returning to her gaze, but frantic and erratic. “They…They  _ can’t! _ They have to find them! They have to find them  _ now!” _

She attempted to struggle up from the bed, but her reflexes were no less in a state of shock as her emotions that were only just now starting to awaken with all the fury of a firestorm. The two, not cooperating well, caused her to collapse to her knees as she swung herself off the bed.

“Ouch…” she winced, her knees bumping against the hard floor.

Ryo rushed to her side and helped her up back on the bed.

“Hey, careful,” he said worriedly.

“Of course they have to find them now, but all they care about is their fucking memories over everyone else’s lives!” Mako yelled, burrowing his head in his knees. “It’s all because Mnemosyne said there was no way in this universe to get there. Which is bullshit! It has to be! If it can create a wall, it can get them out!”

There was an uncomfortable clenching in Ryo’s chest at that.

_ This … universe… _

Ryo had a feeling for a bit there might be more than one universe out there - especially with that vivid memory of reliving Kazu’s death which never seemed to ever quite go away - but the way Mako said  _ this _ made him uneasy. Like there was a clue there. Something important that he wasn’t forgetting, as much of a surprise  _ that _ was.

“Rika came back! Calu! Calumon is sure everyone can find their way back just like before!” Calumon said, floating up next to Jeri and hugging her arm. “So … don’t cry.”

“You saw what happened though,” Jeri replied, her voice cracking as tears spilled down her cheeks. “You heard it too. Rika…Rika had a chance to escape from that place. Everyone… They don’t have that chance anymore. Mnemosyne…it took that away from them!”

Pressing her hands against her eyes, Jeri’s shoulders shook as she began to sob, all of her pent-up emotions running out of her in one mad rush. She no longer cared about controlling them or working through them. It was just too much for her now. Just…too… _ much. _

“We don’t know that,” Ryo said forcefully. “We can’t just give up!”

“Of course not! But what can we do? We’re a bunch of kids, and everything has been shut down to spite Mnemosyne,” Mako snapped. “Unless you are good at computers or know some way into the Digital World, there’s not much we can do!”

Mako took a shuddering breath.

“They’re … going to die … aren’t they? There is no way we can get to them in time. That’s why you pushed me out Ai, isn’t it? Ai you should have been the one to be here though … if it was you … I’m sure you could have rescued me...”

“I can’t stay here,” Jeri said, looking up from where she sat. “I shouldn’t even be here. I’m not a Tamer. I can’t… I can’t do anything but get in the way…”

She got up from the bed again, her whole body trembling. Her hand flailed about before grasping hold of Ryo’s shoulder, and she nearly fell against him. With an effort, she steadied herself.

“Got to… I’ve got to get out of here… I’m only…in the way.”

“You’re not in the way,” Ryo insisted, pushing Jeri back onto the bed.

“He’s right, Calu,” Calumon insisted. “You’re needed! You keep everyone’s spirits up! Everyone loves you and your smile!”

The In-Training didn’t know what to say. Last time she was like this, the D-Reaper was making everything worse with whatever it did to Jeri. When she wasn’t awake, staring vacantly forward, she was crying in her sleep. She even tried to kill herself a couple of times. Calumon never said anything, but he knew.

And he recognized her going down that road again.

Jeri’s expression fell, becoming dim and flat, though her tears still stained her cheeks.

“If I’m not in the way,” she said, her tone empty, “then why couldn’t I keep everyone from fighting each other? Why couldn’t I save them?”

Lifting a hand, she pointed it to her face.

“Why were my smiles so…worthless?”

With that, she dropped her hand into her lap and she turned away.

“They’re all gone. My smiles meant nothing.”

Calumon was unsure how to answer it and looked to Mako and Ryo for help. However, Mako was buried in his own despair and Ryo had no idea how to deal with this. He wasn’t equipped to. He was just a kid. A kid who couldn’t remember anything. A kid who at some point betrayed everyone.

“Let’s be real,” Mako said. “We’re  _ all _ in the way.”

“ _ Do you wish to save your friends, Ryo?” _

“What?” Ryo asked, startled.

“I said we’re  _ all _ in the way!” Mako snapped, glaring at the older boy.

“No, not-”

“ _ I can save them Ryo. They don’t have a lot of time though. I don’t know how much longer they’ll last.” _

“Did … did anybody hear that?” Ryo asked tentatively, looking around the room. He heard the voice once before, calling to him. Or was it more? Something about it felt familiar, yet why was his heart clenching in fear?

“Hear what?” Calumon asked curiously, not completely aware a subject change had been brought up but smart enough to take it all the same.

“There’s nothing to hear anymore,” Jeri replied, getting up from her bed again and brushing past Ryo. “Just the ghosts of the dead.”

“ _ Do you want me to save them Ryo? Tick. Tock.” _

**###**

Mako always wanted his own room. Everything he had, it was shared with Ai. He had nothing which was  _ his _ , not really. Even his clothes Ai would borrow on occasion, as if to remind him that what was his was hers as well. And for that, he resented her.

But he tried so hard to get along with her. To not fight. They were twins, right? Wasn’t sharing everything how it went? Same birthday. Same DNA. Same Digimon. Same … everything.

“ _ Mako, where’s Ai?” _

Yet now, there was nothing to share. Nobody to share it with. Lying on his bed - just the word,  _ his _ made his heart ache - staring over to where Ai was supposed to sleep, but she would come in and sleep in this bed when she had nightmares or was upset. Which was more often than she let on.

He never told anyone though. Though he thought about telling Akira, whenever Ai was mean to him. Let that little dirty secret out that she wasn’t as cool as she always was pretending to be. He had so much more dirt on her than she on him, but he never told a soul. After all, as their parents always reminded them, when they grew old, all they would have was each other. And Mako didn’t want to lose his twin out of some petty revenge, because he knew more than anyone how long Ai could hold a grudge for.

“ _ Where is Ai, Mako! This isn’t funny!” _

Yet it seemed putting up with her abuse was for naught. Because she was gone. Gone with everyone else, and probably dead in a ditch somewhere.

“Ai…” he choked out, grasping the pillow and burying his face in it, once again hot tears staining his face. In the other room he could hear Hypnos agents trying desperately to explain to their parents where their daughter was. He wondered if mom and dad was disappointed in him. That he was the one here, instead of Ai. After all, his twin sister could achieve whatever she put her mind to. She never brought dishonor to the family.

_ It should have been me. Ai, why did you save me? _

Nobody answered.

Nobody would again.

**###**

_ “There’s nothing to hear anymore. Just the ghosts of the dead.” _

Those words ran through her mind like an echo, but she barely paid them any heed. Jeri clenched her eyes shut as she lay on her bed. Her hair in utter disarray and she hadn’t bothered to change out of her dust-covered clothes since arriving home, something that gave her family a nasty surprise, who had become afraid that she got caught up in the fight near the Shinjuku Government building. Jeri didn’t elaborate; simply wanting to be left alone. To sleep.

To dream.

_ I don’t want to dream, _ she thought, knowing what her mind held in store for her as soon as she closed her eyes. She cast her amber gaze along the length of her arm, finding the scars that ran along its length. She remembered how easy it had been back then…and how terrifyingly hard as well…to make them. She curled her fingers into her palm, and hot tears sprang forth anew, wetting her face as they flowed down her cheeks and onto her pillow.

_ Why… Why does this keep happening? Every time we start to find a way to win and be friends again, everything falls apart. _

She could feel Calumon’s eyes on her, but she ignored him, just as she ignored everyone. She no longer wanted to talk. An irony, she knew, since talking was what she kept telling everyone they needed to do, but…what  _ good _ had it done?

Nothing.

It did  _ nothing _ for her friends. By the time they came together again, it was far too late. Even if they somehow managed to survive the Dark Ocean, they could never be friends again.

_ They abandoned each other… They tried to kill one another… And now they are all dead. Ring around the rosie, pockets full of posies. Ashes. Ashes. We all fall down. _

Jeri choked out a quiet sob as she curled into a fetal position, clutching at her stomach. It hurt from all the crying she did, and it  _ wasn’t _ getting any better.

“Jeri?”

Masahiko poked his nose in as he slipped inside. His call was the first noise for a long while, Calumon needing to take a break from trying to capture Jeri’s attention. The In-training was hungry, but he was afraid if he left her alone, he might not come back to her, well, whole.

Seeing his sister curled up in bed, he rushed to her side. Mom and dad gave him the brief explanation of what happened, to the best of their knowledge, and he, of course, had been watching with Akira with horrified eyes on television.

“Jeri, are you OK?” he asked, wrapping his arms around his half-sister in a hug.

“Nothing’s all right,” Jeri murmured, not responding to her half-brother’s hug. “Everyone’s gone. Daemon’s killed them by now.”

The tears continued to flow down her face, and she turned her head over, smearing them over the sheets of her bed.

“They’re all  _ dead!”  _ she cried, her heart clenching suddenly in pain, and once again her voice dissolved into broken sobs. She was beyond caring how she looked or how her words sounded. She was upset. She hurt everywhere. Everyone she cared about… Everyone she  _ loved… _ They were all gone.

All dead. For it was certain that they could not have survived both Daemon  _ and _ the Dark Ocean.

“You … don’t know that for sure,” Masahiko said softly, trying to wiggle his way into Jeri’s bed to hug her easier. To cuddle with her. He didn’t know what else he could do. Still, he wasn’t sure how convincing he could sound. Just from seeing it on TV, things looked … bad.

“I  _ do! _ I know it’s true,” Jeri cried, clutching at her bedsheets. “There’s nothing they could do now! Daemon… He was so powerful. Takato and Rika even  _ mode-changed _ and they couldn’t do anything to him! And now they’re trapped on the other side with him!”

With a sudden, angry roar, she pulled away from Masahiko and yanked on her bedsheets, the bed rocking violently as she attempted to tear them off.

_ “They’re on the other side with him!” _ she screamed.  _ “They’re in the Dark Ocean and Hypnos can’t do anything to bring them back!” _

There was a sudden, loud  _ rip _ as the bedsheet tore open, and Jeri’s shoulders sagged, her breathing heavy and loud.

“If they aren’t dead now… They will be,” she whispered, sniffing loudly.

“I …”

Masahiko didn’t know how to respond to that. What to say. He couldn’t imagine the pain his sister was going through. Yes, he was friends with everyone, and it  _ hurt _ seeing the fight. It wasn’t the same though, and he knew that. Any words of encouragement would just fall on deaf ears. They would be lies.

“...I love you, Jeri,” was all that he could choke out in the end.

Jeri turned her gaze to her younger brother, her eyes full of pain and tears. After a moment, she took him into her arms and buried her face into his shoulder.

She could only cry. There was nothing she could say or do. Nothing could make her feel better.

The world –  _ her  _ world…had ended. All that was left was her.

**###**

Jeri lay on the bed, the light of the moon filtering in through her bedroom window, having long since cried her eyes out, leaving them sore and dry and puffy. Above her was Masahiko, resting soundly, or as well as he could, considering his concern for her. Over on her nightstand, head dipped down onto his chest, was Calumon, his snores quiet and tiny, just like him. Rolling over onto her side, her throat hitched, trying to call up more tears, but none came. The well was empty.

_ I’m not doing anything except crying,  _ she thought bitterly. _ Just like last time, when Rika first disappeared into the Dark Ocean. _

She clenched her eyes shut against the light of the full moon, trying to block it out. She wished this were all a bad dream, and that when she opened her eyes, her friends would still be here, in the real world where they belonged.

Dimly, through light that shone through her eyelids, she saw something. The faint shadow of movement. Masahiko perhaps, though she didn’t care. At least, not until a heavy weight settled onto her bed. Hands, clumsy and unfeeling, rolled her onto her back and someone’s leg swung over her waist, pinning her to the mattress.

Her eyes shooting open, she saw Rika, straddling her, with Kazu crawling up behind her. They were both smiling at her.

Smiling… A part of her realized there was something wrong about the way they smiled. Something empty, yet for the moment, she ignored that feeling, so surprised and happy to see them again that she started to rise up, only to be stopped by the firm hands on her shoulders. Looking up, she saw a face shrouded by shadow, but the mop of brown hair she recognized easily enough.

“Takato…” she whispered before looking at the other two. “Rika? Kazu? You’re…You’re alive…”

Alive, though disheveled if the condition of their hair was any indication. They looked a bit roughed up. Kazu had a big, long gash running along his forehead that looked like it needed seeing to. Yet it didn’t appear to bother him in the least, and he continued to smile at her in that same, unsettling smile as Rika.

“We came because you called,” Rika replied. “Because this is where we belong. With you.”

Jeri opened up her mouth to reply, but something about the way the redhead spoke drew her up short. What was more, she heard a faint, wet,  _ squelching  _ sound coming from her, and looking down Jeri found herself grow rigid, her stomach writhing as her heart screamed in horror.

There, where Rika’s abdomen should have been, was a great, meaty hole, revealing a bone-white spinal column running up into the tattered remains of her shirt. Behind it, she saw Kazu, an arm missing.

“We missed you,” Kazu said chillingly, and for the first time did Jeri realize how cold Takato’s hands were. So were Rika’s, as they reached out to join his on her shoulder, holding her down.

“All of us missed you,” Rika whispered in a voice that was trying to be coy, but came out… _ dead. _

There was a click from above and Takato’s face came into view, revealing a bloody, shorn off mess of shattered bone, ripped flesh, and a grinning, mocking smile of his bare jaw and teeth.

_ “All dead… All rotten…”  _ Jeri thought, remembering a line from some movie, and as if on some signal, the three dead Tamers all moved in…for the kiss of death.

Jeri screamed as cold lips and bone met her flesh, and the dream was shattered, leaving the girl shooting up, throwing off her blankets and looking around her, panting heavily.

That’s when she realized something else was screaming. On her desk, where she left it along with her dirty clothes, was her D-arc. Beeping. Flashing urgently. Calumon was on her desk, holding it in his tiny little paws, Masahiko groaning muttering something about how it had to be too early for this.

“It … wants your attention,” Calumon said, holding the D-arc out to her like a peace offering.

Grabbing it out of Calumon’s hand, she looked at it. The holographic compass materialized above the screen, swinging wildly until it finally found a direction. A direction that meant only one thing.

_ A bio-emergence. _

Of all the times.

_ I can’t do anything, _ she thought miserably.  _ I don’t have a partner who can fight. Leomon’s dead. There’s just…me. _

Yet… And  _ yet…  _ A thought came to mind. A terrible thought.

_ Maybe… Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be. Maybe this is how it’s supposed to end. Dying while fighting a digimon…even without a partner…that’s not a bad way to go…is it? _

She looked over her desk where she kept a photo of all her friends for posterity in case Mnemosyne ever wiped her mind again, her eyes managed to work up enough of a tear to have a lone one trace a path down her face.

_ Takato… Rika… I hope…I make you proud, and that you won’t think bad of me for this. I…I’ll be seeing you soon. _

Getting up, she hurried out of the room.

_ Goodbye everyone… _


	56. Odyssey

Thunder rang in his ears. Thunder and a giant  _ sun  _ of lightning. And then…a bleak landscape of grey and black; dark water crashing against a beach while a light house sent out a beam of black, shrouding the mist covered waves further in shadow. It was the worst situation imaginable, and as the injured and badly bleeding Daemon flung fire all around him, slashing at Sakuyamon and Andromon.

They were all twisting in midair now, Armor shredding off Gallantmon’s body as his wings, destroyed now, failed to keep him aloft. Within his data sphere, he could hear Guilmon’s frantic voice babbling, no longer making sense. His thoughts didn’t make much sense either. Pain…  _ Pain _ was everywhere. In his arms; in his throat… He gagged, struggling to breathe, though breathe he did. He was plummeting. He instinctively tried to command his ruined wings to move in spite of Guilmon’s protests.

His body shrieked in protest and Gallantmon Crimson Mode evaporated, and the ruined form of plain old Gallantmon slammed into grey sand. Takato’s vision of the world blacked out. He felt himself struggling; heard waves crashing against the shoreline of some beach; heard the screams of his friends and at once the world snapped back into view. Forcing himself up to his feet, using his lance as a crutch, Takato spat digital blood out from the mouth guard of his helm. MegaGargomon was down in front of him, the magazines around his wrists a smoking ruin, and the twin tubes perched on his shoulders torn open, as if savaged by some monstrous beast, and smoldering. Beelzemon leaned against the Mega level weapons platform, holding his ribs, breathing heavily. After a moment, he slumped over and collapsed to the ground, after which there was a burst of fire and another scream, and suddenly Andromon was thrown over MegaGargomon like a rag doll, slamming into the ground before rolling to a halt. His left leg, bleeding electrical sparks and oil, ended abruptly at the knee, pixelating badly, struggling to maintain its form.

MegaGargomon’s body shuddered as Daemon landed atop him, his remaining arm clutching hold of Andromon’s severed leg, sparking wires hanging limply like a puppet’s severed strings. Looking at it with disgust, he tossed it to the side and turned a baleful glare at the fallen Ultimate.

“A leg for an arm,” the monstrous Demon Lord rasped as data and blood dripped free from the stump of his arm where Andromon had severed the limb earlier. “Not quite…equivalent exchange, but it will have to do until I can get to the appropriate parts…”

_ “No!” _ Takato shouted from within his data sphere, charging forward. His armor, a wreck, groaned from the effort, but he slammed into the Demon Lord, for a wonder knocking him off MegaGargomon. Landing atop his friend now, Gallantmon tracked Daemon’s fall, spying more of their companions. Sakuyamon successfully, if raggedly floated down to the ground, almost falling at the end.

_ “Rika!” _ he shouted worriedly, starting toward her, only to be checked by Daemon as he sent a stream of fire at the Royal Knight. The Mega raised his shield, only to have it blow away entirely this time, shattering it into thousands of shards of sparkling data, the force of which threw him backward. He scraped along MegaGargomon’s limp body before grinding to a halt.

_ Got to… Got to get up… _ he thought, his mind in a daze. His whole body was struggling to rally, but his armor felt like a dead weight. MarineAngemon’s earlier rejuvenation was gone, and Suzie’s shot with her  _ Supreme Canon _ attack had hit  _ everyone _ hard. Even Daemon, he noted, as he wasn’t moving the way he had been. His fur, what little remained of it, was blackened and smoldering, and his injuries were a charred mess where they weren’t bleeding. His eyes still burned with hellfire however, and it struck Takato that his rage was the  _ only  _ thing keeping him going still.

_ What…What do we have…? _ he wondered, finally managing to sit up, but that was about all he could manage now. His body was an exhausted wreck and barely functioning at this point. He couldn’t summon anything – no anger to drive him forward, and what determination he felt, though willing, was lacking in the physical department.

_ Where’s MarineAngemon…? We need him… We need him  _ badly…

No healing hearts came however, but Antylamon did, emerging from behind Daemon and slashing at him, carving a trench across the Demon Lord’s back and sheering off one of his wings in the process. Howling with rage, Daemon spun about and slammed a burning, hellfire fist into Anytlamon’s face, sending her crashing into the grim sand, digital blood flying free from her mouth in the process.

_ “Spirit Strike!” _

At Sakuyamon’s command, four blazing foxes flew forth and slammed into Daemon, ripping and tearing at his injuries, paying  _ special  _ attention to his severed arm. It seemed that, in spite of her own injuries, the priestess didn’t lose an ounce of her willpower or desire to stay in the fight.

It was behind her that Gallantmon saw Kenta, cradling an unconscious MarineAngemon.

_ “He’s out of the fight, Takato,” _ Guilmon’s voice came from the darkness surrounding the boy, and Takato felt himself nod numbly in response.

A pause.

_ “What…do we do…?” _

He didn’t know which of them asked the question. Their thoughts and minds were blurring together, but he found his answer as they struggled to their feet.

_ “We fight. We fight until one or both of us are dead.” _

As Daemon turned on Sakuyamon, blowing away her kitsune, Gallantmon flung himself once more at Daemon, lunging with his lance as he did so. The Demon Lord, sensing his killing intent, spun around and hurled a ball of fire at the Royal Knight, sending him slamming into the sand, the remains of his armor cracking and smoldering…pixelating…preparing to shatter.

_ “Gallantmon!”  _ Sakuyamon shouted, cursing the knight mentally for leaving himself so open to a counter attack like that. Summoning her remaining strength to help him, she raised her wand to fire another attack, but Daemon swept a hand in front of her, sending a wave of fire cascading over the beach in her direction, sending her flying backward into the water, barely giving her enough time to shield herself from the worst of the flames. Rika gasped as the cold water washed over Sakuyamon’s body and all at once her terrors took hold of her, and she sputtered, clawing for dry land…

Only for hands, dark, ice cold and clammy, to grab hold of her.

Shadowy figures with glowing eyes appeared beneath the dark waves, drawn first to the battle and now to  _ her.  _ Her and her power…reminiscent of another that had been in this world once before. Hissing, they gripped around her and the shaman began to sink down to join them. Hands clawed at her mouth, trying to pry it open so that the essence of the shadowy waves would fill her lungs and make her… _ theirs… _

Theirs…and their Undersea Master.

_ “Join us, priestess,” _ one of them whispered as Rika clenched her mouth shut. With a strangled cry, white light burst free from her body and she erupted free from the black water, crashing into the beach once more, shuddering and shivering violently. Darkness blanketed her mind and Sakuyamon struggled to fight it back. Rika could hear Renamon calling to her, but it felt so distant… So far away…

_ “R-Renamon… Jeri…” _

Rika gasped as utter horror filled her as the image - a  _ fear  _ buried deep inside her - of the brown-haired girl, broken and distraught at the loss of her friends, filled her vision and her heart.

_ Jeri… What will happen to her if...we don’t make it? _

Seeing that the priestess was sufficiently distracted, Daemon rolled the battered Gallantmon onto his back, his shadow drowning out the remaining white on his cracked and smoldering armor.

“This battle is over. All of your  _ hopes _ and your  _ dreams _ are now food by the shadow…”

From within his data sphere, Takato clenched his hands into tight fists, staring at Daemon defiantly. It couldn’t end like this. It  _ wouldn’t! _

_ “No!” _ he shouted. “We’re not giving up! This isn’t over until we call it quits!”

Yet, such a declaration sounded hollow and weak…and Daemon  _ knew  _ it. Raising his remaining arm, fire gathered in the palm of his hand. Taking aim, his blazing eyes locked with Gallantmon’s.

“Then stop me,” he said before declaring his attack.  _ “Evil Inferno!” _

Until the day he died, Takato would always remember the way that crimson fireball looked as it blazed toward him and his friends; the life he had – with its many changes and alterations – flashing before his eyes, and the wordless, defiant to the end, but ultimately helpless scream that ripped free from his throat. He would remember the utter certainty he felt that they had lost and how they would now die, for the first time crushed by an enemy they couldn’t defeat. That moment forever branded itself in his mind…

…and then, that moment… _ stopped. _

Nothing was moving, and the entire area seemed to be tinged with a shade of  _ blue _ .

Sakuyamon was curled up on the beach, clutching at her throat, Gallantmon under Daemon’s foot as a giant fireball was soaring his way. Kenta looking on in horror, MarineAngemon cradled in his arms. Ai, her eyes wide in fear, had her little hands on her partner and MegaGargomon, her mouth wide open in some sort of cry or plea. Kazu was crying, holding his hands against where his partner’s leg  _ used  _ to be as if that would stop the digital bleeding. Suzie was looking desperately at her cards, reaching out for one which was fluttering to the sand, panic in her eyes as her partner was struggling to her feet, her tattered body strategically placed protectively in front of the little girl.  

The dark thoughts which were beginning to take hold of the Tamers minds also suddenly disappeared into nothing, as if they didn’t exist in the first place. All there was … was silence.

Then suddenly there was a soft whisper, as if coming from far away at the bottom of a well. Despite it being faint, everyone heard it clearly.

“ _ Chrono Paradox.” _

Nobody would be able to explain in words which were available what happened next. Despite the intensive vocabulary in thousands of languages across the world, not a single combination of them could accurately explain the nature of it. Later, it would be Kazu who came the closest, as he would tell it as “reality as we knew it exploded.”

All the Tamers and their partner Digimon suddenly found themselves shattering into thousands of pieces of data. Yet instead of dying as one might expect, all of their collective consciousnesses seemed melded together. There was no individual person. There was no individual thought.

It was just them inside the Digital Sea. They were  _ part _ of the Digital Sea.

Even years later, none of them would be able to explain that brief moment or even really recall it, just understanding, in words which they couldn’t use, it happened and for a brief moment they didn’t even  _ exist _ . They were just … data.

Yet all of them knew what caused them to regain their individuality. Two simple words:

“ _ Come back _ .”

They wouldn’t ever agree on whose voice it was, and for some of them, it seemed to change. Ai would swear to the day she died it was Mako. Kazu insisted it was Jeri, and he was occasionally backed up by Rika and Takato, though Rika and Takato were more likely to flip flop between the brunette or one of their family members. Suzie and Henry agreed it was their dad, and Kenta said it sounded like it was his mother to him, although he was more open to the belief that nobody was wrong.

Yet it was enough to force them to separate suddenly, and it was like being squeezed through a tube hurtling through space as they suddenly found themselves slamming at great speed in some more water.

**###**

It was still dark out as Jeri made her way through the streets, Calumon floating worriedly behind her as her amber eyes stared vacantly at the compass in front of her. Each step grew heavier, and she wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of her wondered if she should have left a note. Another part hoped it would be a strong Digimon that would at least make it quick.

Even if she was going to die, she didn’t want to suffer. Hadn’t she had enough of that already?

Another part of her was feeling guilty about Calumon, what would happen to him. If he hadn’t threatened to kick up a big fuss, Jeri would have left him at home. She was a terrible person for letting him watch her die, but she was a terrible person all around wasn’t she?

It was something she always knew, no matter what everyone else said.

She stopped in front of a Digital Field where she knew a pond lay inside. She was told this is where they came back initially from the Digital World. Poetic justice she supposed it would be where she was leaving this one.

“Jeri…?” Calumon whispered. “We should go back.”

The In-Training was worried about the state of mind the girl was in, and why they were leaving the house this late at night. Or morning. To make matters worse, it seemed like she didn’t see the world around her, just the odd spinning thing on the D-arc in front of her.

Jeri’s shoulders sagged at Calumon’s words, tears spilling down her cheeks. Her whole body shuddered and her hand wound itself around her scarred wrist again, twisting around it with a vice-like grip.

“I can’t…” she whispered harshly. “Not…Not anymore, Calumon. I’m sorry, but…I can’t…anymore. It’s…over. There’s no going back anymore. Not with everyone gone… I…” Opening her eyes, she looked at the In-Training, her amber eyes glistening with the tears she was shedding. Dew droplets of pain traced a path down her face and she hitched a pain-filled sob before looking away.

“I can’t do this anymore…”

“Jeri,”  Calumon whispered fearfully, and once more he was back inside the D-Reaper with the poor broken girl. His begging falling on deaf ears, and not knowing what to say or do to cheer her up. Yet he searched for the words, but before he could say anything, he heard another voice cut through the night.

“Uh, yeah, uhm, some of my friends are hurt, so can you send some ambulance.” A pause. “No I don’t know where I am. A park?” Another pause. “Er … uhm … let … me go see.” 

Jeri blinked and rubbed at her eyes, swearing up and down that she was hearing things. The voice emanating from the shadow of night broke through the fog of her pain and sorrow, but it couldn’t… _ shouldn’t  _ have. That voice sounded too much like…like…

Shaking her head, taking it as a trick of the night, she started forward, preparing to go deeper into the fog, only to pause and turn back in the direction of the voice, a glimmer of hope springing within her heart.

It felt like an odd way for her heart to crack, but tears sprang forth anew, only this time  _ desperate  _ to hope.

_ If…If it’s not real… _ she thought, taking a hesitant step in the direction of the voice,  _ I really will lose it. I’ll break completely for sure… _

As they left the fog, they could see a figure walking toward the street, wearing a school uniform which quite frankly, wouldn’t pass any school inspection code with how dirty and torn it looked. Pausing at the edge of the park, he looked around before starting to babble toward the other person on the other line, giving the street name. Finally he hung up, and let out the most tired sigh, and for Calumon it was like watching the strength leave his body in one breath.

Jeri’s breath caught in her throat for the briefest of seconds as she stood there, utterly stunned before, with a strangled cry, flinging herself at the boy, recognizing him and, as a result, all of her pent-up emotion exploded from her. Slamming into Kenta, she bowled him over with a powerful hug – the most powerful she could remember feeling in all her life – sobbing into his shoulder as she held him tight against her. She was saying something, or more accurately crying something, but her words came out as incomprehensible, tear-filled babbling save for the scant few names of Takato, Rika and Kazu, such was the intensity of the emotions that were now overwhelming her.

She barely gave Kenta a chance to speak, and instead squeezed him so tightly against her that his ribs creaked.

Calumon perked up at seeing the now flabbergasted and strangled-looking boy, hopping up and down, adding his own cries of excitement to Jeri’s babbling, making Kenta have a pounding headache or perhaps better said, making the one he had prior, worse.

“Can’t … breathe … too … tight,” he managed to gasp finally, wondering when the brunette girl got so strong. He wouldn’t be surprised to see this sort of strength from Ayaka or Rika, but from Jeri who was a small thing who liked violence just as much as him? Never in a million years.

_ Well she  _ does  _ hang around them a lot … she probably has to have some physical strength to keep up,  _ he thought distractedly.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Jeri exclaimed, pulling away from the boy. Her amber eyes searched his frantically however. “What… What happened? How did you get back? The others…” She looked around suddenly, her heart practically in her throat now. “You were calling an ambulance… Oh kami… Is everyone okay?!”

“Takato has some burns on his arms. I’m pretty sure Henry has some broken ribs the way he was acting. Kazu sprained his ankle. Rika has a sprained wrist - though she’s already insisting she’s fine. Everyone else though is alright. Exhausted but we’re all alive. Somehow,” Kenta said after taking a moment to catch his breath before looking at Jeri, his brow furrowing slightly in confusion.

There was a lot of stuff he didn’t understand at the moment. How they were alive. What happened. How they got here. Yet the one thing which was now forefront on his mind was what was Jeri even  _ doing _ here this early in the morning in her pajamas? He noticed she had her D-arc out, and his lips pressed together.

“... Jeri, why are you here?” he asked softly.

“Where are they?” Jeri pressed, ignoring Kenta’s question, not wanting to talk about how she came here looking to die. Right now, at this very moment, all she wanted was to see those she thought she had certainly lost for good. It was as though a  _ miracle  _ had happened!

“Please…” she continued, her tone softening as she struggled to rein in her emotions. “I need to see them…”

Kenta was quiet for a moment and glanced over to Calumon, the little In-Training looking at him imploringly. Calumon knew that saying out loud Jeri’s reasons for being here would make the girl even more upset, and he desperately wanted to see her smile.

The spectacled boy sighed, dragging his hand across his cracked lens. While he had no reason not to tell her, he suddenly got a sinking idea on why she might have been here.

“They’re inside,” he said finally. “I’ll stay here and wait for the ambulance.”

Jeri hugged Kenta again tightly at that. “Thank you… Thank you…” she whispered before – after giving him an apologetic look – turning and running deeper into the digital field.

“Takato!” she called, plunging into the thick mists. “Rika!  _ Rika! Anyone!” _

Tears began to obscure her vision, flinging herself still further until she saw a vague, shadowy figure… _ two  _ of them actually…appear. Picking up the pace, she gave a loud cry and flung herself at two people who mattered so greatly to her… Takato and Rika.

“Buh-wha…?!” came the baffled surprise as Jeri crashed into the pair, so overcome with emotion that she was now showering them both with kisses, moving from one to the other with wild abandon. Eyes… Cheeks… Nose… Wherever she could until, when her lips lightly met Rika’s, she was abruptly brought back to the present, and a blush rapidly invaded her face, forcing her to break away from the girl in surprise.

“Ah! S-Sorry!” she stammered, her eyes flickering from one to the other, both teens staring at the diminutive girl in utter bewilderment and shock, blushes scorching their own faces.

“Ah… N-Nice to see you too?” Takato replied, glancing over at Rika and then at Jeri, scratching the back of his head with his right hand, utterly baffled at what had just occurred, before dropping it to his side to join its neighbor. Jeri followed its path, catching the blistered flesh of its twin and at once all of her attention was on him.

“What…? How…?” she began, hurrying over to the teen, her voice, while full of concern, was also eager to forget the sudden awkwardness from mere seconds ago.

Rika’s hand - her good hand, not the one which was clutching tightly to her shirt as she tried to concentrate on anything but the pain - went up to her lips in utter disbelief, not sure how to react to the fact Jeri just  _ kissed _ her. She could feel Viximon’s inquisitive eyes boring into her now, her tired and injured partner riding on her head much like Terriermon did with Henry. While Viximon would love to sleep like Gigimon, her warrior nature kept her awake until she would be sure her partner was safe and taken care of.

Moments later as Jeri was fretting over Takato’s burns, Rika found herself privy to some  _ more _ kisses - this time from Calumon.

“We thought you were dead!” he exclaimed happily, rubbing his nose against hers.

“Dead?” she asked somewhat dumbly, still trying to process everything that just happened.

“Yeah, everyone didn't think you all would survive,” Calumon informed her much to cheerfully, doing backflips as he celebrated their return excitedly. “I knew better though!”

However, Rika’s heart sank like a stone to her stomach as the weight of his words settled on her chest, and at once her eyes shot over to the smaller girl. The scarred flesh around her wrist stood out eerily prominently, even in this fog. At once, Rika felt ill, the question from the Dark Ocean suddenly answered.

“It’s a good thing we’re not,” came the voice of Kazu as he hobbled into view, favoring one leg with a wince on his face. Slung beneath his arm was his sleeping partner, reverted into his Rookie form of Hagurumon. “It was definitely touch and go there though for all of us. There were a few times I thought Chumley here was going to die.”

“K-Kazu…” Jeri whispered, her eyes falling on the teen as she paused in her investigation of the burn blisters on Takato’s right hand before forcing herself to return her attention to them. She pressed her lips together tightly, hating the injuries. “M-MarineAngemon…”

“He’s out like a light,” Takato said, dropping his hand away from the brunette. He winced in pain, and a haunted shadow fell over his face at the memory of their battle with Daemon, still so near and recent. “But…I think he’ll pull through.  _ All  _ of our partners will.” He turned to Kazu, offering him a sympathetic look. “Including Guardromon.”

The shadow that fell over Takato’s face quickly duplicated itself with Kazu and he shifted on his good foot as best he could.

“Of course he will,” he muttered, though his voice was tense. Immediately, the image of Andromon getting his leg ripped off by Daemon flashed through his mind, causing him to tighten his grip around his partner. “He’s my partner. A little leg wound is nothing.”

“Nothing at all,” Hagurumon agreed, though his voice was more tired than Kazu. Yet to Hagurumon, it was nothing but truth; when he digivolved again, there would be no loss of limb. Nothing to worry about. 

“Leg…wound…?” Jeri asked, tilting her head to one side. All three of them clearly looked greatly upset by their experience with their battle. She could only imagine what had happened.

“It’s nothing,” Kazu insisted with a lopsided grin, hiding behind a mask of bravado. “But… Well… If you want a hint, let’s just say that there’s a reason why I’m limping like this. Hogurumon digivolved to Ultimate and Daemon…”

He trailed off and licked his lips, losing himself in the memory. Not that he needed to say anything more as Jeri quickly approached him. Reaching up, she took hold of the teen’s face and tilted him toward her. Standing on the tips of her toes, Jeri’s lips found his and all was lost to silence for the moment.

Takato regarded the scene with an expression that was, for once in his life, unreadable as his emotions were too wound up and tense to even begin processing themselves in a way he could understand. Images of fire still burned in his mind, twin to the pain that sang in his arms and his fingers twitched. All at once, exhaustion, briefly forgotten at the sound of Jeri’s voice, crushed down on him and he sighed.

“I’m…going to go check on Gigimon,” he said, glancing over to Rika briefly before walking back in the direction of his sleeping partner.

_ Kami, I could sleep like the dead, _ he thought, leaving the scene behind him.

Kazu grinned, though it was pained. Yet the kiss made him feel immensely better, even if it didn’t erase the haunting images nor helped calm his nerves as he needed to remind himself he was still - somehow - alive.

“I think I need another,” he said innocently, an impish grin on his face.

However, there was a sudden, slight cough coming from Rika, who was now standing up, her arm still clenched tightly on her shirt. She didn’t really know why she did that; she was well aware of Jeri’s feelings toward Takato and Kazu yet when she saw her kiss the other boy she suddenly felt a surge of annoyance rush through her.

“Should I leave you two alone?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” squeaked Jeri in embarrassment, stepping back from Kazu a little, her hands brushing against his chest briefly before dropping away. “Um… Kenta called the ambulance, so they should be here pretty soon.”

She pressed her lips together tightly and drew closer to Rika. Taking hold of her by the hand – the one that belonged to the injured arm – Jeri massaged it gently.

“I heard you were hurt too.” She glanced up at Viximon,, her lips tugging into an amused smile upon finally getting a moment to appreciate the sight of the tiny ball of golden fur perched atop Rika’s head. “Will you tell me how bad? I don’t think Rika here would be honest with me about it.”

“I’m fine,” Rika mumbled, as if proving Jeri right, Calumon deciding to go over and give Kazu kisses too, the boy allowing it - though who knew how much of it was to impress Jeri. However, before her partner could turn traitor on her, she decided to grab the conversation and dramatically change it. “What about  _ you _ ?”

Her violet eyes stared right into Jeri’s amber ones, with a certain sort of intensity that she wasn’t in the mood to take any sort of lying bullshit.

“Better now that you’re all here, safe and sound again,” Jeri smiled, her fingers tightening their grip around Rika’s hand before returning her attention to Viximon. “So how honest was her answer?”

“Give the old Demon Queen a break, Jeri,” Kazu grinned as he pulled Calumon against him with a laugh while also adjusting his grip on Hagurumon. “She’s been through a lot. Look, let’s go take a sit down before I fall off my only good foot and wait for the ambulance to get here, huh? I’m sure the others would like to see you too.”

He grinned and winked at the girl. “Don’t get me wrong though. I wouldn’t mind having you all to myself.”

Giving the boy a half-hearted, though playful smirk, Jeri again squeezed Rika’s hand.

“All right,” she replied, her heart fluttering in her chest at the feel of Rika’s skin against her own.

That touch was a comfort to her. It grounded her. Made her feel as though Rika and the others were really,  _ really  _ there and that this was not just some dream she was having – deluding herself because she couldn’t take the pain and sadness of loss anymore. Clasping it tightly, she tugged Rika after her, urging her to take the lead toward the others. Taking hold of Kazu’s hand as well, her body shook at the memory of what she intended to do.

_ I would have done it… I really would have done it… _

She bit back tears as the others came into view and squeezed the hands of Kazu and Rika tightly, not wanting to  _ ever _ let them go again.


	57. Choices

Ayaka stood on the swing set, using her feet to push herself back and forth lightly, gripping the chains tightly as she frowned slightly in deep thought. Jeri, sat next to her, amber eyes wide and gazing up at her expectantly.

Finally, heaving a heavy sigh, Ayaka hopped off the swing and landed gracefully on the dirt ground of the playground and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

“No,” she declared finally. “I’m not going shopping with you, so you can knock it off with the soulful puppy-dog look.”

Ayaka closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the girl. Her resilience against Jeri’s pleading, patented, puppy-dog look that just about everyone tripped over themselves from, while normally strong, was a bit frazzled at the moment. A week had gone by since the Tamers returned home from that dark world they had been exiled to by Mnemosyne, very few of them coming out of it very well. Rika and Kazu got off light with sprains; Henry with some broken ribs; and Takato…

Her hands clenched in her pockets at the thought of the brown-haired Gogglehead, yet she brushed it aside for the moment. Sighing again, Ayaka’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry. I’m just not in the mood. Thinking about that Mnemosyne and everything it’s been doing to us…” She trailed off and shuddered. That she hadn’t experienced any blackouts recently, at least in the time since the Tamers’ return home, didn’t leave her with any sense of security.  If anything, it only made things worse, knowing that it was  _ still  _ out there and could swoop into her body and take her over at any moment. She never thought she would wish for the black outs to start happening again, if only to prove she hadn’t been controlled by Mnemosyne all that time. After all while she had no definite proof it was the AI, all the substantial proof pointed to her being made into it’s meat puppet.

She hated living under that shadow. It seemed as though she would never get out from under that  _ monster’s  _ thumb.

_ Jeri… Is this how you felt…back when the D-Reaper kept you prisoner? _

Drawing out a hand, she rubbed her forearm anxiously, wondering just how it was that the girl was able to deal with it. She thought about the way Jeri had been acting since the Tamers returned and, briefly, how she had been when they disappeared. She closed herself off, and Ayaka practically had to drag what happened out of her from what little she knew from the TV reports. Even then, most of what happened she pieced together after the Tamers got back. From what she learned, it seemed impossible that Jeri could keep going despite all that she was forced to witness.

_ But then...she did try to kill herself once… _ she thought with a grimace. Ayaka even now was worried about the mental state which Jeri was in. That stepford smile bullshit wouldn’t work on her anymore.

Yet when it came to getting her way, Jeri wasn’t one to give up quite easily and stood up, dirt crunching under her feet, resting a hand on Ayaka’s forearm.

“I understand, but we haven’t seen much of each other,” the brunette said, a pleading note in her voice, begging.

Ayaka frowned, recognizing Jeri’s change of tactics. Why was it that she insisted on going through the familiar motions when she  _ knew  _ Ayaka was immune to them was beyond her.

Ayaka made a grumbling noise before bringing a hand to rest on Jeri’s hand, patting it. “Can’t we just… I don’t know. Skip out on the shopping part? It’s a lot of walking around and staring at random stuff. I don’t mind shopping, but it’s not something I’m as into as I used to be.”

Her eyes narrowed and she tightened her grip on Jeri’s hand. “And I don’t want to go if either of  _ them  _ are going to be there.”

She couldn’t have been any blunter without naming names. Rika and Kazu were, without a doubt, among the  _ last  _ people she wanted to be near right now. They were also the two people Jeri now had attached herself to the most, Takato being the other one.

Jeri sighed and rested her head on Ayaka’s shoulder. While she didn’t doubt for one moment who Ayaka was talking about, the brunette had made it quite clear on several occasions she wished Ayaka would get along with the two.

“They’re not coming; I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a fight,” she mumbled. “So I didn’t ask them. I wanted this to be a day for the two of us. Like I said, we haven’t seen much of each other.”  

Ayaka breathed a sigh of relief at that, grateful that she wouldn’t have to put up with either the Demon Queen, ‘Tweedle-Dumbmon’ as she called Kazu, or some hellish combination of the two.

“All right,” she muttered. “You’ve got me, but  _ only _ for a short while. God damn it, Jeri. You know how much I hate it when you do that. It’s like you’re some kind of evil mastermind, you know that?”

Jeri smirked and wrapped her arms around Ayaka in a tight hug. It was surprising how much stronger physically the brunette had gotten over the past few months. While she wasn’t ever truly  _ weak _ , to say she was strong wouldn’t quite hit the mark either. It was part of what made Ayaka - and the others - want to protect her.

“I know,” she replied with a hum. “But you love me anyway.” Pulling back slightly, amber eyes looked into Ayaka’s expectantly, shining like the stars in the sky. “So where do you want to go?”

Ayaka rolled her eyes. Jeri had wanted to drag her on a shopping incursion against her will, and now suddenly put her on the spot.

“You’re a terrible kidnapper,” she scolded. “Anyway, I guess you could take me to a shoe store.”

Grimacing, she glanced down at her feet. Her sneakers were looking a little bit past due now despite the fact that she didn’t tromp around as much in the park the way she used to when she was younger.

“I think Mnemosyne’s been wearing down my feet,” she grumbled. “One more thing I have to hate it for.”

“If I’m kidnapping you, might as well take you to somewhere you want to go, right?” Jeri replied, wrapping herself around Ayaka’s arm, clinging on to her like a monkey. However, when she stared at her, even though there was a smile on her face, the pools of amber had a sad understanding look.

When the smaller girl first learned of Ayaka’s fears that it was Mnemosyne who has been controlling her, it was met with shock before a boiling anger which  _ had _ to have been picked up by proxy from Firebrand. She listened though, and with great reservation, agreed not to tell anyone else about Ayaka’s beliefs.

“You have the weirdest idea of what being a kidnapper means,” Ayaka berated, starting forward, pulling Jeri along companionably as a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “What kidnapper takes the kidnapped where they want to go? Haven’t you seen any crime dramas? They  _ always _ take them somewhere they don’t want. And not only that, they tie them up and cover their face with a hood!”

Turning a more natural, playful look at Jeri, she grinned.

“You’re terrible at this kidnapping business,” she began, only to pause when she saw the sad, understanding look in Jeri’s amber eyes. Turning away, her good humor evaporated all at once.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that sometimes,” she said in a low voice. “Look at me like that. I feel like I’m being pitied. Like I’m a…chipped piece of pottery.”

Jeri shook her head and squeezed Ayaka closer to her.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I just … wish I noticed sooner. There was times I thought you were acting … off, but I thought it was because of the stress. I understand full well what you are going through. I just wish I could do more for you. But there really isn’t anything anyone can do when your body and mind has been hijacked.”

“It’s not exactly like I was holding a hint over my head with large, neon letters you know,” Ayaka  _ harrumphed.  _ “Besides, it took me a while to catch on too, and  _ I  _ was the one getting possessed.”

Leaning closer to Jeri, she brought her head to rest on the smaller girl and sighed softly.

“Besides… There was a  _ lot  _ of stress going around. I’m not going to blame you for not picking up on it, so don’t beat yourself over it, got it? I’m plenty sure the Demon Queen would say the same thing if she were here.”

“You agreeing with Rika on something? Should I be checking if Hell is freezing over?” Jeri asked, a teasing note in her voice, although her grip became that much tighter. “Or perhaps pigs are flying?”

“Mark it on your calendar and turn it into a national holiday if you want,” Ayaka snorted. “Just don’t expect me to admit it, got it? I’m not giving that Firebrand any ground to dance on.”

There was no way she was saying that even if the Demon Queen was a bully, she agreed with her assessments more than she was comfortable with. When it came to Jeri, Ayaka didn’t think she disagreed a single time with the fiery girl.

_ Well, the fact she treats Jeri well is her only good point _ , Ayaka thought grumpily. Sometimes she wondered  _ why _ someone like Firebrand was so sweet on Jeri before watching the normally stubborn girl crumble to pieces from one look from the brunette. It didn’t take much brains to realize that Jeri somehow managed to wrap the demon around her pinkie finger.

“You know I think you two would actually get along if you stopped making snide remarks at each other,” Jeri pouted, looking up at her. “You’re more alike than you know.”

“I don’t care. I don’t trust her,” Ayaka snorted again derisively, making as much of her contempt for the red-haired girl as audible as she could. “I don’t get what you and Gogglehead see in her, but the two of you have  _ always  _ had weird tastes.” Shaking her head, she heaved a heavy sigh before continuing under her breath. “And here I am, having to deal with her more because of you two.”

“Anyway, enough about me. How’re you holding up?” She turned a concerned look at the girl. “You were in a pretty bad way after they vanished. I get that you’ve been all happy and sunshine and probably farting rainbows and fluffy pink bunnies since they came back, but…” She squeezed Jeri’s arm affectionately, their long friendship echoing to each other through the gesture. “…I know you. You talk more than you used to, but sometimes you play your cards pretty close.”

“I’m doing better,” Jeri mumbled, looking away and not meeting Ayaka’s inquisitive eyes. Yet the hand with her scar squeezed the copper-hair’s arm tighter in response. “I think … it will take some time though for it to really sink in that everyone is alive. Sometimes, I think this is a dream. That I’m imagining it all. And if that’s the case … I’m scared of waking up.”

Her expression twisting up, Ayaka ground them both to a halt and swaddled Jeri in her arms.

“Kami…” she whispered, cuddling the girl close to her just like she knew Jeri liked whenever she felt upset and out of sorts. Ayaka picked up the habit after she learned what had happened when Jeri was “sick” all those years ago. “Trust me. It  _ isn’t  _ a dream. Everyone you know and love that you thought you lost this week… They all made it home. They got a little banged up, but they all made it home and they’re  _ safe.” _

Patting Jeri on the head, she scowled at the sky, wondering why the universe was so intent on breaking her childhood friend.

“Do I need to pinch you? Will that help you realize that this isn’t a dream?”

Jeri didn’t answer at first, reaching up and pulling Ayaka closer to her, almost as if she let go she too would disappear into a million shards of light. The two stood like this for a bit before Jeri spoke again.

“Maybe, but I can’t say it will completely help,” she whispered.

With a frown, Ayaka pulled back and then promptly pinched Jeri’s face.

It was a hard pinch, though not hard enough to bruise so much as it was to get Jeri’s attention, much in the same way that her aunts always did when she was younger.

“How’s that for starters?” Ayaka grinned. The brunette looked at her shocked for a moment before smiling, then puffed her cheeks out irritably.

“That hurt,” she whined pitifully.

“I can do it again,” she said, and just to prove her point, she did just that and pinched Jeri’s other cheek, this time a little bit lighter than before, but still enough to get the girl’s attention.

“Still think this is a dream?” she teased. “Have you woken up yet?”

“Well if I’m in a dream, I’m probably in a deep coma or something,” Jeri replied, rubbing her cheek, still pouting. “So you can stop pinching me like you’re my grandmother.”

Laughing, Ayaka gave Jeri’s cheeks one last double pinch for good measure and then let go. Folding her hands behind her head, she resumed their journey.

“Well, at least we’ve narrowed things down to you being either awake or in a coma,” she said. “That’s something.” She glanced at Jeri out of the corner of her eye, her expression softening. “Where…do things go from here?” she asked hesitantly. “I don’t mean this now, I mean…everything. Do you guys have any plans for what to do about…”

She paused and then shook her head, her eyes clouding as the shadow from earlier fell over her face.

“Never mind. If you tell me, Mnemosyne will probably know about it.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s not like we ever plan out anything out. Not that it would work out the way we would want if we tried,” Jeri rolled her eyes before her hand covered her scarred wrist. “I think right now … we all need time to heal.”

Ayaka snorted and again stuffed her hands into her pockets.

“Yeah… Like  _ that’s  _ going to happen.”

**###**

Ayaka felt as though she frowned a lot more than she remembered doing when she was younger, and with plenty of good reason. Every hour she felt as though she were waiting… Just  _ waiting _ for another blackout, or another digimon to come tearing through the barriers between the worlds, looking to wreck another city block. Or who knew whatever else the digital world would be throwing at them. The problem had more to do with the waiting. It was killing her.

Turning into her classroom, her brown eyes fell on the trio currently lounging by the windows, looking like a group of soldiers having come back from a war.

_ Two of them, anyway, _ she thought, her eyes settling on Takato and Kazu, the latter of whom was busy trying to shakily light up a cigarette  _ in the classroom!  _ Her instincts stepping up to the forefront, she marched on over and just as soon as Kazu’s dancing flame caressed the tip of his smoke, Ayaka snatched it out of his mouth and crushed it into his lunch tray.

“No.  _ Smoking,” _ she growled, setting her tray down across from a surprised Takato with a heavy clatter before grabbing hold of a chair and spinning it around. She fixed Kazu with a dark glare. “Seriously, are you  _ nuts? _ Did that digimon hit you over the head  _ that  _ hard that you’re going to try something as stupid as smoking inside the school?”

Kazu looked at her blankly as Kenta came over, finally getting some food from the school store, looking shocked at seeing Ayaka sitting where he normally sat. After a moment, he sat down next to her uneasily.

“Ah right, I need to step outside,” Kazu muttered finally as if finally her words made sense to him. For the past week or so, he had become a lot more subdued, and there was several times he had been caught texting in class. If Ayaka didn’t know Jeri better, she would suspect it was her friend. “Sorry,” he added, somehow sounding just as insincere as he normally did.

Ayaka’s face remained set in its scowl as she continued to fix Kazu with a warning look before she turned to Kenta and Takato, her brow relaxing a little.

“So…” she began, awkwardly trying to find words with which to make her presence not quite so hard to bear. “I’m glad that everyone has a clean bill of heath.” A pause before another look was shot at Kazu. “Lung cancer notwithstanding.”

_ Yeah. What a way to start things off, _ she thought, glowering internally at herself now.  _ Let’s start by insulting them, just like the Demon Queen does. Stupid… _

“Well not totally clean,” Kenta mumbled awkwardly, picking at his fraying bandage. While his injury wasn’t severe at all, Ayaka heard his mother was very insistent on him not getting an infection, among other things. “But yeah, we’re doing … better.”

“Yeah perfectly fine. Shitting out rainbows over here,” Kazu growled, just as pleased to be in Ayaka’s presence as she was to be in his.

At this, Takato pressed his lips together tightly at his friends before fingering his own bandage, wincing as he did so. In the places where he had been bitten by fire, his skin felt strangely cold and it prickled every now and then, as if by tiny needles. The doctors said that had to do with the healing process, but as far as he was concerned, it sure didn’t feel that way.

“Well, we’re alive to fight another day,” he said, forcing a smile on his face. “So that’s something to be happy about.”

Ayaka scowled at the boy.

“You’re measuring this by still being alive?” she asked, only to wince as she saw him twitch, his fingers curling into his palms in tension. She instantly regretted her choice of words, having forgotten the people who reported to have been killed during the battle with Daemon, many of whom had been by fire.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head into her hands.

“Sorry,” she said with a shudder passing through her. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m…decompressing badly. Seeing you all like this… It makes me upset. Yes…even  _ you _ Kazu. Kami… You all look like you’ve been through a meat grinder or something.”

Takato looked at the girl and raised a hand hesitantly, only to pause and withdraw it, remembering their conversation from before Rika’s return.

“Yeah… Well, it sure felt like it,” Takato replied no less awkwardly than Ayaka. “Daemon was one tough digimon, that’s for sure. I don’t think the show does him justice.”

“The show really didn’t do any of it justice, even back then,” Kazu pointed out a bit irritably. “I mean in the show, Digimon didn’t fucking wreck the city and kill a shit ton of people, now did it?”

“I think the show showed how it must have looked through the Digidestined’s eyes,” Kenta said softly. “I mean back six years ago, we didn’t really understand the dangers of everything did we? Even when we went to the Digital World, it was a game … until it wasn’t anymore.” 

Ayaka looked at the three sympathetically. There was a tone that they had that didn’t sit well with her. A tension that felt close to snapping at any moment. She glanced at Takato, seeing him scowling down at his tray as his hands were clenching all the more tightly now.

“I  _ know _ digimon in the show didn’t do those things, Kazu,” he replied. I was just pointing out how badly we got our butts kicked.”

Threading a hand through his hair, Takato leaned forward, sighing heavily. The tension only grew thicker as Ayaka looked on.

Something needed to be done.

“Um…” she began, for once feeling uncertain. “Look, I know I haven’t been much or done a lot of good in your little group, but…” She glanced at each of them in turn before finally settling on Takato. “If you guys need someone to talk to…” She turned to Kazu meaningfully. “I can help with that. You all look like you’re under a lot of stress right now.”

“Yeah, because talking to you is top of shit I want to do right now,” Kazu snorted.

“Kazu,” Kenta warned him tiredly and Kazu glared at his best friend.

“Don’t take that tone. I’m not being unreasonable here this time,” he snapped. “We’re made to go to shrinks, and I’d sooner be judged by that old fart than  _ her _ .”

“Kazu, will you  _ lay off?” _ Takato exploded angrily. “She’s  _ trying!  _ She’s  _ worried!  _ The two of you seriously need to put your problems with each other behind you. For goodness sake, Kazu, she’s trying and  _ you’re  _ the one who made her mad at you in the first place!”

With a shudder, Takato closed his eyes and pushed his tray away from him, the food barely touched.

“Kami… I thought we got away from the Dark Ocean. It still feels like it’s here…working on us.”

Kazu looked at Takato and snorted, pushing his chair away from the desk, grabbing his crutch. Giving Ayaka one last withering look, he hobbled out of the classroom. There was silence for a moment before Kenta sighed and pushed up his glasses which were slipping off the bridge of his nose.

“We have our memories,” he said softly. “But once again, we’re back to square one.”

_ Square one… _ Ayaka thought, taking a bite out of her rice ball and munching on it half-heartedly.  _ Yeah… I guess we are, huh? _

_ We. _ Her brow knotted up angrily. She didn’t want to be a part of this nuthouse that the Tamers found themselves in, yet here she was all the same, stuck in it, and all because Mnemosyne saw her as a ‘useful tool’ to spy on them with. She glanced up at Takato, whose brow was set in deep thought. Almost like the expression he had when he was daydreaming, but…not quite. She had to look after him as class president so often that she  _ knew  _ his looks, even the ones that were similar.

He was thinking about something. Thinking hard.

She felt a flash of irritation in memory of their ‘talk’ but she ruthlessly squashed it…for now.

_ Let him think, _ she thought, chewing on the rice ball.  _ Maybe he’ll finally figure things out for once. _

**###**

The situation bugged her though, all the way through the remainder of the day. There hadn’t been much left to say during lunch, and with their focus on their studies, even less, but Ayaka’s mind dwelled on the matter until she was scribbling in her notebook, sketching random, thick lines that wound about each other in a giant, black knot resembling tangled yarn. When the bell rang, she closed up shop with a disappointed sigh as she got up from her desk.

_ Waste of a day, _ she thought, stuffing her things into her school bag. She glanced up to see Kazu saying something to Takato, who shook his head. Looking a bit annoyed, but understanding, Kazu shrugged and both he and Kenta took off without him. Wordlessly, Takato finished collecting his things and started toward the door.

After a moment, Ayaka shrugged her bag onto her shoulder and fell into place beside him.

“Ah…?” the boy began, only for Ayaka to cut in with a touch of annoyance.

“Not one word, Gogglehead. We’re just leaving at the same time.”

“Right…” Takato replied carefully, frowning slightly at her.

“I’m meeting up with Jeri after school,” Ayaka continued, not meeting his gaze. “Anything you want me to pass on to her? She’s worried about you.”

Takato nodded. “Yeah, I know. She’s been blowing up my phone…along with everyone else’s ever since we got back.” His expression softened. “We all gave her a pretty bad scare, so I can’t blame her.” He sighed and pulled out his cell phone to check for messages. Sure enough, there was another message from Jeri checking in on him.

“I’ll let her know that I’m going home to study and that I’m looking to stay out of trouble today,” he continued, quickly typing a response.

“And sent.”

Ayaka nodded as they descended down the stairs, maneuvering through the throng of students as they all hurried past them before finally reaching the exits and pushing out through them. Wind blew through Ayaka’s hair as she glanced at the boy. Their eyes met as Takato drew to a halt, herself following shortly after, and, after a long, awkward moment, Ayaka broke her gaze away, grumbling to herself.

“Take care of yourself,” she said finally. “I can’t keep an eye on you all the time, so…at least for  _ Jeri’s  _ sake, you’d better keep that promise about not doing anything stupid, got it?”

Takato tightened his grip around his bag, feeling the tension in the air between them.

“I will,” he said, not sure what more there was to say, wondering if this was how things were always going to be now between him and his friends. The universe thrived on making things with him as awkward as possible.

“Good,” Ayaka said, and with that she set off, afraid that if she didn’t, she might end up growing roots along with him so that the two could be awkward around each other forever.

She didn’t look behind her as she went, but she kept a better eye on her surroundings so as to avoid any more cars she might accidently run into. A part of her wanted to not meet up with Jeri. She felt too frustrated and awkward now, but at the same time…

They had all changed from recent events, and more so for Jeri, as she had regressed a bit. She knew it, and she was sure everyone knew it. Jeri, having nearly lost those important to her, was now afraid to not have them out of her sights for very long. Until she bounced back a bit, they had to do what they could for her.

Yet, as Ayaka finally spied Jeri, when she saw who she was with, she wanted to scream and run home as quickly as possible, traffic notwithstanding.

After all next to her was the Demon Queen herself, her bag resting on her shoulder, listening to Jeri who was pointing at something in the window, talking excitedly. A taller woman stood slightly off to the side with short blonde hair - Ayaka had seen her enough times to recognize it as Renamon’s human appearance. If Ayaka thought she could quickly make up something - like she was feeling ill (though at this point in time was it really a lie) - Jeri looked over and noticed Ayaka. Beaming widely, she began to wave her hand excitedly.

“Ayaka! Ayaka over here!” she called, Rika turning herself and making the same ‘ugh’ face Ayaka was feeling.

Unlike the Firebrand, Ayaka kept her expression neutral, and she made her way over to the two girls, nodding to Rika so as to at  _ least  _ be civil while smiling at Jeri, albeit stiffly, before folding her arms around the girl and pulling her off her feet in a tight hug. Jeri laughed happily, hugging Ayaka back.

“Good to see you,” she chuckled upon setting her back down. “You haven’t been giving Firebrand here any trouble, have you?” She glanced at Rika knowingly. “Couldn’t say ‘no’, huh?”

“Actually I was asking her for advice on something,” Rika replied, glancing inside the window the two were looking at moments earlier. Following her gaze, Ayaka could see things like a telescope and a drone; it was a science store, which surprised Ayaka slightly because she never took Firebrand as having any real interests in the sciences.

“Advice on what?” Ayaka asked with a touch of sarcasm. “Where to send Mnemosyne if it ever shows up again? Or maybe the planet you can mail the bodies of people you beat up to?”

“Rika’s looking for advice on how to talk to her brother,” Jeri giggled, though she gave her friend a warning look that told her not to step too far. “She’s been having a…bit of a hard time connecting with him.”

“Who would have thought that?” Ayaka muttered, earning her another sharp look, though she at least had the good sense to look appropriately apologetic for her offhand remark.

“I’m sorry, I was unaware that I was magically supposed to be aware how to interact with a brother I never knew I had until like a couple months ago,” came the sarcastic reply. However, just like Jeri was keeping Ayaka in line, Renamon gave a single glance at her partner who proceeded to ‘hmph’ like a child, but fell silent.

“Were we interrupting something today?” Renamon asked, looking at Ayaka considerably more politely than Rika did.

“Just an outing between friends,” Ayaka said politely in return – as politely as she could muster anyway. As much as she detested Rika, she found her digimon partner to be a shining example of good will, and preferred to treat her in a dignified manner. However, Jeri and Rika’s presence made it…difficult to do so, as the former was relaxing to be around and the latter just pushed her buttons. “It’s no big deal.”

“All the same, we’ll try not to interrupt much longer,” Renamon said before looking at the window again, glancing at Jeri. “You said Akira likes looking at the stars right?”

“Yeah,” Jeri replied with a quick nod to the vulpine digimon. “Well, at least that’s what Masahiko told me. He knows his friends better than I do so…” Jeri giggled and shrugged. “I wound up getting dragged into this by her.”

“Right,” Ayaka sighed with a shake of her head before turning to her best friend. “For once you’re not the one dragging, and you  _ always  _ become friends with the weirdest of people who are practically your  _ opposite.  _ You’ve got some weird magnetism, you know that?”

“I don’t think it’s that weird,” Rika replied, glancing at Jeri, giving a slight smirk. “She’s cute and charming. I don’t think I’ve met a single person whose disliked her.” She turned back to Ayaka and arching her eyebrow. “Opposite huh? That would explain how you two became friends.”

“Rika,” Renamon said simply.

“Sorry,” her partner apologized, though it sure as hell didn’t sound like she really mean it.

Ayaka snorted and planted her hands on her hips. “You just didn’t know me when we were kids. Jeri and I were a  _ lot  _ more alike growing up. But you’re right. It’s really,  _ really  _ hard to dislike her. I think the only person who ever stopped was Miki, but…well… Miki had her own brand of problems that she carried around before moving away.”

At the mention of their once, long-ago friend, Jeri grew uncomfortable and hugged at her arm.

“And here I thought I had issues. She  _ must _ have been a special brand of messed up that I didn’t even know existed,” Rika replied arching an eyebrow before her attention suddenly wandered over to Jeri, as if directed by someone. If Ayaka had to guess, it was Renamon, who she noticed had focused on Jeri and her reaction and less on what was said. Jeri had said a long time ago in the past the two communicated without saying a thing - Ayaka was getting a reminder just how much of that was true.

“Ah, uhm, do you want to come with us inside?” Rika asked Jeri in a clear attempt to change the subject. “I’d really appreciate help. I’d probably be nonstop texting you anyway…”

Jeri dropped her hand from her arm and nodded, a small smile gracing her face. “Sure,” she replied. “I don’t know how much help I can be. I’m pretty sure Ai would know better since she’s more into this stuff and is friends with Akira.”

“Why not just get him a telescope?” Ayaka asked, arching an eyebrow. “This place has one of those things, right?”

“I don’t know if he has one already or anything about telescopes,” Rika grumbled tugging at her hair now. It was about the length now of when they first met when they were 10 - though Ayaka wasn’t quite sure if ‘met’ was a proper adjective back then. Rika really didn’t interact with anyone beyond staying close to Kyuubimon like a shy child might with their mother. “Plus I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard or look weird or anything…”

“Essentially we’re looking more along the lines of a book or map of the stars to study in our spare time,” Renamon explained, coming to her partner’s rescue. “And we were hoping to trouble you both for recommendations before we allow you to go on your way.”

Ayaka  _ harrumphed  _ and pushed by them and toward the store. “Well why didn’t you say so in the first place? Or better yet, why are you still just standing here?”

Jeri raised an eyebrow at the copper-haired girl. “You’re helping?”

Pausing with the door open, Ayaka turned toward her smaller friend incredulously.

“This is going to make Firebrand more human, right? Why wouldn’t I help?”

_ Especially if it gets rid of her faster, _ she thought, yanking the door the rest of the way before stepping back for the two girls.

“Hurry it up you two. Unless you  _ like  _ standing around looking like you’re window shopping on a date.”

“I’m sure I can think of a better date than shopping for someone else,” Rika grumbled as Renamon rolled her eyes, nudging her partner inside and whispering for her to behave. Ayaka was glad that if she had to suffer the Demon Queen’s company for a short while, at least the kitsune was around to keep her partner on a leash. Renamon made being around Rika  _ somewhat _ tolerable, if only because she was constantly reminding her not to be a bitch.

“Really?” Ayaka chided with a smirk. “Well, I guess you’re the authority on that, considering you’ve dated…how many people again?”

_ “Ayaka!” _ Jeri snapped, her face flushing badly, both in anger and in embarrassment at the suggestion that she and Rika were on a date, to which Ayaka sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Right. Be less bitchy.” She grimaced, but managed to look sufficiently apologetic to Rika. “Sorry.”

“Kami…” Jeri groaned, looping her arms around Rika’s elbow and pulling her into the store, hoping to forestall any arguing. “You two are  _ worse  _ than Kazu when you’re in the same room!”

“Hey, I wouldn’t go  _ that  _ far,” Ayaka protested. “We only got into a drinking contest. We haven’t actually hit each other yet.”

“Yeah,” Rika echoed Ayaka. “Also we get along better with each other than either of us do with your ex boyfriend.”

A small smirk tugged on the corner of Ayaka’s lips at that.

“Dislike can bring people together just as easily as love can,” she returned, causing Jeri to roll her eyes in exasperation.

“I’d rather that you two get along for reasons that had to do with you being  _ friends!” _ she exclaimed irritably. “I don’t understand why you don’t like each other. You’re a lot alike!”

“Not all misery loves company,” Ayaka remarked, closing the door behind her. “Especially when it’s that much alike. Now let’s see…” She cast her eyes about her, taking in the rows of shelves containing books and science related merchandise. Not much of it looked interesting to her, if she were honest. She enjoyed the odd book on stars and planets as a child, but the veterinary sciences called to her more ever since she found a dead cat in the park one day when she was eleven.

She frowned slightly, a part of her wondering if any of that could be applied to digimon.

_ If so, I’d probably be  _ less  _ useless to this bunch. _

A second later she wanted to kick herself. As long as Kenta had MarineAngemon, she might as well be useless anyway.

_ Terrific. All I am is a spy to a stupid computer program that it can take over at a moment’s notice. What  _ good _ am I in all this besides antagonizing Firebrand or gawking over Gogglehead? _

Shoving her hands into her pockets, she clenched them into tight fists, wishing very much that she could just punch something and that would fix all of her problems. It fixed her problem with her ex-boyfriend, so why not this too?

“This looks good,” Jeri said, taking a book off the shelf and flipping it open. “It has all the constellations and everything. Even the mythology behind them.”

Rika - who had now been released - rested her arm on Jeri’s shoulder as she peeked over her shoulder to see what she was reading. Not that far away, Renamon seemed to have a slight more interest in the store than any of the others, pausing in front of some books about programming.

“Huh, it looks like there is some romantic stories in these stars,” Rika noted. “Oh, look it has the story about Altair and Vega - oh hey, wait,  _ this _ is what the Tanabata festival is about?”

“You didn’t know?” Jeri asked as she and Ayaka eyed the girl with what could only be called bafflement.

“What kind of rock do you  _ live  _ under?” Ayaka asked. “I figured you’d at least be into the whole mythology stuff because you have a kyubi for a partner.”

“I really know more about the Shinto stuff, because that’s the temples I live near,” Rika shrugged, shifting her weight uneasily. “Plus I don’t really pay attention to things that don’t interest me.”

“That sure explains a  _ lot,” _ Ayaka muttered, earning her another hard look from Jeri.

“Be nice, please,” she warned before turning back to Rika, holding the book up just high enough that she hid part of her face, leaving only her eyes, shining and wide, visible to the redhead. “What do you think? Think your brother will be interested?”

Rika took the book and flipped through it, nodding her head.

“Yeah … mythology … where the stars are, I think this would probably be good.” Snapping it shut, the redhead beamed at Jeri before reaching out and patting her head. “Thanks. I knew I could count on you. You really are the best, you know that?”

Jeri could only beam happily, giggle and blush at Rika’s show of affection, all the while with Ayaka watching on, an odd feeling growing within her at the sight. She furrowed her brow slightly, wondering at Jeri’s slight discoloration. It was something she was familiar with, though it tended to show up with regards to someone that she held a certain affection for.

It was a look she had previously seen reserved for first Takato, and then for Kazu.

Ayaka tilted her head to one side curiously, but brushed it off for the time being as just her imagination.

Still, a certain part of her tickled at the back of her head, asking… _ What if…? _

“All right,” Ayaka said, shaking her head. “Now that we have that done with, how about we get it paid and get out of here? I have a feeling that there’s a giant thing of fudge and chocolate out there calling my name, and I’m going to answer the damn thing before I have to go home again to study.”

“Yeah, I’ll pay and get going so I’m not interrupting your date anymore,” Rika replied, rolling her eyes and walking over to the cashier. She paused for a moment when she noticed what Renamon was looking at. “You want me to get that?”

Renamon glanced at Rika before shaking her head, approaching her and gestured for her to walk to the cashier.

“I’ll just borrow it from the library or ask Henry,” she said simply. Rika rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully as she put the book on the table and began to dig in her bag for some money.

“It might be better to ask Henry,” she said after a moment, finding the money and handing it to the cashier. She glanced at her partner, and Ayaka had the distinct feeling that they were talking about something without using words again. This was only furthered when Renamon nodded simply, taking the bag for Rika as Firebrand got her change.

Returning to Ayaka and Jeri, Renamon bowed her head slightly.

“Sorry to intrude on your time out together,” she said simply. “We’ll be going now.”

Ayaka frowned at the fire-haired girl and then glanced at Jeri, who looked a bit put out, her eyes drooping slightly and one hand twitching, as if desiring to touch her wrist. That strange feeling from earlier returned and after a moment, Ayaka sighed. Reaching up, she patted Jeri on the head.

“Oh, go ahead and hang out with her. Stop looking like a lost puppy, already, will you?”

“Huh?” Jeri blushed and looked up at her friend, startled. “What do you mean?”

“Silly Jeri,” Ayaka smirked, though inside she couldn’t help but feel a little bit jealous at the hold Rika seemed to suddenly have over the brunette. “Hey, Firebrand. You want to take her off my hands? I think I’m going to need that chocolate at the house to get me through all the studying.”

“Huh?” Rika asked at least having the decency to look surprised before looking at Renamon before back at the other two girls. “I mean, sure, obviously. If Jeri wants to I mean. But I thought you two were supposed to hang out today or something.”

“Ayaka…” began Jeri, looking up at her friend uncertainly, only for Ayaka to take hold of the girl and pull her close.

“Trust me,” she said to the brunette. “I won’t mind.”

_ Better her than Kazu, _ a part of her whispered before she continued.

“Just make sure she gets home before dark,” she said to Rika before pushing Jeri toward her lightly. “And  _ you, _ let me know how things turn out. Don’t skip on details just because Firebrand and I get along as well as oil and a lit match.”

Not even giving Jeri a chance to protest, Ayaka hurried on past the two teenagers and one disguised digimon and, with just a wisp of copper hair trailing behind her, disappeared through the door so quickly that even  _ Renamon  _ couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Oh…Okay…” Jeri said, waving in confusion at the door as it swung shut. “I…guess we’re doing this now.”

“I feel like I’m missing something,” was the last thing Ayaka heard from Rika as the door swung shut.

**###**

Chewing on the eraser of her mechanical pencil, Ayaka stared at the numbers which were staring back at her, she wondered why Mnemosyne couldn’t at least help her be better at math. If it was going to fuck around with her brain, why couldn’t it do something positive or useful while it was up there?

Reaching for another bit of chocolate, her hand paused when her phone started to ring. Glancing over, she noticed it was Jeri. Her heart twisting slightly in her chest, she hesitated for a moment before picking up the ringing phone.

“How was your date?” she greeted.

_ “Very funny!” _ Jeri huffed from the other end of the phone.  _ “Do you want to tell me what  _ that  _ was all about? That was supposed to be our time together and you looked like you were trying to get rid of me!” _

“Jeri, if you haven’t noticed, I have eyes and a brain,” Ayaka replied rolling her eyes, busying herself with some chocolate feeling like the amount she had was suddenly not going to be enough. Not by a long shot.

_ I might need to go to the store and get some more after this _ … she thought, the miserable feeling becoming more known.

“You were practically glowing when Firebrand was with you and paying attention and looked absolutely devastated when she was about to go home. I’ve seen you act that way before a  _ lot _ with Takato,” she explained before her voice grew a bit softer as she forced the next bit out. “...I can tell you like her, Jeri. More than just a friend. I … wanted to be supportive.”

Jeri went quiet for a moment – a very  _ long  _ moment – before she spoke again.

_ “You’re imagining things,” _ she said, her tone barely audible.  _ “Besides, you know that Rika doesn’t like me like that. She’s…”  _ A pause.  _ “She’s always liked Takato. That’s why they kept getting together whenever they met each other again.” _

Her tone was harsh, as though she were just barely keeping herself from crying. She felt bad for doing this. For falling for Rika when she liked first Takato and then Kazu… Falling for Rika when she liked someone else and not her.

“Oh yes, she  _ clearly _ doesn’t like you that way even though you’re literally the only one she’s nice to on a consistent basis,” Ayaka replied sarcastically in kind. While she didn’t know for sure if the Demon Queen liked Jeri in that way, just the way she  _ acted _ with someone who she supposedly liked as opposed to Jeri raised a few eyebrows.

Hearing the way Jeri’s voice cracked though and sounded like she was about to cry, Ayaka took on a gentler approach. Part of her didn’t even know why she was encouraging this. If Jeri didn’t want to pursue the violent girl, good. However, another part couldn’t bear to see or hear Jeri in pain.

_ It’s like I’m in a Catch-22. God damn it, what is with this girl? _

“We both know I don’t like her, and I trust her as far as I can throw her, but I do think she’s better than Kazu. I mean that’s not exactly a high bar to beat but I will give it to her she doesn’t have the heart to hurt you. She can’t even say ‘ _ no’ _ to you,” Ayaka sighed. “Which don’t get me wrong, is a problem, but spoiling you rotten isn’t really something to complain about because she’s not bullying you like she does Takato.”

_ “She  _ never  _ bullied Takato!” _ Jeri harrumphed, and Ayaka smiled, imagining her puffing her cheeks out like a frustrated chipmunk.  _ “She’s just…playful in her own way. Besides, her being nice to me doesn’t mean that she likes me. Not…Not like how she liked Takato.” _

There was another pause, followed by a heavy, dejected sigh, surrendering all thoughts of denying how she felt now.  _ “Ayaka… What am I going to do? I’m in love with three people and I can only be with one of them…” _

_ Knew it _ .

Yet if Ayaka thought that knowing her best friend’s feelings would lessen the burden on her soul, she was sorely mistaken. If anything, she felt more tired. Takato she could understand. Kazu she assumed was a rebound that went too far due to Jeri’s romantic nature. However, Jeri liking Rika too was utterly perplexing to Ayaka.

Jeri said it herself - she and Firebrand were similar. Yet for whatever reason, the Demon Queen was  _ always _ the more popular. First with Takato, and now with Jeri. Ayaka just couldn’t understand it. What made Rika so much better than herself when she was so fucked up seven ways to Sunday?

“Well …why are you in love with each of them?” Ayaka suggested. “Maybe that can help answer your question or give you a starting place.”

Jeri was silent again, and for a moment, all Ayaka could hear was the sound of Jeri’s soft breathing.

_ “Takato… Takato was always so sweet and nice. When he remembered who he was, he was always so brave…and honest. I think that was what drew me to him in the first place. That he could be so brave, and be so open about how he felt. When I first saw him actually being a Tamer in a battle, he had just digivolved Guilmon to WarGrowlmon. When WarGrowlmon landed, he thanked Takato for fighting by his side, and Takato…hugged his leg. I knew he didn’t like all the fighting… That his first thought was about those he cared about… And…”  _ Another pause, and Ayaka could have sworn she heard the blush from down the phoneline.  _ “…it…also helped that he was cute.” _

She giggled, though in embarrassment.  _ “Which you know already…” _

Ayaka grunted, deciding not to reply to that bit.

“And Kazu and Firebrand?” she asked.

_ “Kazu…” _ She sighed.  _ “I don’t know. I mean, he gave me attention when I was looking for it. But…a lot of that was because of everything Mnemosyne had done to us. I saw Takato differently then, and I guess…I wanted to forget since Takato wasn’t paying attention to me. Kazu had a lot of the confidence that Takato didn’t have then. And he was…sweet in his own way. Very gentle. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me and he showered me with all the attention I wanted. But…sometimes I wonder… I  _ do  _ like him, but…is it the same? When we made love, it felt…good. So good. And I felt so safe in his arms. _

_ “But when I think about him and Takato and Rika…it’s…not the same anymore. And Rika… I…don’t know when it started really. But she’s just an amazing person. You don’t know her like I do, Ayaka. I’ve seen her heart. She likes to pretend it’s not there. She gets hurt easily, but she’s always looking out for others… Worrying about them. When she became Sakuyamon for the first time ever…it was like everything she tried to hide from others…her love for them and her concern for them…it found a real shape to it. _

_ “She cares about us, Ayaka, even though she doesn’t like to admit it much. A lot like you.” _

“So what makes her and I different then?”

The words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them, but now that they were out there, Ayaka didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. Taking a deep breath, she decided she might as well go in for the kill.

“Everyone is so up and arms about her, and it’s like she can do no wrong a lot of the time. It’s kinda frustrating,” she said, playing with the chocolate wrapper, her insides squirming uncomfortably but forcing herself to make herself  _ heard _ for once. “I mean everyone says she and I are a lot alike, but  _ nobody _ has ever acted the way they do around Rika around me. Is it because she’s a Tamer? Because she’s so good at everything she has a remote interest in? Or is it because I’m not a broken mess like she is?”

_ “No one’s said she can’t do anything wrong,” _ Jeri replied, sounding uncomfortable, but a fire woke in her now in response to Ayaka’s words.  _ “She has. Takato and Henry… They have stories about Rika from when they first met. Rika’s…not happy about having done things like that. She doesn’t like how she gets angry over small things, and a whole lot of other things. But these are things we know about her and have known about her for a long time. Ayaka, I’m sorry that I have to say this, but the reason we defend her is because you keep trying to make her look like something she’s not. _

_ “If it’s any consolation… It took Rika a while to really become our friend. And it took a lot of fighting. Takato, Rika and Henry… They depended on each other to survive against the Devas and the D-Reaper and so many others… You haven’t connected with them like that. Their relationship is just…different. I don’t know how else to explain it, but…you can’t just come in and say Rika’s a bad person when you barely know her…and they’ve trusted her with their  _ lives.”

Ayaka didn’t really know how to respond to that, so she didn’t. Wrapping her fingers around the chocolate wrapper, she felt her throat tighten up.

On some level, she knew Jeri was right.

It wasn’t like on some level she didn’t recognize that there was a gulf she just couldn’t breach, no matter how hard she jumped. That there was more to Rika than the demon persona which had been thrust upon her. After all, wasn’t it Rika who stood up to her scumbag ex boyfriend, punching him square in the face for her? Wasn’t it Rika, who after her cousin saved her from being hit by a car, came and visited her until Jeri arrived? Wasn’t it Rika who managed to be strong despite everything going around them?

And if Ayaka was being honest,  _ that’s _ why she hated her. For being able to do what she couldn’t. To stand up even when she fell down. If Ayaka fell into the Dark Ocean like Rika did, she doubted she would have been able to come out.

Not only that, she knew there wasn’t any way she could connect with anyone the way Rika did, which only made her feel that more useless. All she was really was a walking spy for Mnemosyne. She would never leave Rika’s shadow - she would always be useless and alone.

She wasn’t a Tamer. She wasn’t a hero. There was nothing she could do to help  _ anyone _ . All she did was hurt people.

The fact though even Jeri, who was supposed to be  _ her _ best friend, loved Rika more was the final straw.

_ I can’t do this anymore _ .

Tears stung at her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away but they just kept coming. She just wanted to forget this entire thing even happened. It wasn’t like she even wanted to know in the first place.

“ _ I can do that for you, if that’s what you wish _ ,” a voice murmured in her ear. Her heart twisted uncomfortably and her mouth felt dry, but she turned all the same to see a person whose gender she couldn’t tell with black hair and obsidian eyes sitting on her bed looking at her compassionately.

She didn’t need to ask who it was. She knew, after all, right down to her core.

Licking her lips, her voice cracked as she finally addressed Jeri again.

“Jeri … do you care about me?” she asked shakily.  

_ “Of course I do,” _ Jeri replied, worry in her voice.  _ “Ayaka. You’re my best friend. Why would you ask that? Are you all right?” _

“Then please … next time you see me … don’t remind me of anything,” she choked out. “It’ll be better. For everyone. So, don’t hate me for doing this and … play along, OK? I’m asking you this, as my best friend.”

_ “I’m confused. Don’t remind you of anything?” _ The worry was becoming much more apparent in Jeri’s voice.  _ “Ayaka… What are you talking about? Please… If there’s something wrong, tell me!” _

“Sorry,” was all that Ayaka said before closing the phone. Taking a deep breath she looked at Mnemosyne.

“OK.” 


	58. Truth and Lies

Jeri hadn’t been expecting a small package to arrive for her in the morning, especially from Ayaka after the girl refused to answer any follow-up calls and when the brunette went down to her house to see if everything was OK only to be told Ayaka had stepped out.

It was only at least 50 phone calls later did she get a text around midnight from Ayaka apologizing saying she had fallen asleep, yet when she asked her what she was talking about earlier regarding forgiveness, her friend seemed confused insisting they only talked about Jeri’s relationship issues.

_ Why did she mail this? _ She wondered as she brought it up to her room, her lips pulling into a frown upon seeing it was express shipping. Her stomach pulled uncomfortably at her heart as she placed the box on her bed, Calumon bounding over to her, his little hands outstretched expectantly.

“Creampuffs?” he asked hopefully, and Jeri took a moment to tear her eyes away from the box to smile at him and hand him a blueberry muffin.

“Afraid not,” she said before taking the moment to chide the little In-Training. “You get plenty of sweets from Mrs. Hata anyway, You should be eating more things that are healthy.”

“But they aren’t as tasty,” Calumon complained, sitting down on the bed and began to nibble at his breakfast anyway. “What’s that though?” His ears expanded, and Jeri could just see his imagination starting to run wild. There were times she was sure that Calumon could give even Takato a run for his money in imagination. “Is it a game? Or sweets? Oh! A game made out of sweets!”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, getting her key to break the tape seal. Ever since she tried committing suicide, her family - especially Masahiko - didn’t trust her alone with knives. As a result, there was nothing sharp which she could use to cut herself - or anything really - in the room, so over the years she learned how to make due.

Luckily Ayaka didn’t go crazy with tape, so it only took a minute of struggling with the box to open it. The first thing she saw though was an envelope with her name written on it in Ayaka’s elegant writing. Picking it up, she opened it to find a letter addressed to her, not paying attention to Calumon putting his muffin aside to investigate what else the mysterious box could hold.

_ Dear Jeri, _

_ I’m sorry I hung up on you like that yesterday. But if I stayed on the phone, I was worried you might talk me out of it, and I know it’s selfish of me, but I just couldn’t let that happen. And even now writing like this, I realize you still probably have no idea what I’m talking about. _

_ Jeri, I made a deal with Mnemosyne. I  _ choose _ to give up my memories. It wasn’t forced, and I even made it clear which ones I want to keep or want the least amount of change to. So I’ll be continuing to support you about your relationship issues. _

_ I know it’s selfish, but Jeri, I’m not like you. I was never like you. I wasn’t  _ supposed _ to have been brought in this entire mess. I’m not a Tamer. There isn’t anything I can contribute. I’ve only been causing rifts, starting fights. I can only sit on the sidelines and I can’t even relate to anything you guys are going through. _

_ I feel so useless. Though by the time you’re reading this, that should probably be past tense, huh? _

_ I think it will be better this way. I'll probably stop fighting with Firebrand. Kazu ...not so much, sorry. I won't have to be burdened with the knowledge all I was an unwilling spy, and you all can make your plans in peace. _

_ Uhm, I'm not sure what else I can say. I enclosed all the photos I took of you all. I considered burning them, so there would be no reminders, but I didn't think that would be right. They are one of a kind. _

_ So I decided to give them to you. _

_ Anyway Jeri, I know this isn't fair on you, but please tell everyone else and tell them to go along with whatever my versions of events are. _

_ I love you, and I'm sorry I'm doing this to you. Even if you can never forgive me, please at least understand. _

_ -Ayaka _

“Ohh here's me!” Calumon chirped, and Jeri looked up to see a photograph of Calumon on her shoulder, when she was 10, both of them smiling into the camera.

The picture dissolved in Jeri’s eyes as her vision swam, becoming wet from tears as the reality of Ayaka’s hit her full force. Pressing the photo against her forehead, Jeri made a harsh, choking sound before suddenly breaking down into a sob. She shook violently as the tears burst forth from her eyes and with a sudden cry she swung an arm, knocking the box of photos off her bed and onto the floor, its contents spilling out onto the rug. Jeri didn’t stop there though. Grabbing hold of her blanket, she tore it off her bed and flung it to the side. She repeated this process with her bedsheets, leaving only her bare bed left where she flung herself down, crying into her arms, ignoring Calumon…ignoring the whole  _ world  _ around her until, finally, her eyes were cried dry and red, and her nose was slimy and running.

She continued to shake however, her muscles continuing what her throat and eyes were no longer capable of.

**###**

There was a sort of heaviness in the air during lunch which hung over the Tamers like a dark cloud, a storm threatening to break out at any moment. Not even the company of the Digimon, which had alleviated the underlying tensions in the past, were enough for the sun to shine through.

As usual, Renamon had brought Terriermon and Calumon over to the school, after dropping Lopmon and Impmon off earlier at the middle school where Suzie and the twins were at. The two smaller Digimon had to stay hidden, which was never a problem in the small alcove of the courtyard where they ate lunch.

Rika and Henry seemed to be having a silent conversation, borderline argument, based on their facial expression, only interrupted by the Chinese boy telling Terriermon off for telling some new bullshit to Calumon.

Finally, the silence was broken by Rika, who - after a head jerk and a  _ look _ from Henry - finally looked at Jeri instead of picking at her rice.

“Uhm. Uh … How you holding up?”

Jeri looked up at Rika, her chopsticks pausing in their empty picking at her food, her amber eyes, flanked by the red revealing that she had been crying again. Her lips trembled a little, as if trying to respond, only for her to drop her gaze and close her eyes, shuddering violently.

“Just…Just thinking about Ayaka…” she whispered.

She had texted and called around to appraise everyone she could of the situation as she understood it, starting with Takato and Kazu as they would meet Ayaka first, leaving it up to them to inform Kenta before firing off a text to Henry and Rika, unable to find her voice to adequately explain the situation. Pain. All she could feel was a bottomless well of hurt that struck the very core of her being. It was different from the slow, encroaching madness that overtook her in middle school, which was more of a constant, piling of emotional stress like a volcano that eventually burst. This was different; closer to when Leomon had been killed. It was raw and red with hurt, having all the shock of nails clawing at skin.

She didn’t know what to do, or how to handle it. She found herself doing what she did before; she shut down. She drew back.

Her phone buzzed twice in her pocket, but she ignored them. Messages from Takato and Kazu no doubt, but she was less inclined to talk to them right now and wanted nothing more than for the world to leave her alone right now.

“Oh, uhm,” Rika stammered, looking to Renamon and Henry for help, or perhaps guidance, before scooting closer and reached out and held Jeri’s hand. “Do you, uh, wanna talk about it?”

Jeri shook her head quietly, continuing to pick at her meal. She didn’t want to cut Rika out, and it felt hypocritical of her to do so when she felt –  _ believed – _ firmly in talking out problems, but this was a shock that needed to wear off a bit first before she could even talk about it. If she spoke about it now, she was afraid of what she might say and how she might accidentally hurt people if she did.

Rika was quiet for a moment before-

“How about a hug?”

Jeri was silent for a moment before nodding, her eyes becoming wet with tears once more, and she sniffed loudly.

“P-Please…” she mumbled softly, her voice quavering.

Rika scooted even closer and wrapped her arms around Jeri and pulled her close, cradling her gently. She didn't say anything else or ask any more questions. When it came to giving people their space, the redhead seemed to understand that concept the most, for which Jeri was immensely grateful for right now.

Henry watched silently but didn't say anything himself. Though being friends with Rika he no doubt learned when to push and when not. Renamon watched the pair as well, though her attention was divided to make sure Terriermon wouldn’t cause trouble to lighten the tense mood. After all, he already tried to goad Calumon into helping him scare other students before she put a stop to  _ that _ quickly enough.

Jeri leaned into Rika’s hug, letting some tears fall down her cheeks. They weren’t many; she cried too much already for more than a few to be possible, but they were there.

“I just…wish she talked to me first,” she said, her body starting to shiver again. “I feel like I’ve lost her. Even though I can still see her, it still feels like she died!”

Rika didn't say anything, just stroked her hair, looking completely lost. It was Henry who spoke up.

“... I think maybe we should talk about this as a group. It's … troubling that Ayaka chose to forget, but what is scarier is the implications,” he said slowly before glancing up at Jeri. “I'm wondering though how long it will last. The memory rewrite I mean.” He paused, glancing at Rika who was now silently begging him with her eyes to keep talking. “I mean Digimon are still out there, and Ayaka’s pretty smart.”

Jeri’s eyes widened slightly at this revelation. She hadn’t thought of that, and her head lifted away from Rika as a flash of excitement coursed through her. Ayaka’s memory could come back! And all it needed was the digimon!

_ But… Ayaka said that she didn’t want anyone to try and help her remember… _ she thought, her eyes becoming crestfallen as she worried over her bottom lip.  _ Is it a good idea to go against what she asked me to do for her? _

At the same time, however, the return of Ayaka’s memories seemed like an inevitability. After all, the battle with Daemon had been  _ very  _ public, and it wouldn’t take much for her to remember, even with Mnemosyne’s tampering.

Not unless they were  _ all  _ mind-wiped.

Again.

Turning toward Henry, Jeri nodded in agreement.

“I’ll text everyone,” she said, pulling out her cell phone.

**###**

The team was assembled within short order, and Jeri found herself surveying each and every one of them. Takato and Kenta were already at the hideout when they called, and the two of them sat on the steps when they arrived. Kenta looked depressed and not even MarineAngemon’s laughter and hearts were enough to scare away his negativity. Takato, for a change, was stone-faced with a bruise swelling on his cheekbone, petting Gigimon in his lap. His red eyes, normally warm and welcoming, greeted them simply – almost like a formality – before turning back inward, as if thinking on some problem.

_ Probably what happened with Ayaka and Mnemosyne, _ Jeri thought to herself, a bit worried about the unexpected bruise on his cheek and wondering how it got there. Her expression softened a little though, remembering he had been like this since the Dark Ocean.

Kazu and Ryo sat together a short way across from the pair and their partners, Ryo and Haguramon both listening – or at least in Ryo’s case, humoring – Kazu as he regaled them of adventures past. Jeri smiled at this. Of all of them, Kazu had made the largest effort to bring the Legendary Tamer back into the group.

_ “I don’t care what Rika says!”  _ he had said when exchanging numbers with Ryo last week.  _ “He’s one of us, even if he doesn’t have a partner or remember that he even has one! It’s no different from keeping you or Ayaka in the loop, and if we kept  _ Ayaka  _ in the group, then we’ll definitely need Ryo. You know, to balance things out.” _

Of course, Jeri knew that Kazu was Ryo’s biggest fan, which no doubt contributed to the decision, but all the same, it was nice to see the boy making more friendly, inclusive motions; a far cry from his more abrasive behavior from months past when this whole mess started all over again.

Suzie sat between the four boys, her hands crushing Lopmon to her as her eyes flitted from the newcomers – specifically her brother – to Takato and back again, a worried look on her face, but…for the moment, she maintained her position, as if afraid of doing more.

Jeri wondered about her relationship with Henry, as she hadn’t been on speaking terms with her brother for quite some time now.

“Hey everyone,” Jeri greeted.

“Jeri!” Gigimon’s ears perked up and he rose in Takato’s lap. “Rika! Henry! Terriermon! Calumon!” Blinking, he peered around and sniffed the air questioningly before suddenly giving a loud  _ woof,  _ his tail wagging and batting against Takato’s face, jolting the boy out of his thoughts. “Renamon! Everyone’s here, Takato!”

“Almost everyone,” Takato pointed out, rubbing at his bruise as he turned his partner around to keep from getting hit by the tiny red-ball’s tail as it continued to wag happily. “Impmon and his partners aren’t here yet.”

“What happened to your face?” Rika asked instead, asking the question Jeri was wondering herself with none of the tact to go along with it. There was a small sigh from Renamon, which only grew into a groan when Terriermon felt the need to add his two cents.

“Yeah! It looks like someone slugged you hard,” Terriermon piped up.

Takato grimaced. “Just…me being me, as usual,” he replied. “I decided to sound like a crazy lunatic to Ayaka and ran into her temper.”

“She sure popped you good, Chumley,” Kazu nodded sagely. “I told you it was a bad idea. Jeri even said to leave her alone.”

Takato shrugged, not willing to argue about it now. “At least we’ve narrowed down the list of people who she’ll listen to,” he noted.

“You have a weird way of going about the scientific method bud,” Kazu chided. “And it looks painful too. Good thing we have the team medic here on standby.”

“So you decided to go against her wishes too, huh Takato?” Rika snarked. “Good to see you’re really working on the listening thing.”

If Takato had a response in addition to Renamon’s facepalm, it was interrupted by Mako’s loud-

“We’re here, we’re here!” as he came dashing toward them as fast as his little legs can carry him. Just ahead of him was Impmon, running slightly faster, and Ai lagging further behind, not at all joining the race which the Rookie won.

“You’re still too slow, Mako!” Impmon crowed before flexing his little arm, Ai finally joining them at her own pace, not looking too pleased at her twin and partner’s antics. “Once again, I am the fastest ‘mon alive.”

“Oh?” Terriermon asked arching an eyebrow before turning to Renamon. “Hear that Renamon? I think Impmon’s challenging you to a  _ race _ .”

Crossing her arms together, Renamon made a derisive  _ huh  _ sound, making it quite clear what she thought about the so-called ‘challenge.’

“Perhaps when he actually grows up a little…”

“I’ll race! I’ll race!” Gigimon laughed, bouncing in the frowning Takato’s arms. The boy’s face softened a little bit as he gave his partner’s ears a scratch.

“Hate to break it to you boy,” Takato pointed out, “but we’re here for a meeting, not for fun. We can race Impmon afterward though, okay?”

“Ohhh…” Gigimon moaned, but he set himself down on Takato’s legs all the same, tucking his tiny feet underneath him. “Oookaaay…”

“Cheer up,” Kenta said, trying to interject some more good humor into the meeting. “I mean… Um…” Kenta awkwardly scratched the back of his head, floundered, and looked at MarineAngemon helplessly, who simply shrugged his tiny arms and made a  _ poohing _ noise.

“I’m no good at this,” Kenta groaned, adjusting his glasses.

“Cheer up,” Kazu grinned. “At least you’re a master of awkwardly doing bad. That’s got to count for something, right?”

He turned his smile toward Jeri, only for it to falter as he encountered her frown.

“I-I mean, we’ll work on it… You can’t get a first-place ribbon for being last all the time, right? Bad for our image.”

Jeri’s frown only grew deeper at that. Seeing this, Ryo couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“Don’t worry Kenta,” the Legendary Tamer spoke up, offering the boy a small smile. “It’s the thought that counts. We understand what you were trying to do.”

“I…guess…” Kenta mumbled half-heartedly.

“Well how about we get the meeting out of the way so Impmon and Gigimon can race?” Henry suggested before glancing at the two small Digimon, his eyes narrowing slightly making sure they realized he meant business. “Without drawing attention to ourselves.”

“Yeah, yeah, I  _ got _ it already. Stay down and outta the way,” Impmon waved Henry off. “So can ya tell me what is such a big deal we needed to come together like this? Also fer someone who is stressing that we keep on the downlow, don’t you think a group of kids and Digimon gathered in the park like this draws, I dunno,  _ attention _ ? There has to be a better way about it.”

“Not a way where we can’t be sure Mnemosyne isn’t listening in. Which reminds me, phones off everyone,” Henry instructed, pulling his own phone out and powering it down.  

Jeri took out her phone and turned hers off, as did everyone else. All the same, Takato, she noted, looked pensive.

“Mnemosyne probably knows we’re up to something anyway,” he pointed out. “We all sent messages back and forth about meeting up. I bet he has one of his weird birds keeping an eye on us.”

Jeri bit her lower lip at this reminder, remembering how the echo of Leomon had died to those birds, as did many other echoes.

“I don’t smell anything though,” Gigimon piped in. “Maybe I should digivolve? My nose as Guilmon might pick up weird smells that I’m not as Gigimon.”

“We’re just talking about what happened with Ayaka,” Jeri said. “Mnemosyne… It can’t really think that our meeting up to talk about her decision is going to be anything it needs to spy on us for…right?”

It  _ shouldn’t,  _ at least from her perspective. Why  _ would  _ Mnemosyne be interested in what they had to say about Ayaka’s choice?

_ Maybe…because it’ll help it figure out who to go after?  _ Jeri wondered.

“There’s nothing around,” Renamon assured them. “I will inform you if there is.”

Henry nodded gratefully at Renamon before looking around at the group, his eyes lingering a moment on his sister and only moving on when Suzie looked away, a scowl plastered on her face.

“Right, so with Daemon’s attack, we have learned a couple of things to start off with,” Henry said, holding up two fingers. “First, Mnemosyne was  _ not _ destroyed by Hypnos with the Hazard effect, just severely weakened. Second, it is now at full power and has the ability to fully use its capabilities again.”

Putting his hand behind his back, he began to pace back and forth as he continued to talk.

“Even though it could have hid it’s presence and allowed us to be killed by Daemon before acting, it didn’t. It not only cooperated with Hypnos, but informed them of its plan. Furthermore it had plenty of time to act in this past week to do something about our memories, but  _ hasn’t. _ In the past, this has never happened, and it was bugging me why it suddenly changed it’s MO.” He stopped and looked at Jeri, his face grim. “That is until Ayaka chose to erase her memories.”

Returning his gaze toward the group, Henry addressed everyone with an air of solemness.

“I was thinking on this all day ever since Jeri texted us earlier. Then it hit me; there is less chance of us moving against it if we  _ chose _ this path instead of it being forced upon us. So now instead of pointing the proverbial gun at us, it has given  _ us _ the gun and is seeing which one of us will pull the trigger.”

Takato rubbed at his bandaged hands, wincing at the prickling of his injuries. He glanced briefly at Jeri and then at Rika before turning his attention to Renamon. Jeri, seeing this, shifted in place, wondering what was going through his mind, if he was thinking about how he felt about her and Rika; if he was remembering the echo of Renamon. As she continued to track his gaze, he brought his eyes down to Gigimon. As if sensing this, the little red ball’s ears twitched and he shifted in the boy’s lap.

“Takato?”

“I was just thinking… However Mnemosyne goes about things now, it’s still out there, and it’s still looking to erase our memories. Is that…right?”

He pressed his lips together, trying to piece together his thoughts.

“I don’t know if I’m saying it right. I’m not sure  _ what  _ to say really, but… I guess what I’m trying to ask is…where do we go from here with this? Can we really expect it to let things stay like this and just…hand us the gun whenever? Do we actually know that Mnemosyne is back up to full power? What do we  _ really  _ know about it?”

“You mean besides how it likes eating our memories and changing how we act?” Kazu offered sarcastically.

“I’m being  _ serious, _ Kazu!”

“So was I.” Kazu leaned forward, patting his mechanical partner on the head. “Look, I’m no friend to Mnemosyne. I think it’s a prick, and that’s really all we know. It showed up and broke us all apart over and over again, and that hit us all differently. It made me a douche. It made you into a wuss and now you’re trying to compensate for it. It made Kenta into  _ more  _ of a wuss…”

“Hey!” Kenta protested, but Kazu moved on.

“It took out  _ all  _ of Ryo’s memories, made Rika even more batshit crazy than a Gorillamon on a unicycle…”

“More batshit crazy than a Gorillamon on a unicycle!” Haguramon began to mimic, only to be stopped by a gentle  _ thud  _ of his partner’s fist against his metal hide.

“Watch your mouth, bud, you’re just a Rookie.” Lifting his gaze over to Jeri, Kazu’s expression softened.

“It fucked us  _ all  _ up in so many ways.”

Jeri’s eyes locked with Kazu’s, and she felt a small blush rise up in her cheeks, and she found her hands tying themselves around each other, wishing she had Calumon on hand to squeeze.

For a wonder, Kazu was looking quite mature, and very much like the young man she saw when they first went out all those months ago.

_ How long ago that feels, _ Jeri thought, painfully aware of Rika’s presence close to her.

“And who’s to say that it won’t keep doing that anyway?” Takato asked once Kazu trailed off. “Maybe it’s just biding its time… Trying to figure out why we keep remembering so that when it figures that out, that’s when it comes after us.”

The crimson-eyed boy narrowed his eyes and looked up.

“I don’t know what Mnemosyne is up to,” he said. “But I think we need to finish up our business with it before it gets the final win. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to do this all over again. We don’t even know what’ll happen to our partners if we’re made to forget again. We may not get another chance!”

As if sensing the stress in his partner’s voice, Gigimon nuzzled Takato’s hands and licked at them gingerly.

Jeri lowered her eyes, thinking on what the two boys said. She couldn’t deny the merit of their words, especially Takato’s. All the other times they remembered, they hadn’t come anywhere  _ near  _ this far, nor did they have their partners with them to help level the playing field.

_ This…could be our last chance to end this once and for all… _

However, Henry had one word as he stared directly at Takato.

“How?”

As Jeri watched, Takato knotted his brow at Henry’s question, and she could sense the slight annoyance at his friend putting him on the spot…again.

_ This again. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to win, _ she could almost hear him thinking.

“We can work with Hypnos like we did before,” Takato replied. “We know Hypnos isn’t on the best terms with Mnemosyne either. Heck, we can brainstorm  _ now.  _ This  _ isn’t  _ impossible. We know we can hurt it. This isn’t any different from when we fought the Devas or the D-Reaper.”

He paused, his crimson eyes meeting Henry’s grey ones.

“I know things looks bad… That we might not win, but I know for a fact that we won’t if we don’t try.”

“Chumley’s got a point,” Kazu remarked, pulling Haguramon over to him and resting his arms atop the floating, mechanical digimon.

“Of course he has a point!” chimed in Gigimon, puffing up his cheeks, making himself even rounder. “We fought so many bad digimon and we fought the D-Reaper! We beat them by working together and standing up to them! Why should this be any different?”

“Maybe because the Devas and the D-Reaper couldn’t just erase our memories?” Kenta pointed out, pushing his glasses up onto his face.

“We’re still getting  _ somewhere _ by actually fighting so far though!” Takato exclaimed. “We just need a good plan of attack. Maybe… What about our digivices? Mr. Mizuno said that there was all kinds of things they could do… ‘Teach data how to behave’ or something. I created Guilmon with mine. It can slash a blue card Kazu made using  _ colored pencils!  _ Maybe Hypnos can do something similar with them? I mean, what if…what if we slashed all those notes Henry made for the program he was making against Mnemosyne? Would  _ that _ do something?”

Takato was, of course, spit balling ideas at this point, and Jeri could see the frustration in his eyes of having to go through this yet  _ again  _ with his friends, particularly Henry, who only seemed to be more interested in stonewalling than finding a solution.

Jeri glanced at Rika out of the corner of her eye, wondering what Rika would do this time. At the hospital she had been so distraught and dispirited from the death of echo-Renamon and IceDevimon’s attack on Takato that she had been in a similar situation, and it led to Takato leaving the hospital, trying to affect change on his own.

_ Will she do the same thing here? _ Jeri wondered.

Rika, however, once again was staying silent. Her brow was becoming more furrowed slightly, and she was glancing at Henry with increased worry, but she didn’t say anything. Not that it was totally unusual - she didn’t say anything the last time either. Still, Jeri couldn’t help but wonder  _ what _ her thoughts were now.

It was impossible to tell.

“Takato, Hypnos used the Hazard, which I will remind you,  _ has the power to destroy the entire Digital World and maybe even our own _ , and that  _ still _ didn’t kill Mnemosyne!” Henry snapped. “They essentially threw a nuclear bomb at it, and like a cockroach, it survived! Weakened it, yeah, but we don’t know for truly how long because it could have easily been biding its time because newsflash, it’s not like the D-Reaper and a mindless AI bent on one thing! It has shown the ability to move and adapt, and already has a great grasp on human psychology that it’s  _ clearly _ been using to further its own goals!”

“Mnemosyne also did say it removed the Hazard from Hypnos databanks,” Ryo added, speaking up for the first time since the meeting was called. When attention turned on him, he shrugged. “I overheard Himiko arguing with Riley about it. I don’t think they knew I was listening in.”

That’s when Mako spoke up, his voice slow and quiet. Jeri only knew the boy from when she saw him hanging around with her younger brother, but the way his nose was scrunched up, she could tell.

“Is … Mnemosyne really the bad guy though? I mean, it was the one who sealed Daemon away. If it didn’t, Daemon would have killed everyone. It was our own fault we weren’t in the circle,” the little boy said slowly. “Also … when I was in the room when the adults were talking to it, when the man with the sunglasses asked if it would erase our memories again it said it was a low priority, and it had other things to take care of.”

“Just because it helped seal away Daemon doesn’t mean it’s good!” Suzie snapped irritably, hugging Lopmon closer to her. “One good thing doesn’t make it not a bad guy! Thing!”

That’s when Rika finally spoke, her voice coming out in a sigh.

“We’re all arguing over the semantics if it is good or bad, when neither is the case. It’s just an AI with a God-complex that is trying to do what it thinks is right, but not understanding the biggest thing of being a god is allowing others to have free will and make it’s own choices up until now,” she said. “It’s done good things. It’s saved our lives. It’s done bad things. It destroyed echoes which we cared about and erased Ayaka’s memories. But it’s been operating on it’s own code of morals, and if it really wanted to end us, like the D-Reaper did, it would have done so already. It had  _ six _ years to do so. Plus, we don’t know what it’s actually programmed to  _ do _ . What if destroying it has a negative impact on the Digital World or something? Saying that we should go out and destroy it when we know  _ nothing _ at all about it, is quite frankly, stupid.”

Henry looked at Rika gratefully before returning his attention back at Takato.

“Plus the program I was working on, I already gave it to Himiko,” Henry said, shaking his head. “And programming isn’t quite as easy as sliding it into the D-Arc; the way the codes are set up have to be right otherwise nothing will happen at best or the opposite of the intended effects will be the opposite at worst. Think of it as having a combo card that you did wrong but on a much worse scale if things don’t go right. So I would need to run the code through a computer to make sure everything is correct, which, reminder,  _ Mnemosyne can spy on us from _ .”

“So what I’m hearing is nothing can be done because Mnemosyne is an unknown location, that can survive the equivalent of a nuclear bomb being thrown at us, is Big Brother personified and has the power to mess with our memories,” Ai asked dryly.

“Pretty much!” Terriermon replied cheerfully.

“OK, so I vote for keeping our head low and trying not to piss of God-complex AI with god-like powers,” Ai said, crossing her arms. “If we have the gun in our own hands now, just don’t shoot.’

“Well…” Henry said slowly only for Ai to glare at him.

“What else is there?”

“... We don’t know what it might do to push us in the corner to  _ make _ us shoot,” Kenta spoke up quietly before looking at Henry. “Right?”

Henry nodded.

Takato frowned slightly. “Whatever Mnemosyne is with the digital world…we don’t know anything about that. What we  _ do  _ know is that, whether it’s good, evil, or somewhere in between, it’s  _ not  _ done with us. We’re ‘low priority’…for now. Even if we do nothing but keep our heads down. How long will that last? Until it figures out a way to erase our memories without our permission? Until something big happens by accident that it can use to justify its ideas?”

He looked at each of his friends in turn, his eyes narrowing even more.

“It’s going to come for us again no matter  _ what  _ we do. The Hazard might not be enough. I don’t think we should use it anyway, so we should try a different approach. I don’t know what that is but just  _ sitting around _ and hoping for the best  _ isn’t  _ our best option. Yeah…it can adapt, but so can we!”

“A gun in our hands only works if we have a target anyway,” Kazu added. “We need to know more about Mnemosyne and where it is, otherwise we might as well be Kenta trying to bluff me with a bad hand in a game of digimon. Mnemosyne has us by the balls and we can’t return the favor just by sitting around doing nothing.”

Jeri closed her eyes before opening them again. She could see the arguments from both sides. This  _ was not _ an easy argument to have. Kazu’s crude remark might have been just that, crude, but it was  _ accurate.  _ Mnemosyne held all the cards even though they had fought it to a standoff and worse, it, like the D-Reaper, was committed to its goal. Their memories being low priority didn’t mean it would never come after them. Just that they were  _ postponed. _

_ Postponed until it can deal with us again. Maybe…Maybe it’s hurt more than we think. Or maybe everything that’s been happening is a symptom of something else. Maybe whatever cards it’s holding won’t last long. But…if it knows that…what happens when it gets desperate? Will it just come after our memories again? Eliminate a mosquito so it can deal with a wasp? We are an X-factor after all, and we might turn into a wasp if we’re left alone for too long… Especially if it thinks we can create more wasps. _

“I’m not saying we stand around here do nothing, because believe me, more than any of you, I am  _ fully _ aware of what Mnemosyne can do,” Henry shot back, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hand.

“Momentai, Henry,” Terriermon said worriedly, patting his partner on the head. “Calm down.”

“No!” Henry snapped causing everyone to look at him in shock. It was one thing when Rika snapped, but for  _ Henry _ to be this upset- Jeri wasn’t sure when the last time she saw him this way. Or if ever now that she thought about it. He was always the mountain standing fast against the howling wind. Now, however, he seemed to be the  _ storm _ .

“Henry,” Rika spoke out, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Just take a breath and say what you want to say.”

The Chinese boy practically glowered, but after a moment, he did so. When he spoke again, his voice was a lot quieter.

“Mnemosyne’s mind erasing powers aren’t absolute,” he said finally. “It can’t mind erase me anymore.”

There was a beat of shocked silence before Suzie spoke up, finally addressing her brother since the first time they got there. Or perhaps longer - Jeri wasn’t quite sure what the situation was currently between the two Wong siblings, beyond knowing it was  _ Rika _ who texted Suzie not Henry.

“The  _ fuck _ , Henry!”  

Takato blinked at this bombshell. 

However, before anyone could say anything, Suzie just kept railing into her older brother.

“Seriously! What the _fuck,_ Henry?!” Surging up from her spot, she stormed over to him and jabbed a finger into his chest like a dagger, pushing him back. “I can’t believe you! You…You… _idiot!”_

“Uh… Suzie…?” began Mako, hoping to reign her in, but Suzie just drove on, her words cutting over his with all the brutality that the raging fire of her anger could summon.

“Everything you’ve done has been  _ dumb!  _ You’ve hung back and let Mnemosyne run all over us…  _ Hurting us! _ You did  _ nothing  _ in all that time and you’re  _ still  _ doing nothing! Hiding secrets? Staying low? We’ve been doing nothing  _ but that  _ and when we finally get this far you’re only advice is to keep doing  _ more  _ of what already  _ hasn’t  _ been working! You always think that everything you do is right and never wrong! That’s why you attacked Takato! That’s why you tried to turn everyone against him when he wanted to do something about Mnemosyne! Well you know something! We’re  _ done  _ with…!”

_ “That’s enough!” _

Takato’s own eruption broke across Suzie’s anger and she jumped suddenly upon hearing it. Whirling about, she saw the boy gripping his partner tightly, eyes clenched and his teeth grinding together. Every part of him spoke of tension as his muscles trembled, and Gigimon grunted from his partner’s grasp. Finally, he took a deep, shuddering breath and relaxed, and Gigimon sighed with relief.

“Henry has done a  _ lot  _ more than you think,” he said, turning a fearsome look on the young girl. “He had a lot less going for him – for  _ all  _ of us – and he had to fight in the only way he knew. I…” He squeezed Gigimon again, though this time not as bad as before. “I don’t blame him for wanting to keep going on that road. It was a road that  _ worked.” _

Taking a deep breath, he spoke, and Jeri’s eyebrows rose as the brown-haired boy spoke again, this time with words that she wasn’t used to hearing from him. Words that she read in class as an assignment.

“The undiscovered country from which no visitor returns, which we wonder about without getting any answers from and which makes us stick to the evils we know rather than rush off to seek the ones we don’t…”

Kazu looked at the boy, utterly baffled at this, and confused. “What…?” he began, his eyebrows knotting together. “Is…Is that from school?”

“Uh…yeah,” Kenta nodded, equally stunned. “That…That was from our English class I think.”

“It was,” Takato acknowledged, blushing a little in embarrassment. “Shakespeare I think. I…I only get a fifty-seven in English, and I don’t remember much about what we read because of the language barrier, but… _ that  _ kind of stuck with me and it’s been on my mind a lot lately.”

He frowned down at the ground, massaging Gigimon’s scales.

“It’s really freaky going into stuff when the future is uncertain. Izzy from the digimon show said something similar about fools rushing in where angels fear to tread. I get that.”

He looked up again. “I get that. I really do, but I don’t think we can stay that course any longer. We need to do something more than what we’ve been doing. We have more going for us now than we did before. We still need to take care, but I think…no matter what we do, no matter how careful we are, we won’t get another chance. Mnemosyne… I don’t think it will give us that chance. We’re already a pretty bad nuisance to it, so whatever we do…it needs to be picture perfect from start to finish. But I don’t think we can keep going as we have been.”

His eyes settled on Suzie, and she looked away, her face flushing. “But don’t say Henry was wrong for keeping his memory a secret. Don’t  _ even  _ say that he was doing nothing or being a coward. Henry is one of the bravest and smartest people I know and he had the whole world on his shoulders. I don’t think any of us could have done anything else. I don’t think anyone could have done it  _ better.” _

“Takato…” Jeri whispered, her eyes watering a little. She hadn’t expected this show of support for Henry from Takato. Not after everything that happened and how they had been in such opposition to each other on how to handle the situation with Mnemosyne.

_ But then…he’s never really been the sort of person to hold things against someone, _ she thought, remembering Impmon. Even though Takato had been willing to kill him for what he did to Leomon, upon his turning over a new leaf and showing remorse for his actions, Takato had been very quick to welcome him back. The fight between himself and Henry… Neither of them had been quite themselves. From his perspective, it was better to forgive and forget when he knew Henry.

Henry, however, didn’t say anything at first, not meeting anyone’s eyes. His hands balled up into fists before suddenly they went limp. His eyes lifted to look at his sister’s before looking away. He opened his mouth, shutting it for a moment as if thinking better about it and turned on his heels and started to walk away.

“Henry!” Rika called after him, dragging her hand across her face and began to run after him. “Come on,  _ Henry! _ ”

Jeri blinked, startled at this sudden reaction from the half-Chinese boy, as was everyone else, and she quickly started after him.

“Henry!” she called, her voice mirroring Takato’s as he started after him as well. Seeing this, Jeri raised a hand and shook her head, causing the boy to draw up sharply in confusion.

“Not…Not right now,” she clarified. “Let us see to him.”

It made the most sense in her mind. Although Takato, like Rika, was one of Henry’s closest friends, he was paradoxically the least likely to be able to help him. She could see the protest rise up in the boy, but upon the meeting of their eyes, something passed between them. An acknowledgement and trust that Jeri not only meant well, but that  _ she  _ needed to be the one to try and reach Henry, and not Takato.

“O-Okay,” Takato said, stepping back. “Could you tell Henry that…” He glanced away, scratching the back of his head. “…that I don’t think he’s bad or anything? Or…Or something? I don’t know. I’m…I’m not exactly making sense right now…”

“I’ll think of something,” Jeri said softly, a small, tired smile crossing her lips. “I know what you mean.”

“I’ll come…” began Kazu as he brushed by their friend, looking to loop his hand together with Jeri’s, but the brunette was quick to shut him down.

“No! Kazu, you’re…” She shook her head, reigning in her emotions. “Just…no. Please. This is delicate and…um…you’re… _ not.” _

“Hey!” Kazu protested. “I can be delicate! You know that!”

Seeing the odd look Takato was giving them, Jeri shook her head, hoping to end this topic as quickly as possible.

“Just…no. Let us handle this.  _ Please.” _

Her eyes met Kazu’s, and the boy sighed and relented.

“All right. If I can’t trust you to know what the right thing is, then I might as well throw in the towel now and get it over with. Do what you’ve got to do.”

“Thank you,” Jeri sighed with relief, bowing politely. With that, she turned and chased after the two Tamers, feeling her chest tighten up as she did so and recognizing it for what it was. The day was starting to catch back up to her, but she forced it to the side for the time being, knowing she was going to pay for it later. It didn’t take her long to locate the two – they didn’t get very far after all – Rika having quickly nabbed him, trying to talk to him.

Henry, much like Rika however, was being stubborn.

“Henry, come on,” Rika growled in frustrated, Renamon standing slightly off to the side, Terriermon still clinging on to Henry tightly, trying to help the fiery Tamer girl. “Look, I know you are upset, but seriously, just leaving isn’t going to help things. You  _ know _ that.”

“They made up their mind,” Henry mumbled. “No matter what I say, they’re not going to listen. Just let them do whatever they want.”

“Henry?” Jeri asked once she came into earshot. “Are you all right?”

It was, of course a rather redundant question, given that his mood was easy to pick out just now, but she felt it was important to try and draw someone out to talk about how they felt. Even when they didn’t, it told her a great deal about how to approach someone.

Coming to a halt next to the boy, she placed a hand against his forearm, a worried expression on her face.

“Henry, everyone’s worried and upset. What Ayaka did has them all rattled. Please… Don’t just leave because there’s a disagreement.”

“I’m not leaving,” he mumbled, pulling away from her while not looking at her. “I’m just … not going to deal with this anymore. You all decided what you wanted to do. You want to fight Mnemosyne? Fine. Have at it. I’m just not going to help with a crazy half-formed plan.”

At this, Jeri frowned angrily at the boy.

_ “No one’s  _ decided on  _ anything, _ Henry,” she replied a bit irritably. White hot anger flashed through her at this and she had to bite down hard on it to keep it from lashing out at the boy. “If you  _ helped, _ there wouldn’t  _ be  _ any half-formed plans! Henry, we need you! Even Takato would say that we need you!”

“Really?” he snapped, turning to glare at her. “Because I kept hearing you all wanted to fight Mnemosyne like it’s some sort of enemy which can be taken on like the D-Reaper! Just because you haven’t decided on the  _ method _ doesn’t mean your intentions aren’t the same!”

“Henry,” Rika groaned. “Not helping isn’t going to solve anything. You are the one who knows most of the information regarding Mnemosyne. What if something happens and what you knew could have helped?”

“Kill it?” the Chinese boy asked sarcastically.

“Keep everyone alive,” Rika retorted looking him straight in the eye.

“Henry…” Jeri began, pressing her lips together worriedly. “I don’t…I don’t understand why you’re so hesitant about this. We don’t have to delete Mnemosyne if that’s the issue, but…” She glanced up the stairs at their friends. “…shouldn’t we at least make it clear that we don’t want it messing with our heads?”

Twisting her hands together, she looked down, feeling almost ashamed.

“I…I don’t like what it’s doing. I  _ hate  _ what it’s been doing. I had the D-Reaper crawling around in my head, taking everything I was and using it to hurt others. Mnemosyne might have had good intentions, but it doesn’t change the fact that what it’s been doing was the same thing. I don’t think even you can live with that; knowing that it has that over our heads. It’s harder for others to remember when they’ve forgotten you know. A lot of things about what happened to us hurt. I wish the D-Reaper never happened. I wish I didn’t have to remember Leomon’s death, but…”

She glanced up briefly at Rika before looking away.

“…I love all of you, and I don’t want to lose any of you. And I know forgetting our friendship has been killing it by inches, and I know what it’s like to die by inches. It’s…not good at all.”

Henry didn’t answer at first, nor did he look at Jeri. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he finally said in a quiet undertone once more-

“Mnemosyne’s memory powers aren’t perfect. It can be dealt with.”

With that being said, he once again started to walk away. Rika started to go after him only for Renamon to hold her back by the shoulder and shake her head slightly.

“I think he needs time alone,” she said simply, glancing at Jeri as well.

Jeri’s hands were twisting around each other as she chewed over her lip. Finally…unable to contain herself any longer, she dashed after Henry.

_ “Please!” _ she shouted. “Henry! Don’t just leave like this! We’re part of a team!”

Her pace slowed to a crawl, her lips trembling as a fear she had been barely keeping in check since her friends vanished into the Dark Ocean came to mind and found a voice.

“Aren’t…Aren’t we…?” she whispered.

Rika jogged after her and pulled to a stop next to Jeri. Wrapping an arm around the smaller girl, the taller girl pulled the brunette in close to her for a loose hug.

“Speaking as the resident edgelord here, sometimes all people need is space. Let him cool his head for a bit,” she said softly.

Jeri dropped her face into her hands, her shoulders shaking violently.

“I don’t understand…” she said, fighting back tears. “This was supposed to be over when you all came back! Why…Why are we…we…?”

She found herself unable to continue and another cry ripped itself free from her throat. Almost at once, in response to the sound, Takato and Kazu came barreling down the stairs, alarmed looks on their faces. Calumon and Haguramon following behind - well, Haguramon following behind, Calumon was catching a ride on the Rookie. Gigimon of course was being squeezed in Takato’s arms.

“What happened?! Is Jeri all right?” Takato exclaimed, Kazu shooting him a hard look before rushing over to Jeri, hesitating only briefly at Rika’s possessive hug before reaching out and folding his hands around her, joining Rika in a reluctant embrace with Jeri.

“What happened?” Kazu repeated Takato’s question, a spark of anger in his eyes as he scanned the park for Henry. “Where’s Mr. Momentai?”

“He’s not in the mood for talking right now, calm down,” Rika shot back, scowling slightly. “I’ll talk to him a bit later. Don’t worry about it.”

“He just needs some space,” Renamon repeated herself calmly. “It’s been very hard for everyone, yes? Since we got here it’s been non-stop events; I can’t imagine what it’s been like prior to that.”

Jeri felt Kazu’s hand on her tighten. Realizing he was about to make an ill-timed, and not so witty retort, she forced herself to grab hold of her emotions and she lifted her tear-stained eyes.

“I-I’m fine,” she said softly. “Why…Why don’t we all just take a break for the rest of the day? C-Cool our heads. How’s that?”

Kazu was about to protest, but, as though he were on the same wavelength, Takato’s hand fell on his friend’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” he interceded. “Let’s do that. We’ll keep in touch.”

Scowling, looking as though he were getting ganged up on somehow, Kazu relented to his three friends, but he gave Jeri a gentle squeeze.

“You want me to text you later?” he asked the brown-haired girl. Jeri hesitated before nodding, albeit reluctantly. She felt like such a mess right now that she didn’t know if she would be in good enough condition to talk to anyone, but…it was Kazu, and he could be sweet to her when she felt bad about something.

She liked that about him.

Yet, as her eyes trailed from one person to the other before finally settling on Rika, she couldn’t help but feel as though that tiny bit of hesitation was something a little bit more.

“Okay,” Kazu replied to her nod, relaxing a little before pulling away. “See you then.”

Jeri felt a strange sense of emptiness as Kazu took a step back, rejoining Takato, and her eyes came to rest on him as well, and she felt a twinge of regret.

_ That could have been him if it hadn’t been for Mnemosyne, _ she found herself thinking with a touch of bitterness.

Calumon jumped off of the Rookie and landed on Jeri’s shoulder.

“You know what will make you feel better. Cream puffs!” he chirped, smiling at her hopefully.

Jeri smiled at Calumon and, reaching up, she took hold of him into her arms, squeezing him tightly. After a moment, she heaved a heavy sigh and looked over at Takato, who raised an eyebrow at her gaze and shifted uncertainly, feeling a bit apprehensive under her gaze, but he managed to meet her eyes without flinching.

“Uh…” he began carefully. “Jeri…?”

“Takato?” Jeri coughed, blushing a little as her eyes retreated quickly. “I think Calumon’s right. But…” She poked the tiny digimon’s belly knowingly. “I’m probably going to clean out your entire stock.”

At this, Takato barked a laugh, a look of relief flooding his face before he smiled at Jeri warmly, missing Kazu’s jealous expression.

“Somehow I don’t think my folks would mind.”

“My tummy won’t mind either if it makes Jeri happy!” Gigimon piped in, hopping out of Takato’s hoody. “Jeri should  _ always  _ be happy!”

Jeri hid her eyes behind Calumon’s ears at that, so as to hide the sadness that dwelled within them.

_ Too bad that’s impossible… _ she thought to herself.

“My treat,” Rika smiled at both Calumon and Jeri before giving a slightly amused, but stern, look at Gigimon. “You need to control yourself though. While I come from a well off family, I’m pretty sure you can out eat our assets.”

“He’s learning,” Takato said in defense of his partner, perching Gigimon atop his head. “Well…more like  _ relearning.  _ Renamon, did you try and keep him under control when you were in the digital world? Because he’s picked up some of his old habits again, like talking with his mouth full.”

“Hey!” Gigimon protested. “I like food and talking with my friends! What’s wrong with doing both at the same time?”

“I already told you, no one wants to see the food in your mouth when you talk. I thought Renamon would keep on you about that. She has the best manners out of all the digimon. And seriously…do you even  _ slow  _ down when you eat anymore? I swear you’ve gotten worse.”

“I can’t help it.” Gigimon’s ears wilted under Takato and Rika’s criticism. “Whenever I see food my head gets all funny.”

“No peanut butter for you until you shape up,” Takato frowned, crossing his arms together. “And I mean  _ shape up.  _ You’ve picked up a bit of a belly too.”

Jeri smiled at this, finding herself relaxing a little. “How can you tell when he’s just a little ball?”

“I bet some of that weight transferred over to Chumley when they biomerged and now he’s mad about it,” Kazu teased, poking at Takato’s stomach playfully. “What’s the matter? Not picking up the girl’s as easily as you used to?”

Takato met Kazu’s gaze flatly at that.

“No peanut butter for you either,” was all he said in response, causing the taller teen to blink in bewilderment.

“Huh? What are you talking about? I thought we had a deal that I  _ always  _ got peanut butter at your place!”

As Kazu turned his attention more fully onto Takato, Jeri leaned into Rika’s hug and sighed.

“This…isn’t exactly how I wanted things to go today,” she said quietly.

“Things never really go as planned,” the taller girl said simply in return, her thumb rubbing up and down on Jeri’s skin in a soothing manner. “All you can do sometimes is roll with the punches.”

Rika glanced down for a moment, scratched her cheek with her free hand before glancing away again.

“But … we’ll get through this, OK? I’m not going to let go anymore.”

Reaching up again, Jeri clasped hold of Rika’s hand where it caressed her upper arm and smiled in response to Rika’s words.

“Neither am I,” she replied, a faint glimmer of happiness at the other girl’s words lighting a candle in her heart.

As if in response to Jeri’s smile, a small one in return twitched upwards, but she didn’t say anything more.

Jeri sighed as she caressed Rika’s hand, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin against her touch, but even though she felt a touch of happiness, the rest of her emotions felt like a chaotic yarn ball of a mess, her feelings for the three people she was with tangling together just as they were all here, ‘tangling together.’

She tightened her grip on Rika’s hand, a part of her wishing she could enjoy this embrace more, that she could share it with all three of them more.

_ It’ll never happen though,  _ she thought, glancing over at Kazu, who was still arguing with Takato, or at least trying to as the boy was now ignoring his rants, his expression set in that odd look he had picked up of late; as though he were sorting something out in his mind. Her lips twisted a little at seeing it, not liking it. It made him harder to read and looked almost alien.

Finally, Kazu gave up on trying to badger his friend and, with a huff, crossed his arms together. There was a moment where she saw him shoot a dark look at Rika that caused Jeri’s heart to shiver a little, realizing that there was an odd tension radiating from him that hadn’t been there before; or perhaps…she hadn’t noticed it before, and why that was, she couldn’t figure out for the life of her.

That tension remained throughout the rest of their time together, and when the day ended and they all separated to go their own ways, Jeri found herself breathing a sigh of relief.

**###**

Jeri set her rather oversized bag of creampuffs down on her desk and landed in her chair with a heavy sigh. Calumon floated behind her, and seeing him, Jeri gave the tiny little digimon a smile before digging through the creampuff bag and tossing it to him. Squealing with delight, he caught it and zipped over to Masahiko’s bed whereupon he immediately got into a tussle with one of the boy’s socks, kicking at it with his oversized feet.

Jeri giggled, grateful for the brief distraction that her brother’s untidiness offered before returning her attention to her present solitude – such as it was for however long it took her brother to come up after he finished his chores, or for Calumon to get bored beating up a sock.

_ Rika walked me home, _ she thought, feeling uncertain about what to make of it. Kazu had walked her home when they initially dated. Not counting the time he did the same as Kazu inadvertently to the D-Reaper’s clone of her, Takato made the offer once when they were still kids – the day they were ready to send out messages to the digimon, before Mnemosyne arrived to plague their memories – but she had rebuffed him then, desiring to be alone with her thoughts. True, Rika had walked her home before, but this time it felt to her that there was more to it than before; something akin along the lines of when Kazu walked her home or when Takato had asked. She couldn’t explain why it felt that way, other than that it did.

_ Must be my imagination, _ she berated herself, taking out a creampuff from her bag and popping it in her mouth.  _ It’s probably because I’ve never ‘liked’ Rika in ‘that way’ before. _

Her mouth dipped downward at her potentially imagined scenario surrounding her time with Rika, a part of her simultaneously wishing it were real and also not. Things were complicated enough without adding to it, especially when she felt so unsure about falling in love with another girl…

Jeri jumped in her seat when her cell phone inexplicably buzzed in her pocket. Snatching it out, she hit the reply button upon seeing who it was from.

Ayaka Itou.

“A-Ayaka!” she stammered out. “H-Hi!”

“ _ Wow you sound nervous. Were you expecting a call from someone else?”  _ came the amused reply.

Jeri scowled at that and brought one leg up onto her chair, hugging it close to her chest as she rested her chin on her knee.

“No,” she said, closing her eyes as she schooled her voice to a more normal tone, all the years of hiding behind smiles and masking how she  _ really  _ felt falling into place as easily as putting on clothes.

It made her feel dirty, going back to that old habit, but Ayaka’s message to her rang true, as did the bruise Takato sported on his face.

“You just…caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

“ _ Hm, did I? Was I interrupting anything by chance then?”  _ Ayaka teased, and even though Jeri wasn’t there, she could see that shit eating grin plastered on the copper-haired girl’s face.

“No, I just got home from hanging out with the others, so I’m just relaxing a little. Takato, Kazu… Rika.” She popped another creampuff into her mouth. “Um…should I even ask why you punched Takato?”

“ _ We got into an argument, and Kazu’s inability to learn when to step off seems to have finally rubbed off on him _ ,” Ayaka replied breezily. “ _ And oh? A triple date? Anything saucy happen?” _

“It wasn’t a triple date!” Jeri exclaimed, blushing sharply. “W-Whatever gave you  _ that _ idea?”

“ _ Oh, gee, I dunno. Maybe the fact you specifically said those three names? The names of the people you are crushing on? And that stammer in your voice? _ ” Ayaka replied dryly. “ _ Seriously though, give me the details! _ ”

“We were hanging out with a few other people and it just…ended up with all of us getting creampuffs from Takato’s bakery,” Jeri explained, trying to avoid eye contact with the creampuff bag, as though it were a pair of eyes staring at her. “I…didn’t go looking for a date or anything.”

Biting her lower lip, Jeri dropped her leg back down to the floor and she leaned forward onto her desk. “That’s… _ all  _ that happened,” she said, her voice quieter. “It wasn’t just the four of us. We were a large group.”

“ _ Then why did only say their names? Jeez _ ,” Ayaka complained before there was a slight pause and then- “... _ Was there any sexual tension at any time? _ ” 

Jeri hid her flaming face in her arms and shook her head. Realizing that her friend was unable to see the negation, she spoke, her voice muffled.

“This is  _ not  _ funny, Ayaka,” she grumbled. “I don’t know why we’re even talking about this.”

She closed her eyes to the mental image of Ayaka laughing her head off at Jeri’s embarrassment.

She hated this conversation already. It was false. One giant lie. Just like the smiles and masks that she wore for years to keep people from worrying about her and to hide how she  _ really  _ was feeling about herself.

“It’s not like you can help me anyway,” she said, continuing the lie, taking some solace in the fact that this, at least, held a seed of truth to it.

“ _ I can be your wingwoman. Just because I can’t help you choose someone or make choices for you doesn’t mean I can’t support you _ ,”Ayaka replied before her voice became quieter. “ _ I’ll _ always _ be there for you, Jeri. OK? You’re my best friend _ . _ No matter what, nothing will change that _ .”

_ Unless Mnemosyne messes with your memories, _ Jeri thought bitterly. Lifting her head up from her arms, she repeated what felt like another lie.

“I know. It’s just…this is… _ very  _ difficult for me right now. I never thought anything like this would happen before.” She dropped her face back into her arms. “I’m not even sure I want them to be like this. Things used to be much simpler. But now… I feel like I’m just going to hurt someone, no matter what.”

“... _ Jeri want to know a secret? _ ”

“Is it going to be about how I’m going to hurt someone no matter what?” Jeri asked bitterly.

_ “Yes _ ,” Ayaka replied before she sighed. “ _ Look … no matter what, people hurt other people, even if it is unintentional or unwanted. I think that by trying not to hurt other people, you end up hurting yourself and missing out on things. I’m not saying don’t take other people into account, I’m just saying … think of your own happiness too. Please.” _

“Except…I’m not sure what makes me happy right now,” Jeri admitted. She had loved Takato for so long that she found she couldn’t let go so easily; Kazu had been so sweet to her, lavishing her with all the attention she desired, and Rika had been a much-needed ear and pillow when she needed it.

“Right now…I just want  _ everyone  _ to be happy,” she continued in a lower voice, a tiny tear springing free from her eyes and tracing a path down her cheek. She had thought she was all cried out, but it seemed that she replenished the reservoir somewhere down the line.

_ “I know,” _ Ayaka murmured. “ _ You’ve always been like that. It’s what I love about you. But what I want is for  _ you _ to be happy. So … focus on that for me, please?” _

_ If only I could, _ she thought, lifting a hand into her hair and twisting it around in her fingers. One thing that would make her happy right now would be to talk to Ayaka  _ before  _ she made her choice to lose her memories of working with the Tamers. It felt too much like her friend had died, even though that wasn’t the truth, and now… _ now  _ she had to carry on with a lie.

“I will,” she promised though, adding another pound or two to the weight she already carried on her shoulders. Another lie, or perhaps a half-truth, but she would swear the words for Ayaka all the same. “I will.”


	59. On the Edge

The answer had to be here somewhere, hidden among the zeroes and ones.

Truth of the matter was, Mnemosyne’s mind erasing - or perhaps better said, suggestion - powers wasn’t really that odd for an AI coming from the Digital World to have. Henry would be more impressed with its ability to do such a mass suggestion across the globe, but factoring the technology age as well several books and theories about memories and the extent of damage a powerful AI or Digimon can do, it wasn’t that surprising. Honestly, by now he understand the basic  _ theory _ of how Mnemosyne was doing this, the bigger question was  _ how _ .

There were engineers even now working on storing a human’s memory into a digital file. Memories after all were part of electromagnetic impulses between the brain, and it should - in theory - be possible to create a backup in case something happened to the original copy. One usually thought of death, but in this instance, it would be mind wipes. He knew it wasn’t impossible because he made a backup of his own memory.

The problem was, he had no idea how he did it.

“Are you sure you don’t sense any nearby stray echoes?” he asked Rika, rubbing his temples as the two of them worked on their math homework in the Hata family kitchen, his mind a million miles away from the problem he was supposed to be solving.

Rumiko had been hovering over them a bit earlier until Renamon had managed to convince her - and Terriermon - to leave the teenagers alone by pointing out the new episode of Rumiko’s favorite soap opera was on. Even from here he could hear Terriermon’s insistent questions about what was going on. Rumiko helpfully answered each one which arose, somehow not bothered by them all.

“I’m sure. Between Hypnos and Mnemosyne, if we want to find any echoes, we would probably need to go to some rural area in the middle of nowhere and hope that something just pops up,” Rika said slightly irritably, taking the tone of a parent who had been asked too many times, ‘ _ Are we there yet _ ?’

Turning to him, she gave him a look which let him know just how annoyed she was.

“Also if you are going to be suddenly obsessing over echoes when we’re doing homework, please drop a couple of places in the school rankings like a normal person, OK? The fact you are distracted and still number one makes me feel like you’re just showing off.”

A slight smile twitched on Henry’s lips at that, though it didn’t last long.

“Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t exactly mean it. While he had no doubt in his mind Rika had some irritation on misplaced priorities over school rankings, he didn’t really feel amused as he once might have been. Lately, all he’s been feeling was tired. It was at least a week since the argument at the park, and things really had been going more downhill since then.

He finally understood Rika’s general desire not to associate with anyone, especially when in a foul mood. While the redhead was of course an exception, he still couldn’t look at the others without fearing his anger would control him once again. And he couldn’t let that happen.

Bad things happened when he let his anger get the best of him. People get  _ hurt _ .

_ And I’m supposed to prevent that from happening _ , he thought pressing his lips together, the darkness of that day still haunting his memory. If Rika hadn’t stopped them … stopped  _ him _ ...

“Why the sudden obsession with them anyway?” Rika asked, solving the third problem and effectively snapping his mind back to the present.

“You don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” he quipped, glancing up just in time to see violet eyes staring at him with an unamused expression. “Well for starters, I actually didn’t really know about the echoes for the longest time. When I did, I saw them more as a novelty and a curiosity. I agreed with Renamon’s assessment that it was the being - who we later learned as Mnemosyne - ability to keep everything down as it were spiraling out of control.”

Pulling out a piece of paper he began to doodle a diagram as he continued to speak. Part of him wondered when it became easier to talk to Rika out of everyone else, even Takato. He and Rika had gotten closer over the years, true, but the irony of the fact he was now confiding in the person who was once his complete opposite didn’t escape him.

Part of him wondered what his 10-year-old self would say about the person he became. No doubt be disappointed.

“Memories have the ability to be stored digitally. While this is something we have actually to reach ourselves, it  _ is _ something we are working on and has already started making its way into popular culture and science fiction. Due to the fact our brain and therefore memories run on electronic impulses, it shouldn’t be that farfetched we could put them into say, a computer,” he explained, getting his thoughts out in the open. He found it easier sometimes to theorize out loud to someone else, and Rika thankfully was smart enough to have a general grasp on what he was saying most of the time. “So you could say that memories are something which fall into the digital realm. Also we know from psychology that in cases of a traumatic event people can repress memories, or have a totally different relocation of the event than what happened. The whole psychology of it is rather interesting.”

“Henry,” Rika said in a tone of voice which let him know he was getting off track.

“Right,” he apologized. “Anyway, to start with, Mnemosyne hasn’t been  _ erasing _ our memories exactly but somehow doing a specific type of suggestion, sort of like hypnotism but not quite. Second of all is that memories have been backed up somewhere...possibly the same place that we got that ‘library data’ that is in our bodies. This is a fact. The reason I can avoid the suggestions as it were is because I have a constant access to my memory back-up. Think of it as if your computer got a virus. You can get rid of it by going to the last time you backed it up, before you got it.”

A small part of him wondered if that was such a good thing after all anymore. He wasn’t going to say this to Jeri’s face, but he couldn’t help but notice from what limited interactions he had with Ayaka since she pulled the proverbial trigger, she looked a lot happier. Ignorance truly seemed to be a bliss.

“So what does this have to do with the echoes?” Rika asked with a frown, her brow furrowing.

“Well, think of the echoes as … pieces of data from the back-up in that library data. Remember how we thought for the longest time Mnemosyne was responsible for the echoes? Yet remember when the echoes got worse?” he asked, hoping Rika would catch on.

He wasn’t disappointed.

“After the Hazard incident … and they became more dangerous after Himiko nuked the bastard,” Rika said slowly. “So you’re saying … the echoes were pieces of our  _ back-up _ ?! We’ve been destroying our back-up memories?!”

Henry paused. He actually hadn’t thought of that until Rika just mentioned it. He furrowed his brow slightly. He made a mental note to talk to his father or Himiko when they came home, depending on whose house he was at for dinner. He had been eating more at Rika’s house to avoid Suzie, causing mom to apologize to Seiko over the phone profusely for putting her out.

“ _ Don’t worry about it. You looked after Rika quite a bit too, if I recall. We’re glad to have Henry here _ ,” he recalled the elder Hata woman assure his mother. Henry felt bad for imposing somewhat, but at the same time he was thankful he at least had somewhere to escape to that wasn’t an Internet cafe.

“Maybe? I’m not sure,” he admitted. “What I was thinking more along the lines was that the echoes could perhaps lead to clues on how to make back-ups for everyone else, so they don’t have to fight Mnemosyne. Although I would also like to know why some of them became sentient as well.”

He closed his eyes and leaned back, exhaustion once more catching up to him.

“There’s just a lot which we’ve seemed to miss.  _ I _ seemed to miss. If I was just more observant … thinking clearer …”

“Nothing would have changed,” Rika cut him off, and grey met violet. “Hindsight is a bitch, Henry. Trust me on that, OK? Don’t you get caught in ‘ _ what if _ ’ and ‘ _ if only _ ’ too.”

The Chinese boy didn’t need to ask what Rika was referring to when she said that, though he felt it was a bit too late for that. Still, even the logical part of his brain understood what she was saying, the tiny voice in the back of his head whispered,  _ reminded _ , him, “ _ You could have prevented this _ .  _ This is all your fault. _ ”

And the worst part was, he didn’t disagree.

**###**

Once again, he had stayed for dinner and ate with Rika’s family. He decided to leave shortly before the sun started to set, especially since Rika was going out to watch stars with Akira. She really hadn’t been talking about the fact she had been getting along with her little brother better, no doubt trying to be considerate and not remind him of his own troubles with Suzie, but he was listening when Jeri and Rika talked about it during lunch. He would be lying to say if he wasn’t the tiny bit jealous, but he reminded himself there were other elephants in the room she had to deal with too. In a twisted way, it made him feel slightly better before he felt like utter crap for even thinking like that.

Henry felt like he could live without remembering he had a twisted soul.

Opening the door, he texted Rumiko to assure her he got home safely - the woman was also starting to be a worry wart (going by Rika’s terminology) toward him as well. Glancing around, Terriermon bouncing off his head to raid the fridge for any leftover manju buns as if he didn’t stuff himself enough at dinner.

Dad was at the kitchen table, sitting in front of his laptop, and he could see some foreign news sites on the screen.

“Anything interesting?” he asked, announcing his presence.

Glancing up from his laptop, Janyu smiled at seeing his son arriving home safe and sound.

“Fortunately, nothing more out of the ordinary than things have been lately,” he replied. “Things have quieted down a  _ lot _ , which I’m not arguing with. Well…except for some online hang ups that is, but that’s probably due to all the damage the city has taken lately.”

At that, Janyu’s smile slipped and he frowned at his laptop before closing it up with a click.

“Piece of junk anyway,” he muttered, trying to sound jovial and failing.

“We’re out of manju buns!” came the horrified gasp from Terriermon, and Henry completely tuned out his partner as the rabbit-dog delved into a long and theatrical, “ _ NO _ !’ Pulling a chair out to sit at the table next to his father, part of him thought it was too bad Terriermon couldn’t transform into a human like Renamon - he could put that extra diva energy toward acting.

“Hey dad, I was thinking more on the scans you did on us … and I remember you talking about some sort of library data. I didn’t really think about it at the time, but what do you mean by that?” he asked, raising his voice to be heard over the Rookie.  

“The library data?” Janyu asked, raising an eyebrow. Pushing the laptop to the side he leaned forward, frowning. “We never did quite get to talking about that, did we? What with Daemon’s attack and everything…”

Closing his eyes, he sighed before opening them again, looking thoughtfully at his son.

“Unfortunately, there’s not a great deal I can tell you. What we  _ do  _ know about the data in you and your friends is what I told you before; somehow Mnemosyne seems to have caused some buildup of this data in your bodies, and that it’s all somehow connected to some greater library we found. I don’t know how much to tell you, but the puzzle pieces started coming together when your friend Ryo appeared and then when we analyzed the echo of Renamon before her…untimely death.” His hands tightened together at that before he continued.

“We found a signal of sorts and traced it back to its source that contained a vast amount of data, and we found we were able to call data to us…and it turned out to be the source of the echoes. That was when Ms. Hata got the idea with the hazard. She reasoned there was a recording of it in that library and she called it.”

He was silent for a moment before resuming.

“Unfortunately, Mnemosyne wiped most of our data on that, so I don’t know how we’re going to continue from there. I don’t know how I can be any more helpful to you. I’m sorry.”

Henry furrowed his brow at this. He wondered where Hypnos managed to get the data of a hazard, but if it was stored in a library … that made sense. There was also a lot of interesting implications from this as well, most of all when did it get there. There was also another issue which needed to be addressed.

Several if he was being honest, but there was so many threads to follow and he could only concentrate on one or two at a time. Which was frustrating because he wasn’t sure  _ what _ he should be focusing on. What was more important than the rest. He needed to save his friends from themselves, but how was he supposed to do that in time if he was wasting time chasing after unnecessary information?

“What would you say Mnemosyne’s relation is to the echoes?” he asked slowly, feeling like this at least would be something safe to pursue. “And is destroying these echoes destroying bits of the library?”

At this, Janyu ran a hand through his hair and heaved a heavy sigh.

“It’s impossible to say at this point,” the elder Wong replied. “Mnemosyne didn’t exactly volunteer much information to us and even actively keeps us from investigating. There’s far too much that we  _ don’t  _ know, and that, as you know, is the spot on the map that is labeled,  _ Here there be digimon.” _

He grinned halfheartedly at his joke, only for it to falter. Pushing up his glasses, he furrowed his brow at his son.

“I know this sounds like a silly question, but…why do you ask? Do you have something we can use?”

“At first we believed Mnemosyne was responsible for the echoes … but now I’m not too sure,” he admitted. “I was thinking maybe that the echoes were like back-ups to our memories, and by destroying them, we were destroying the back-ups. After all, if it’s a library … I’m just wondering what exactly Mnemosyne is. I mean it’s named after the Greek personification of memory, and the Digital World has never been very shy about mythological parallels. I mean Renamon and her evolutions off the top of my head is the perfect example. And it already has shown to have abilities relating to its name, so I’m just trying to figure out if there is something that I’ve been missing.”

Henry dragged a hand across his face. He felt lost and frustrated. Part of him felt like the answer was  _ right _ there in front of him, and if he just reached forward, he could grab it. There was so much they didn’t know, yes, but the amount of information they had as opposed to a few months ago was staggering. The thread to solving this mystery were  _ there _ , he just knew it.

“Moumentai,” Terriermon said, hopping up on the table, and Henry noticed he was eating some pudding. He really hoped it wasn’t Suzies’s pudding; he didn’t need  _ another _ reason for her to go after him. “You’re going to think yourself into a hole. What you need is a  _ vacation _ .”

“I can’t afford a vacation, Terriermon,” Henry snapped slightly irritated. “Not to mention school is still in session. And I should be studying for the entrance exams…”

His voice trailed off and he buried his face in his hands. His life was spiraling out of control. Everything was happening at once, and each move he did seemed to be the wrong one. Part of him wondered how he could focus or even think about entrance exams when  _ this _ thing with Mnemosyne was going on, but then it wasn’t like life would wait for him to organize everything. This thing with Mnemosyne might never end. He should be dealing with  _ his _ life now and his future, not worrying about those who didn’t even want to listen to what he had to say.

But if they died or got hurt doing something Henry knew was stupid and he had the ability to prevent it, he would never forgive himself. He knew as long as he remembered this guillotine which hung over his - their - heads, he would never be free. Never be able to live a normal life which wasn’t one more anxiety attack waiting to happen.

He wondered if fighting so hard to remember everything for so long was really the best choice after all. Nobody was any happier after all - certainly not him.

“I’m sorry,” Janyu said softly, placing a hand on top of his son’s head, massaging his hair in hopes of comforting him a little. “We’re doing everything we can to solve this problem. Why don’t you get some sleep? You’ve had a long day.”

Henry nodded his head and stood up, collecting Terriermon in his arms, wrestling the empty cup from his partner’s paws and throwing the evidence away before a bigger headache came his way.  _ Last _ time Terriermon was caught eating Suzie’s pudding, she threw a hissy fit and Henry was forced to go to the store to buy her another to shut her up.

Making his way to his room, he paused when the bathroom door opened, and he prayed it was mom or Jaarin.

He wasn’t so lucky. He never was.

Suzie emerged from the bathroom, her hair swaddled in a towel and a dark look on her face that only deepened immediately upon seeing her older brother.

“Oh…” she huffed angrily at him. “It’s just you.”

Turning her nose up, she crossed her arms together and proceeded to stomp away toward her room, making sure that each and every step carried particular force to emphasize her anger toward her brother. Toward him and the things he did to her beloved Takato.

“So are we going to try to talk to her or continue to let this fester?” Terriermon asked. Henry didn’t answer, watching his sister stomp off, pressing his lips together. It seemed so long ago when she was worried for  _ his _ life.

_ Wonder what happened to blood is thicker than water _ , he thought, waiting for her bedroom door to slam shut before making his way to his own bedroom without so much of an answer toward Terriermon.

“Fester some more it is,” Terriermon grumbled.

**###**

Chewing on his pencil eraser, he glanced over to clock. The bell for lunch would ring in a minute, and it seemed with each passing school day, each day was longer than the next. Sometimes it felt like waiting for the guillotine to drop and the fact nothing of note had happened since Ayaka erased her memories made him feel they were getting overdo. It wasn’t a question of  _ if _ . It was a question of  _ when _ .

Eyes dropping, they searched the room, landing on Rika for a moment, who seemed to have zoned out. The way her pencil was absently moving without looking up from her notes made him believe she was doodling again.  Foxes, probably. She always doodled foxes, even when she didn’t remember.

Grey eyes traveled over to Jeri, who was actually taking notes, ever the studious student. He wondered if either of them thought about their future with everything going on. With both girls it was hard to tell for various reasons.

Finally the bell rang, and it was like the class came alive. Rika slammed her notebook shut and groaned, “Finally!” before looking at him, Jeri pulling out her homemade bento out of her desk.

“Hey I’m hitting up the school store for some food. You coming?”

“Your grandma didn’t make you lunch?” he asked arching an eyebrow. It was very rare for Seiko not to make her granddaughter food.

“She had to go shopping last night and didn’t have time to prepare; I told her it was fine,” Rika said, waving her hand lazily. Unlike most of those who got hurt in the fight with Daemon, her injury took no time at all to heal. He nodded his head. Somewhere part of him thought Renamon could just bring it, but then he couldn’t help but wonder if it would last getting to the school with the other Digimon at play.  

Jeri looked at Henry with a touch of worry – as she often did ever since the group’s meeting from last week had the half-Chinese Tamer leave under a dark cloud – before joining him with a small smile.

“So where are we eating today?” she asked. “Under the tree like usual, or…?”

She gestured outside. The weather was nice – nice enough for the windows to be left open in the classroom – and a light breeze ran through the air like a soft caress, and there were even birds singing as they staked out their territory and called for mates.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect day.

“Yup. Otherwise Terriermon and Calumon will terrorize everyone inside,” Rika replied with an amused smirk before all of a sudden her head jerked upward, her lips pulling into a frown. That’s when the fire alarm went off.

“What now?” Henry muttered under his breath, hoping it wasn’t a fire. He didn’t think there would be a drill during lunch - right?

“There’s an echo - it’s above us,” Rika said simply, and once more the conversation from yesterday came back to the forefront of his mind. It was like fate itself was smiling upon them for once. If he could just get an echo, if he could just  _ study _ it, learn more about it...

Grabbing his bag, he dashed outside the room, the other students beginning to file out grumbling unhappily under their breaths. It didn’t occur to him until later without Rika’s sixth sense for the memories, he would be just going off the vague notion of “above them,” but for the moment that’s all he needed.

“Henry!” he heard Rika yell, but he didn’t really pay much mind - he knew her well enough by now that she could easily catch up.

The pounding of feet rapidly reached Henry’s ears as suddenly Jeri drew up next to him, her chest heaving from the strain of keeping up with the much faster boy. Reaching out, she grabbed hold of him by the collar and gave a sharp yank, no doubt hoping to bring him to a halt. Instead, she sent them both tumbling to the ground with Jeri crying out in surprise.

He just managed to catch himself before he crashed into Jeri on the floor, grunting in pain all the same. He wondered if Jeri remembered he was injured.

Rika pulled up beside him, also carrying her bag, eyebrow arched. He wondered somewhat in the back of his mind how Jeri beat Rika who was faster than them both - especially since she didn’t have any fractured ribs digging into her lungs like he did. He could only guess Rika’s competitive side hadn’t quite activated yet.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“Rika!” he growled irritably, not in the mood for her jokes, staggering to his feet before glowering at Jeri. “What did you do that for!”

“You just  _ ran off _ without saying anything and without a plan,” Jeri grumbled, climbing to her feet. “We don’t even know what’s up there! What…What if it’s a D-Reaper agent? Or…I don’t know! Something dangerous at least!”

Scowling, Jeri gave Henry her best and most intimidating angry face that, her eyebrows knotting themselves together into dangerous, spiked mountains that just  _ dared _ Henry to say something back to her.

Planting her hands on her hips, she drove her point home.

“Charging into danger is Takato and Rika’s specialty, not yours, remember?”

“I’m right here you know,” Rika grumbled, crossing her arms, but she didn’t say one way or the other if she agreed with Jeri. Either way, Henry wasn’t listening. Explaining to her what he was thinking, what needed to be done, would take too long. Time they needed. Time they didn’t have.

“Then we’ll deal with it!” he snapped. He pretty much was used to dealing with Rika’s sour moods - Jeri’s attempt at being intimidating was laughable at best compared to dealing with the Demon Queen on a daily basis. “Don’t come if you’re going to get in my way! I don’t have time for this!”

Picking up his bag - which had his D-arc hidden inside - he looked at Rika for further instruction. She didn’t look too pleased with him - probably because he snapped at Jeri - she was always overtly protective of the smaller girl he noticed - but she pointed up once more.

“Rika. Please,” he said, begging her without using words to just show him the way. Glancing at Jeri, Rika pressed her lips together before slinging her bag over her shoulders.

“Fine,” she said, starting off toward the stairs which would lead to the roof. He sighed in relief, beginning to follow her. Glad to know he could count on  _ someone _ .

“Rika, what’s going on?” Jeri asked, starting after her, after them. “We’re supposed to be getting out of here before Hypnos or Mnemosyne destroy the echo! Why are you…?”

“Excuse me!” called a teacher from down the hall. “You’re supposed to be leaving the building in an orderly fashion! That includes  _ you _ Nonaka!”

Rika - and Henry - ignored the teacher. Surprisingly, since their first year Rika had no detentions, and Henry as a straight A student had even less cause for concern. He didn’t look behind them to see if Jeri was following them any further, and he cared even less for the teacher as they threw open the door and began running toward where it was on the roof. While it was supposed to be locked, it hardly ever was.

Pausing for a minute, Henry began to fumble with the lock, unlatching it before running up the stairs, Rika right after him.

“Why won’t anyone tell me what’s going on?” Jeri grumbled behind them, puffing out her face like an angry chipmunk. “I thought I was a part of this team and all of a sudden we’re running around into who knows what and no one will say anything…”

Her voice trailed off as they looked at the echo in front of them, nothing quite like they have ever seen before. Well, Henry had seen before - he didn’t know what sort of things Rika and Takato have seen.

It was a girl who seemed to be wearing their school’s uniform. Henry didn’t recognize her, though he noticed her clothes were wet - as if from the rain. Rain which hadn’t fallen for a few days now. She was standing on the other side of the chainlink fence which surrounded the school’s roof, her fingers nestled around the wires. Her head was dipped down, and even from back where they were it seemed like her shoulders were shaking.

“Hey …” he called out, but if she heard him, she didn’t answer. However, next to him, Rika had rushed forward in a run.

“Hey! You stop it!” she yelled, sprinting forward, her hands outstretched. His own body was moving just after Rika’s. All he could really think about was reaching it before it jumped. Part of him wasn’t really thinking about the implications of this memory - he really didn’t know of anyone who committed suicide here at school. All he could think about was getting his hands on this echo to finally find a way for everyone not to fight Mnemosyne.

It was a pretty fucked up thing to be more focused on in hindsight.

Yet as Rika’s fingers brushed against her uniform, that’s when the girl decided to jump. Skidding to a stop as Rika’s eyes went vacant and wide, sliding down against the gate with a thump, he could only watch in horror as her body came crashing down. Even from up here he could hear the dull  _ thud _ of her body as it met concrete. It was only seconds later when he saw the weird bird which Takato and the echo of Renamon described so long ago clean up the scene.

It was too late though. 

For everyone.

For one long moment, no one moved, and the only sound that could be heard was Jeri’s loud gasp as her hands flew up to her mouth in horror at what they had just been witness to.

“That…That happened here?” she said, her voice cracking before looking at Rika. “Rika… Are you all right?”

That’s when Henry remembered what happened when Rika touched echoes. He completely forgot she relived the echo’s memory, for however long it lasted. Swearing as he knelt down next to the redhead, another shadow appeared over him. Glancing up, he could see Renamon staring down at him, Terriermon and Calumon on her shoulders.

“Jeez, what happened?” Terriermon asked worriedly as Renamon bent down to pick up her unconscious partner without saying much of anything. Henry wasn’t sure how to answer the question, especially since he didn’t have the answer himself. All he could do was stare dumbstruck,before finally Rika woke, taking a deep gasping breath finally as if she were drowning seconds earlier.

“We should evacuate like everyone else,” was all that Renamon said.

**###**

He could understand why Ayaka would want to erase her memories. Even if the body was removed afterwards, the body of the girl - Yuna, as Rika had called her - was now permanently seared into his mind. Seeing someone commit suicide - even if it was just an echo - was horrifying, just knowing you could do nothing to stop it. The sound of Yuna’s body slamming against the concrete - perhaps it was a good thing he was in counseling after all. If he didn’t need it before, he sure did now.

Worse though was seeing that  _ look _ in Rika’s eyes, even after she woke up. Fearful. Skittish. On the verge of tears. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for that as well. He was the one who wanted to search for echoes, not her. Henry should have been the one to bare that burden - hadn’t Rika suffered enough?

He doubted very much she was over echo Renamon’s death, even if she was pretending everything was normal. The fact she was  _ very _ insistent on walking Jeri home was proof of that enough as far as Henry was concerned.

While her thinking most of the time seemed impossible to follow, in cases like these it was painfully clear.

_ All the tears I've cried, the wind that dried them,   _

_ Was so cold, I closed my eyes. _

_ Even if I get lost in an unknown place, there must be a way out,   _

_ I take a breath and try opening my heart once more. _

The ear buds to his mp3 player were yanked out of his ears, a somewhat irate Terriermon staring at him. Henry could only look surprised at the Rookie, not expecting this from his partner. Frowning slightly, he moved his hand over to his music player and pressed pause.

“What?” he asked simply.

“So… We’re going to be like Rika and shut the whole world out?” the rabbit-dog digimon asked, twirling Henry’s earbuds around in one ear as he hopped back away from his partner. “You know that’s a bad habit to get into. I mean, just ask her.”

“I’m not shutting the whole world out,” Henry frowned slightly. He still answered texts - although that was more because he knew if he didn’t, his friends would bother him more. It was hard to get himself under control if the reminder for his rage kept picking at him. The memories kept swirling about like a dark cloud. It seemed like the lesson he thought he learned so long ago hadn’t stuck.

“I’m just … taking time to myself. Sometimes you need to step back from a problem before you can see the answer. That’s all I’m doing,” he finished.

“Except you’ve been doing nothing  _ but _ stepping back from the problem,” Terriermon pointed out, hopping off the bed. “You know, like Rika does nowadays. Man, what is it with you guys? Ever since we got back it seems like everyone has been nothing but a wreck.”

Turning, he looked up at his partner with a sorrowful gaze.

“I get that Mnemosyne has had the run of everyone, but…I don’t know. Ever since last week, you’ve been kind of rough shod with your ideas on what to do. I don’t get what you’re trying to figure out by tracking down echoes since it’s not like we can touch them really, and not only that…” His dark eyes frowned as they gazed into Henry’s gray ones. “You’re not even looking for a win. It makes me wonder if you even  _ want  _ to beat Mnemosyne.”

Once more that boiling rage from that day began to bubble up inside. It was one thing he had to listen to this bullshit from his sister and everyone else. The last thing he needed was this sort of attitude from his partner.

It would be so much easier to forget any of this happened. Better too. Everyone seemed to want the person who he was before the Dark Ocean came and twisted him like the others. However, unlike the others, unlike Rika and Takato, he wasn’t met with the same sort of understanding even though he was the one who learned the lesson.

Raging and flailing around like a mindless beast was no way to solve an issue. Mnemosyne didn’t use  _ force _ to get what he wanted. He used cunning. What the hell made them think that hitting their problems even harder would be the way to solve it? What did they think this was? Dragonball Z?

“You have no idea what’s even going on, so shut up,” Henry snapped. “You just got here. I’ve been working on this issue for the last few years. Dad said he can call the library data to him, and if they can contain at Hypnos there is no reason I can’t contain a natural occurring one! After all we  _ can _ interact with echoes! Renamon! Ice Devimon! Leomon! They were all echoes before which we could touch - not just Rika - and interact with. Echoes have caused property damage ever since the Hazard incident beyond being seen. The issue is their longevity if they aren’t sentient and getting to them before Mnemosyne or Hypnos.”

“Take it easy, Henry,” Terriermon replied, planting his tiny paws on his hips. “I’m your partner, remember? Your best friend. I may have just got here, but I’ve biomerged with you. I remember how you are when you get all worked up. You get all  _ weird.  _ What was it that I told you back when we were in the digital world? That you’re afraid that the sun won’t rise if you’re not there to greet it? Your dad has Hypnos helping them, but you pushed everyone away. I know what that means with you.”

With that, he hopped back up and clambered onto his partner’s shoulder before wrapping his ears around Henry’s head, bringing them to rest beneath the half-Chinese Tamer’s chin, giving him the appearance of having a bizarre bonnet attached to him.

“Momentai, Henry! Do more than text people and get back into the saddle. We can figure this out if we aim for winning. Why do you have to be such a downer just because of some setbacks? Sheesh. See, this is what happens when you don’t have me around. You get all negative.”

Henry didn’t answer Terriermon, but gently took him off his head, so he could cradle the Rookie in his arms. He felt terrible for snapping at him too, and it only further cemented he should stay away until he dealt with this. After all, he was supposed to be the calm one. The one everyone looked to. How could he do that if the rage he thought long buried made him snap at everyone? Attack them?

They had enough dangers facing them. They didn’t need another.

Not only that but did they really need him? They said they did but it was clear they didn’t really want to listen to what he had to say. He should just forget this and not bother with it, and focus on his own life with Terriermon.

_ “Is that what you really want _ ?” a foreign voice whispered in his ear.

Henry had no answer for it.


	60. Noise in the Silence

Her fingers threaded through cold metal of the chainlink fence, water running down her face like tears before falling into the darkness below. She couldn’t see the ground, but she didn’t need to. Once her fingers let go, she would be greeted with freedom though some may call it death.

Slightly her fingers loosened with their grip. In the back of her mind she imagined her friends and family…the people she cared about, all who would be sad at her death.

_ Then they can follow me, if they’re so sad about it, _ she thought, her body shaking as her breath hitched in her throat.  _ It’s not like there’s anything in this world worth staying alive for. _

Briefly, she wondered how long her final moments would last, but as the rain continued to trace down her eyes, the sky weeping those tears she could no longer shed, she found that she simply didn’t care.

Best to not think about it and get it over with.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she released her grip on the fence and then…quite simply…walked off the ledge and dropped down. Gravity gripped her body tightly and pulled her forward.

And she splashed into the unforgiving dark water, everything around her turning into a shade of unforgiving grey. Bubbles escaped her mouth as she struggled to breathe, and she craned her head upwards. Above her she could see a sheet of ice begin to knit itself together where she had broken through. Her fingers reached up, and they were bloodied and mangled and she desperately tried to claw her way upwards, fighting desperately against the chain which had affixed itself to her ankle and was now pulling her down.

_ I don’t want to die _ , came the fervent thought, yet when she opened her mouth to scream, all which came out was silence.

“ _Everyone’s doing this for you._ _Especially Takato. He loves you, you know_ ,” came a familiar voice from around her. It was soft and melodious, and each word vibrated through her entire body. “ _Yet you keep pushing everyone away. Do you even_ care?”

‘I never asked for anyone to white knight for me! I never asked for any of this!’ she shot back hotly, yet no sound escaped her mouth, just bubbles which popped as soon as they left her immediate vicinity.

_ “This is why I don’t talk to you,” _ the voice continued, sounding hurt and angry now.  _ “This is why I could never tell you everything. I thought you cared about others, but I guess I was wrong. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. I opened my door for you, but you never,  _ ever  _ come in. You only hate people when they do that.” _

‘Open your door?! You only ever tell me shit as a way to manipulate me to talk!’ She yelled, anger prickling at her core. It was one big dirty double standard - they would only feed small bits of things, as if it were payment enough for her “tragic backstory.” Yet once again, her voice didn’t reach.

“ _ You’re suffocating. You’re needy. You’re a hot mess.” _ Her feet touched down on the ocean floor, the ground hard and unrelenting. Before her, Jeri formed, a deep scowl marring her normally gentle features. “ _ Can’t you understand you’re just being a bother?” _

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

This time her voice was heard, and the water surrounding them broke before fleeing, rushing away as if in fear of some sort of  _ demon _ . There was a glint and a knife appeared in Jeri’s hand, the sharp steel pressing against the brunette’s neck. A thin line of blood traced across the skin where the metal met it.

“As you wish,” Jeri said simply, and all she could get out was a strangled-

“ _ No _ !”

...before Jeri slit her own throat. The skin parted around the edge of the blade with but a whisper, and blood – dark and red – spilled out over it. A smile crept across Jeri’s lips as it reached the center of her neck, and she dug the knife even deeper,  _ twisting  _ it so that it cut into her vocal chords…shutting her up, just as Rika told her to do.

She stood there for a moment, legs wobbling as her skin grew pale, yet even as her eyes began to flutter closed, they spoke one thing, and her lips never lost their smile.

_ “It’s as you wished,” _ those eyes said before her legs buckled beneath her and she began to fall to the ground.

Horror struck her as she felt sick bile rise in her stomach, and she ran forward, catching the brunette as she fell, cradling her, one hand on the open wound desperately trying to halt the blood flow. Yet it spluttered out between her fingers, dying them an ugly shade of red.

“No, no, no,” she moaned. “Please,  _ please _ . Don’t leave me! I need you. I  _ need _ you. You promised me, you promised me you would stay!”

A weak, shaking hand grasped the blood-stained one, and violet met amber eyes. Jeri’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. All it was a sigh, a siren call, her  _ name _ .

“Please, I love you,” she gasped, tears streaming down her face. “Don’t do this. Come back. Please. I’m sorry.”

Yet the small hand dropped finally, and Rika threw her head back, letting out a painful wail.

**###**

Jolting forward, the sorrow-filled cry dying in her throat, sweat clinging to her, her pajamas sticking to her uncomfortably. Panting, her heart racing, her violet eyes darted around the dark room trying to figure out where she was before she slowly recognized the outline of her room.

Reaching over, she grabbed her phone and flipped it open. 3:12 flashed mockingly at her, and she quickly opened her contacts, pressing down on the keypad before pulling up Jeri Katou. About to press the call button, her thumb hesitated.

_ “Don’t be like this.” _

Jeri’s voice from their talk a week ago echoed in her head, and she groaned, resting the cell phone against her forehead, her grip on the electronic device tightening as her knuckles turned white.

_ Jeri _ … Rika thought miserably. The lifeless eyes amber eyes were seared into her mind. Each night they haunted her dreams, making it impossible for her to sleep. Rika was pretty sure she had about eight hours of sleep between the past five days, her mind constantly reminding her each night of her mortality.  _ Jeri’s _ mortality. She couldn’t do anything to save the brunette, although this was the first time admittedly she was the direct  _ cause _ of her death.

“If she just listened...” she argued to herself before a flash of anger shocked her body, and with a snarl, she pulled her arm back and  _ whipped _ the phone across the room. Only for it to stop in midair, Renamon appearing a moment later with it in her paw.

“I wouldn’t call this a good way to treat your things,” Renamon politely scolded Rika, lowering her paw. “Especially something as important as this.”

Padding over to her partner, the vulpine digimon placed a paw on the girl’s shoulder, sensing the tremor of anger and frustration that ran through her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked softly, massaging her shoulder gently. Rika shook her head, taking the phone back, her fingers closing around the small device. Over their link, she sent a small slip of the storm inside, not wanting to burden her partner with the ugliness of it all but wanting to let her know just how hopeless it was.

“I … might need you closer today,” she said slowly, the words heavy on her mouth. She closed her mouth, pressed her lips together, before continuing on silently though Renamon could hear her clearly, “ _ So I don’t do anything I regret _ .”

She could feel herself reaching the end of her rope. Her sanity was starting to fray, and she couldn’t help but wonder how Yuna managed to curse her so when the Dark Ocean itself couldn’t take on such a firm hold of her. Something needed to be done, and all she needed to do was get through today to reach the weekend. She wasn’t sure what she planned to do to end this never ending nightmare, but she would be lying to say taking a page from Ayaka’s book didn’t look damn tempting right about now.

Renamon nodded in understanding. “As you wish, I will stay close. Is there anything else I can do?”

Rika paused before the heaviness began to take over her heart. Without a word, she sent over her desire to Renamon, unable to come out and ask it.

Rika’s sending appeared to have worked, as a small smile crossed Renamon’s face just then. Reaching out, she took hold of the girl and folded her arms around her in a gentle hug, looping her tail around her for good measure to provide her with as much safety and comfort as she could provide. To go with this physical display, her love for her partner filtered in through their link, bringing a wave of warmth to go with it.

“Never forget this, no matter what else might happen,” Renamon said giving her a light squeeze. “This, you will always have.”

Rika nodded her head, pain prickling at her heart as the anger ebbed away. For a moment, an image of Renamon - her echo version, but Renamon all the same - dying flashed through her mind and she swallowed a choked sob.

She was so tired, but she doubted she would ever be able to sleep again.

**###**

It was about three hours later when Rika walked into the kitchen, feeling slightly more well rested - or at the very least the fraying of her soul was no longer as vicious. Even though sleep didn’t come again, as per the norm, Renamon’s soft fur and gentle breathing as  _ she _ slipped back into sleep managed to soothe her erratic heart.

“Good morning dear,” Seiko greeted her, standing in front of the stove, the wafting of fish filling the room. “Take a seat, breakfast is almost ready.”

Rika nodded, slipping into the chair next to Himiko who was watching the news with a scowl on her face, the anchor talking about the increase in echoes and the latest collateral damage.

“Three people died after a Digimon identified as a Pajiramon materialized in a music shop in downtown Tokyo, destroying the storefront and causing what our economists say as a conservative estimate of 56,000 yen in damages before being dealt with a couple minutes later,” the woman said before a map of the city showed in the background behind her, and she turned pointing to highlighted streets. “For those who are commuting to work this morning, please remember that the highway is closed-”

The news anchor voice was silenced, though her mouth kept moving and her fingers dragging and pointing to different parts to the map behind her, as if oblivious she had lost her voice. Rika turned to see her grandmother holding the remote control before the older woman gently put it down on the table.

“Breakfast is ready,” she said simply, her voice echoing in the now silent kitchen.

“Rumi still sleeping?” Himiko asked after a minute, pushing her chair out to help put the food on the table, Renamon already putting dishes down, finally getting the hang of putting five bowls and dishes on the table. While her partner re-acclimated rather well all things considering, it took a bit to convince her to eat with the rest of them.

Rika’s lips twitched upward momentarily remembering the argument what did the kitsune in.

“ _ Look Miss Samurai, our family hasn’t been served by your kind for centuries,” Himiko growled, taking Renamon’s bowl and slamming it at the table between her and Rika. “Now sit down and eat, and stop hovering. It’s infuriating!” _

Since then her family had started calling the kitsune “Miss Samurai” to tease Renamon whenever she was being stiff and formal.

“Of course,” Seiko said simply, Rika pushing her chair out finally to help get breakfast on the table. It didn’t take long with the four of them, and Rika was glad for the movement. Even though her body felt heavy, she felt if she stayed still she would slip into sleep, and she couldn’t stand to see those lifeless amber eyes. Not so soon.

“You should still be in bed,” Himiko said, glancing at Rika as the four of them sat down again, beginning to pick at her meal. Rika grunted irritably at that. Sometimes she would step back and marvel how their relationship had changed so drastically in the few months since Himiko came to live with them while looking for an apartment. Once she couldn’t wait for her cousin to leave. Now she couldn’t imagine the house without her.

Right now though she wished Himiko would stop ragging on her and get the goddamn hint like mom and grandma did she didn’t want to be bothered about it. She  _ got _ it, they were worried. Yet Himiko wasn’t listening, just like Takato. Just like Jeri.

After a moment though, Himiko sighed and the subject was dropped.

**###**

“I’m going to school now,” Rika whispered, bending down to kiss her mother on top of her head. It was a habit she had picked up, since coming back from the Dark Ocean the first time. After a moment, violet eyes fluttered open and tears began to well in them. Rika couldn’t help but think they didn’t belong there. She hated it when people cried, most of all, her mother.

“Oh … I slept in again didn’t I?” Rumiko moaned, reaching up to hug Rika around the neck, pulling her closer. “I’m sorry, Rika. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s OK,” Rika whispered, wrapping her arms around the smaller woman. She had outgrown nearly everyone in her family, with the exception of Himiko who she was still a couple inches behind. “I’ll be back later mom. So don’t cry.”

Rumiko sniffed and kissed Rika before finally letting her go.

“Have a good day in school, sweetie,” she murmured, and Rika nodded as she stood up. Closing the door behind her, Renamon - who had already slipped into her human form - handing her school bag. Rika couldn’t help but think she looked like a foreigner with her bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, plus her preference towards practical clothing made Rika think of some sort of secret agent. Or modern day samurai.

“Rika.”

The redhead turned around to see Himiko approaching, and her lips pulled down into a slight scowl, the atmosphere which settled around breakfast time coming back to her and plaguing her like a blight.

“What?” she snapped. Himiko didn’t answer at first, pushing a thermos into her hands. The metal container was warm to the touch, and the irritation melted away into confusion.

“Have a good day at school,” her cousin continued simply, and began to turn around but Rika reached out and grabbed her black jacket. Obsidian eyes turned to meet hers as a single black eyebrow raised up.

“Uhm … what is this?” she asked feeling stupid for doing so.

“Coffee.” The answer was a single word, but perhaps for the first time Rika could hear the unsaid words behind it. The quiet gesture, and immediately she felt bad for snapping. Her hand loosened and dropped to her side.

“Oh. Uhm, thank you,” she whispered. At that, a small smile graced Himiko’s face.

“You’re welcome.”

**###**

Nursing the coffee in her hands, Rika stood outside the school gates waiting for Henry and Jeri. Next to her was Renamon, reading a small paperback book she had borrowed from the library - another philosopher suggested to her by Henry. She had gotten into animism recently, though this book was on Taoism, her interest perked when the Chinese boy let it slip her Ultimate form was based on this branch of philosophy.

With the weather warmer and summer vacation marching closer, they had started to meet outside the school for Renamon to take the Rookie and In-Training to babysit them for the duration while the Tamers were in school. While it wasn’t like Calumon and Terriermon couldn’t just stay home by themselves, Terriermon having the company of Lopmon, there was something … lonely about the idea. Not only that but Calumon was bound to get bored, and with nobody keeping close watch over him, there was bound to be trouble.  

And trouble was the  _ last _ thing any of them needed right now.

“Hey, Rika,” came the voice of Henry as his shadow brushed up against her shoes, its shoulder sporting a familiar, long-eared appendage.

“Hey, lookie!” Terriermon exclaimed, waving an ear at the girl’s blond-haired companion. “Rena’s reading  _ Tao Te Ching!  _ Have you gotten to the part where it says,  _ ‘The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao,’ _ yet?”

“Terriermon, don’t be a pest,” he frowned. “She’s  _ past  _ the first chapter anyway.”

Turning back to Rika, his brow knotted itself as his grey eyes took in her tired appearance. “Brought some coffee today?”

“No, this is sake,” Rika snarked as Renamon closed the book quietly; both of them knew there was no point in reading with Terriermon around. He demanded constant attention as well, often competing with Impmon for the limelight.

“Rika,” her partner said simply, looking at her. The redhead sighed, her shoulders sagging as she took another sip of the coffee. Rika wondered when this stuff was supposed to kick in. Glancing up, her violet eyes appraised her friend, noticing that he looked just as bad as she probably did.

_ Probably still obsessing over the echoes _ , she thought, her lips pressing together slightly. Whenever Henry got some idea in his head, he had the tendency to relentlessly pursue it obsessively. She supposed she could say it was a terrible habit, but it wasn’t like she could judge much.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Just a bit on edge. Have you gotten any further in whatever you are doing? You look like hell.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Henry replied, running a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. “Hypnos is taking down echoes faster than I can get to them. Pajiramon was too far away, and it was the strongest one since…”

He paused and became quiet for a moment, his grey eyes searching Rika’s face before he looked away, frowning.

“I just…don’t know what to do right now.”

Rika looked down as well. She understood that sense of helpless a bit too well. She didn’t know where to turn, where to go. It seemed they were at the edge of cliff which was slowly crumbling underneath their feet, no matter how much they backed up.

Part of her wondered where falling would take them.

“Don’t we all?” she muttered.

“Pretty sure that’s a yes,” Terriermon chimed in, his tone a bit anxious with a twitch at the corners of his mouth, as if he were detecting something awkward developing in the air.

“It sure seems that way,” Henry nodded in agreement. “I feel like we’re all just waiting for things to make sense, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

He sighed again, scowling. “Maybe I should ask my dad about the scans from echo-Renamon… Unless Mnemosyne wiped  _ that  _ out…”

Rika’s scowl deepened, and once again she could see her partner being burned, fighting for every bit of life she had in her before shattering into a million pieces. It never mattered to her that it was just a memory; that was her partner too.

“Yeah, because I’m  _ real _ sure it will leave us any remote use of leverage,” she shot back, taking another sip of coffee. If the caffeinated beverage was supposed to make her less on edge, it was surely failing at its job. She didn’t feel any calmer, although she didn’t feel like she was about to fall asleep on her feet at any second either, so that was an improvement. For now.

That’s when a small little white ball with large ears and great big eyes somersaulted into the midst of the four of them before straightening out with a, “Tada!” Rika started to smile ever so slightly only to furrow her brow when, after a blink, nothing was there. No white ball posed with stubby arms. Just the ground met her eyes.

_ Am I imagining things? _ She thought, lifting her eyes for a moment only to see a little white, large eared digimon of fun somersault into the midst of the four of them before straightening out with a, “Tada!”

“Ten out of ten for enthusiasm,” began Terriermon with a giggle as Calumon spun around on a single, large foot like a dancer. “But five out of ten for presentation. You’re missing the tutu. You might want to stop by Henry’s place later and see Suzie for one.”

“That sounds great!” Calumon laughed as a small, brown-haired girl came running up, from around the corner.

“Don’t encourage him,” Henry sighed. “Besides, Suzie doesn’t play dress up as much anymore.”

“Hey, just because you’re having a problem with your sister doesn’t mean she can’t make Calumon into her new Princess Pretty Pants…”

“Calumon!” Jeri scolded as she came up to the group and knelt down to pick up Calumon. “I told you, you’re supposed to pretend to be a stuffed animal until I get you to Renamon.”

“But I can’t hold my breath that long, and play is like breathing to me.”

“Better give it up, Jeri,” Terriermon quipped. “That little sugar rush has never sat still in all the time that I’ve known him. You’d have better luck keeping Rika’s temper under control babysitting Kazu and Kenta again.”

“Doubtful,” Rika grunted, receiving another warning look from Renamon. In response though, Rika sent her a mental image of their experiences with Kazu and Kenta in the Digital World; it was honestly a miracle at that time nothing bad happened to them. They were ignoring all her explicit directions even though they shouldn’t have been there in the  _ first _ place and managed to get them in more trouble than they would have been originally.

They were sidekicks trying to be heroes while not appreciating it wasn’t a game and their lives were on the line, and they were by proxy endangering her as well.

She didn’t care  _ how _ much either of them supposedly “grew up,” she would rather be stabbed or her memories erased again than be forced to look after either of those incompetent baboons.

She felt a small twinge of victory when Renamon grimaced ever so slightly, hardly noticable really, but the look continued.

Rika busied herself with the coffee cup again wishing it  _ was _ sake as her eyes flickered to Jeri, trailing toward her neck. The skin was unbroken and unmarred, but she still caught sight of the injury on her wrist and once more those lifeless eyes came back to haunt her.

Scooping Calumon up in her arms, Jeri stuck her tongue out at Terriermon before turning to Rika, smiling softly, if worriedly, at her at her.

“Good morning, Rika,” she said. “How are you feeling today?”

“Oh fantastic,” Rika replied sarcastically, gesturing with her arms widely as if she were on a stage, putting on a play. “What else am I supposed to be?”

Yes, what else? It’s not like Jeri particularly cared when she was upset earlier. For all her talk about coming to her when Rika was bothered by something, the brunette sure had the tendency to push her away and not even listen to what she was trying to say when Rika  _ did _ finally open up. Don’t be like this? What does that even  _ mean _ ?! Then she goes and say don’t smother her before saying it's OK to worry.

Yeah, alright,  _ that _ made perfect sense.  

“She’s in a  _ great _ mood,” Terriermon informed Jeri in a stage whisper, equally as sarcastically as the redhead was, clearly not caring if Rika heard him as well. “Her happy juice is  _ really _ kicking in.”

Jeri pressed her lips together worriedly at Rika’s tone.

“I…I was just asking,” she said, glancing away. “I’m…sorry if I upset you. I didn’t… I…I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Rika was about to open her mouth when a firm hand was placed on her shoulder.

“She’s just a bit stressed right now, that’s all,” Renamon said kindly, severely understating the issue, but Rika wasn’t going to speak up. Both of them knew Rika didn’t want to talk about what was really bugging her, and her partner wasn’t the type to disregard that trust.

“O-Oh…” Jeri stammered out before swallowing. Forcing a smile on her face, she clasped her hands together. “S-Sorry again,” she repeated. “If…you want to talk about it, you know I’m always here for you.”

“With the trouble  _ she  _ has, we could be here all morning listening to her,” Terriermon quipped under his breath, earning him a warning rap on his head, courtesy of Henry.

“You should get going to class. Not only that but it’s getting late enough more people will be on the streets and we’re trying to keep a low profile,” Renamon butted in just as Rika started to seriously consider socking the Rookie off of Henry’s shoulders. It would feel  _ so _ good, and it wasn’t like the rabbit-dog couldn’t take it. He’s received worse, she’s sure.

Plus she was starting to feel a bit sick. Part of her felt it was the coffee, but a small part knew it was that fake smile Jeri had plastered to her face.

Rika  _ hated _ that fake smile.

“Ah yes, because we all just scream inconspicuous on a normal day,” Rika muttered as both Terriermon and Calumon got the hint, Calumon backflipping over to the kitsune and Henry gladly handing his partner off to hopefully take him away before he could run his mouth any more. “A Chinese boy with a stuffed animal and two foreign looking women look like they fit  _ right _ in.”

Renamon gave her last one warning look, silently telling her to behave, before disappearing.

Jeri and Henry both exchanged looks with one another as the fire-haired girl stormed off toward the school with a dark cloud over her head before wordlessly following in the wake of her warpath.

**###**

The cold water ran like a heavy waterfall over Rika’s head. Her fingernails clutched the porcelain sink as she tried to take deep breaths. Water dripped down her face and for a second the drain appeared as concrete, growing larger and larger as her body was pulled toward it, and Rika jerked her head away, only to slam it against the faucet.

Swearing angrily, she crashed to the ground, cradling her head. It didn’t hurt, not really, but she had a pounding headache already, and she wished she really  _ did _ have some sake. She wasn’t sure if she could get through the rest of the day in one piece. She hated drinking, but being drunk sounded a lot better than this hell she was currently stuck in.

The door to the bathroom swung open, and Jeri stepped into the bathroom, her eyes growing wide with shock upon seeing Rika on the floor, cradling her head. With a cry, she rushed over to the fallen girl, clasping her hands around her shoulders and lifting her up slightly.

“What happened?” she asked frantically, eyes wide and full of worry. “Are you all right? Did someone hurt you?”

“I just hit my head,” Rika grunted, pushing away from the girl. “How the fuck do you  _ think  _ I’m feeling right now?”

Jeri’s lip trembled as she jerked back reflexively at the fire-haired girl’s sudden anger, but as she rose with Rika, she massaged her arm anxiously. Catching sight of this, Rika scowled.

“I hate it when you do that,” she muttered, turning away and back toward the sink, inspecting her head for any injuries, turning off the water as she did so.

It was starting to sounds like rain.

In the mirror, she saw Jeri’s shocked face as her hand jerked away from her wrist. She felt an instant of regret at this. Seeing the girl’s hurt expression hurt terribly and cut into her heart, but she found that she couldn’t help herself. Memories of pain…of  _ hurt… _ swam in her heart and mind, eating into her like maggots in an open wound. Maggots in her soul…

“I’m sorry,” Jeri apologized, and Rika had to bite back an angry retort about how she was starting to sound like a broken record. Apologies… The  _ endless  _ apologies. She was getting sick and tired of  _ those  _ too.

“I just…want to make sure that you’re all right…” Jeri continued. “When you left for the bathroom and didn’t show up at our usual lunch spot like usual…”

That did it.

There was a flash of red across her vision and then something inside Rika snapped. An avalanche of words, never to be said, escaped from her mouth. Viciousness which she never would show to Jeri, never to Jeri, escaped like a festering poison. The grasp of sanity, what little she had, left her.

“What the fuck do you think!” she yelled. “When have I  _ ever _ given you the implication I was ‘alright’ or does it only matter when you clearly aren’t involved in any manner? Not that it matters, right? It’s  _ always _ been my fault to begin with. Every single fucking thing,  _ I’m _ the one who should have done something different, do something about it. Like back at the hospital, remember that, when Takato left? Somehow, I was in the wrong for not wanting him to go. Somehow it was  _ me _ who needed to make things right. Even though, newsflash, I was the one who said he would get hurt and it was stupid. Guess who was right on that? Oh, that’s right,  _ me _ . But hey, it’s not like any of you all fucking ever listen to a god damn word that comes out of my mouth anyway.”

As though she had been slapped hard, a great big ‘O’ shaped itself along Jeri’s face, both in her lips and her eyes as they grew wide at the fire that suddenly erupted from her friend. Shaking her head, she began to stammer out a response, words struggling to come together as she went along.

“I…I don’t… What…? What do you mean? Your fault…? Takato…? I… I don’t know… I…” As if seizing on something, Jeri frowned. “Rika… I  _ do  _ care! What are you  _ talking  _ about?!”

“This is what I mean! You never listen! Not even for a moment!” Rika practically snarled before her voice took on a tone which sounded eerily like Jeri’s. “Don’t be like this.” She reverted back to her normal speech. “What does that even  _ mean _ ?! Don’t be weak? Well gods know I’ve tried to be strong, and here’s a dirty little secret for ya, the type you just seem to eat up;  _ I’m not _ . I can’t just go ahead and pretend I didn’t relive someone’s body breaking on the goddamn ground. Trust me, I tried. Gods did I  _ try _ . You are always preaching on how talking about shit is the best thing to do, but the minute  _ I _ want to talk about something, it suddenly doesn’t matter? I have needs to you know, and I’m fuckinig sorry that they’re not super convenient for you!”   

Shock was plainly written on Jeri’s face now, everything fitting into place. Her eyes scrunched up, as if she were about to cry, and then she launched herself at Rika, grabbing hold of her and pulling her close into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t… I’m…I’m sorry! Oh  _ kami, _ Rika! I’m  _ sorry!  _ I didn’t mean to make you think that! Oh Rika…”

The girl was trembling now, and she squeezed Rika all the tighter to her, as if she didn’t ever want to let her go.

Part of Rika wanted to yell some more, but that look on Jeri’s face, as if she were about to cry, and the hug caused the fire to peter out of her soul. She was tired. So tired. Her head fell forward and rested on Jeri’s shoulder. Part of her wanted to cry, but the tears didn’t come. Ever so slowly she raised her arms up and pulled the brunette closer to her and repeating the same plea she made earlier in the week.

“Please … don’t leave me.”

“I won’t,” Jeri said in a voice that bordered on crying. Burying her face in Rika’s shoulder, she rocked her gently against her. “I won’t, I won’t.”

“... I don’t want to lose you. To anything,” Rika whispered, her voice cracking. She felt awful. Her eyes tiredly fluttered to Jeri’s neck, and one hand hesitantly moved forward and touched it like this all might be an illusion which would shatter at any moment. Yet it didn’t. She was there, whole and unmarred. Jeri was alive. Her hand dropped limply, exhausted by the effort. “I hate seeing you cry. I hate  _ making _ you cry. You have a pretty smile. The real one. I don’t want to take that away.” 

Jeri didn’t answer with words, but instead drew her hand up to the back of Rika’s head and pulled her still closer. Quite against Rika’s expectations, the tiny brunette lifted her head and kissed Rika’s cheek before burying her face back into the girl’s shoulder, tears flowing from her eyes now.

“I won’t leave you,” she could only repeat, quietly sobbing into the firebrand’s shirt, shoulders shaking and trembling.

“I love you.”

The words left her mouth with her permission, and a second too late did she realize  _ just _ what she said.

The next three words were:

“Oh  _ shit _ , uhm …” as her eyes widened in shock and horror. She wasn’t supposed to say that. Especially not to someone who was straight as a ruler. She didn’t want to ruin her friendship with Jeri, yet she just exploded on her and then told the girl she  _ loved _ her.

What the hell was wrong with her!

_ Oh my god I should have stayed home today _ , she thought, feeling the fire come back, though this time it wasn’t anger. Anger didn’t usually make her want to throw up.

Trying desperately to think on how to salvage this and not make things with Jeri awkward or even worse, creeped out, she tried to string words together to hopefully salvage everything.

“You’re my best friend.”  Yes. That would do it. Maybe. Better keep talking. “I mean what’s not to love? You’re beautiful, warm, kind and here you are still putting up with my shit. And er, uh….”

God damn it, she really wished she was socially able right about now. She was blessed in so many other areas but yet she had no idea how to talk to people.

Jeri stared at Rika, eyes wide and her expression going through a mix of emotions – confusion, surprise, and then…finally, an unreadable one before the brunette, as if making a decision, leaned toward Rika and shut her stammering up by gently joining their lips together, making a small gasp as she did so. Heat abruptly bursting across her face, but Jeri held the kiss for a moment longer before drawing back, her face drowning in crimson, amber eyes unable to meet Rika’s violet ones.

“I…I love you too…” she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

Rika blinked and her mouth dropped open ever so slightly, but after a second she found her head buried in Jeri’s shoulder as if it had never left in the first place.

_ What … what just happened? _ She thought as Jeri drew her hand up to the back of Rika’s head and pulled her still closer. The tiny brunette lifted her head and kissed Rika’s cheek before burying her face back into the girl’s shoulder, tears flowing from her eyes now.

“I won’t leave you,” she could only repeat, quietly sobbing into the firebrand’s shirt, shoulder’s shaking and trembling.

“... Jeri?” Rika asked hesitantly, not quite sure what was going on. She was  _ positive _ this just happened. It was like deja vu taken to extremes. “What … what did you just say? Before that last thing?”

Blinking in confusion, Jeri sniffed, massaging Rika’s back.

“I’m…I’m sorry…?” she asked uncertainly at the girl’s strange question.

_ OK, so I’m imagining things. The lack of sleep is making me hallucinate _ , she thought, rubbing her forehead. While it wasn’t that unexpected, she was rather annoyed that her hormones were yanking her all over the place today. Is this what it meant to be a teenager?

First she exploded on Jeri, then she thought she admitted her feelings and by some miracle not only did Jeri return them, she kissed her on  _ purpose _ . It was probably the pity kiss on the cheek which caused the hallucination.

Jeri was going to be the death of her if this continued.

“I … think I should go home for the rest of the day,” she said, exhaustion creeping into her voice. Rika tried to stifle a yawn even though she was well past the point of pretending like she wasn’t exhausted.

Jeri frowned for a moment before nodding in agreement. Giving her an extra squeeze, tighter than before, she drew back and brushed a hand along Rika’s cheek.

“That sounds like a good idea. I…I hope things will work out for you.” She paused before continuing in a quiet voice. “Do you…want me to check in on you later tonight, before you go to bed?”

Rika paused for a moment, before nodding hesitantly.

“Would … you mind … if I text you … during the morning?” she asked, licking her lips, deciding not to mention  _ when _ in the morning said text was coming in. She normally wouldn’t ask such a thing, but more than anything she wanted to sleep. And maybe if she knew that Jeri was safe and not dead when she woke up, she could start going back to sleep.

When the dreams would stop would be another question altogether, and from experience, Rika knew it wouldn’t be for awhile. Even now she would get the jeering shadows from the Dark Ocean returning to mock her at night, when her defenses were lowest. Those were easy to deal with at least, even if she woke up crying sometimes.

“Sure,” Jeri nodded, allowing a small smile to grace her lips. “I’ll be waiting.”

With that, Jeri pulled Rika into another powerful hug, holding it for another moment before drawing back with another sniff.

“Go get some sleep,” she said softly, her hands trailing down Rika’s arms and to her hands, squeezing them tightly.

Rika shivered slightly as she gently held on to Jeri’s hands, interlocking them with the brunettes. She could feel the desire to give the smaller girl a kiss on the cheek in return - she’s been kissed twice, so it probably was totally OK thing to do for friends, right? Yet as she looked into those soulful amber eyes, staring right up into her, red with tears, Rika’s stomach lurched as she was reminded what caused it.

Once again that desire to throw up came back. She wasn’t sure what this feeling was, but she didn’t like it. She would need to work on controlling this too once she managed to get her sleep issue under control.

“Yeah, OK,” she said, removing her hands. “I will.”

**###**

For the first time in what seemed years, Rika managed to sleep the entire night. It wasn’t like she didn’t wake up screaming during the middle of the night again, her mind still was hell bent on torturing her, but this time she texted Jeri  _ just _ to make sure she was still alive, er, up.

Rika was pretty sure she played it super casual though. Sure it was at 3:27 a.m., but Rika never said she had a normal bed schedule. Jeri seemed to believe it at any rate, and that’s all that mattered.

Either way, as the weekend came, she felt a little less like a bullet train hit her and only like a trucked rolled over her body a couple of times. So a considerable improvement, and one good enough to keep her outing with her little brother.

“You  _ cried _ during the Lion King?” Rika asked amazed, looking at her younger brother as she sucked on a popsicle as they walked through the park. The three of them - Renamon came along as well, of course - had stopped at a resturant to eat and both Renamon  _ and _ Akira needed to stop at the library to return and pick up some books, the nerds. It wasn’t like she didn’t like to read - far from it - but her partner and younger brother always seemed to have their nose stuck in a book.

“You didn’t?” Akira asked, arching an eyebrow at his older sister upon popping his own popsicle out of his mouth. “You make it sound like it’s something completely alien.”

“You haven’t known Rika for very long,” Renamon chuckled lightly as she turned a page in her book, easily avoiding obstacles as though she weren’t glued attentively to the words on the pages.

“I felt nothing,” Rika admitted, biting a bit of the ice off the stick, crunching on it before continuing.

_ Like how it should be _ , she thought.

Since sleeping, she felt like she had more of her emotions under control. Not all of them, that would be too much to ask for apparently, but at least enough to bullshit that she was a functional human being.

Or close to as functional as she’ll ever get.

“I mean, when grandma showed it to me, I was like, why is Simba believing a single word out of Scar’s mouth, you know? And why is a carnivore eating bugs and how is he not dead?” she continued on, waving her popsicle slightly. “I had a lot of questions.”

“Insects are an excellent source of protein,” Akira pointed out. “Better than animals in some cases, which is why in some countries they’re a delicacy. It’s not that huge of a leap of faith to not question Scar. Scar was Simba’s uncle and as far as we know, never lied to him before. Some kids are born believing they can trust everyone in their family.”

Popping his popsicle back into his mouth, he ran his tongue along it before withdrawing it, still eyeing his older sister as though she had grown an extra head.

“You’re weirder than I thought you were. I don’t get how you could see that movie and  _ not  _ feel anything from it. It’s  _ such  _ a good film!”

“How weird did you think I was?” Rika asked raising an eyebrow before thinking on it. “Actually don’t answer that question. Anyway, if you want something that  _ will _ make you cry, watch Gurren Lagann. Or read Elfen Lied. I mean yeah you know Lucy was a homicidal maniac who sort of needed to be stopped before she destroyed the city at  _ least _ , just having her beg to die was heart wrenching as her body melted down to goo.”

“You’re my sister, so I thought you were plenty weird,” Akira replied, ignoring Rika’s request for him to ignore her question, as per his sibling duty to annoy her. He clearly was taking lessons from Suzie. Or Ai and Mako. Or Masahiko - well, perhaps not Masahiko. “And I suggest Lord of the Rings for a good cry fest. Frodo is hurt so badly from everything that happened during his quest that he can’t stay home and live happily, so he has to leave everything behind. Plus it’s one big ‘goodbye’ to magic and mystery.” He scowled and  _ harrumphed  _ angrily. “Stupid movies and their leaving out the Scouring of the Shire. Would have made things even sadder, guaranteed.”

Biting off his popsicle he chewed on it thoughtfully for a moment before continuing.

“Plus the orcs are all abuse victims, and even though Smeagol was a jerk, what happens to him is pretty sad period.”

“I did not read the books, just watched the movies,” Rika admitted; though she felt no shame in saying so. She picked up the first book in the series and got so bored that she couldn’t even reach the second half. As a result she wasn’t too keen on watching the movie, but Henry had bribed her with violence during her edgy teen period. It worked. While it didn’t quite  _ grip _ her like it did others, apparently her brother included, she could see at the least how it influenced modern fantasy.

Finishing off her popsicle, she continued on.

“And it isn’t so much as sad as violent, but I found this book called Game of Thrones. I can’t wait for the fourth book to come out.  _ So _ good. I mean normally politics is pretty boring but oh my gods, all these warring families. The backstabbing? The betrayal? I would probably root for the Lannisters more if it wasn’t for Joffrey. I do like the Starks and the Targaryen family …”

She paused and looked at her partner, who, despite the conversation that revolved around books and her nose figuratively (and literally) stuck in one, hadn’t joined in.

“What about you Renamon?” she asked curiously.

“Gon, the Little Fox,” came the short reply as she turned another page.

“Depressing,” Rika quipped, recalling the story where a little fox steals a fish in front of a man who wanted to use it to save his sick mother. The mother dies as a result, and the kitsune sees his mistake and tries to make it up by giving the man the gifts he stole, only for the villagers to accuse the guy of theft and beat him up. Afterwards, Gon, the fox, only gives the man food he found in the forest. The guy is grateful for the gifts but doesn’t know where it comes from. One day the guy sees Gon sneaking around and shoots him dead because he was pissed about his mother’s death only to later to his horror that it was the little fox giving him the food.

Most usually see this as a lesson in accepting your destiny, which in a way, made Rika wonder why Renamon liked it so much. After all, wasn’t she the one who said you could make your own destiny?

“Says the woman who was just gushing over a book which is filled with violence and murder,” came thee witty retort.  

“I thought we were talking about things that made us sad anyway,” Akira grinned at Rika and Renamon’s antics before taking another bite out of popsicle again. “Definitely agree with you on Game of Thrones. Well…except the Lannisters stuff. Tyrion is the only one worth anything. The rest are all jerks.”

He glanced at Renamon curiously. “Do you read only fox-related stories?” he asked as they rounded a corner, just in time for a red ball with bat-wing ears and four stumpy legs to come running into view.

“Renamon!” Gigimon barked, sitting up on his hind legs while holding the front two out eagerly, as if asking to be picked up and hugged by the kitsune-turned human. “Rikamon! How are you doing?”

Renamon bent down, after bookmarking her page, to pick up the excitable In-Training. Rika, however, was thinking, besides Calumon, Gigimon needed a leash. Just because this area of the park was rather remote and didn’t have that many people coming to it didn’t mean people could show up.

_ Where’s Takato?  _ She thought, glancing around for the red-eyed boy.  _ He should be keeping a closer eye on him _ .

“Have you been keeping out of trouble?” the kitsune asked, giving Gigimon the same stern look she gave Calumon. Terriermon and Impmon had a different look which was more of a glare with a hint of a dare. 

_ “Gigimooon…!” _ came the answering reply to Renamon’s question as Takato came running around the corner at a run, panting slightly from having to chase after his partner. He quickly spotted the tiny-red ball of a digimon while he busily snuggled into Renamon’s arms and panic crossed his face. “Gigimon!” he gasped, picking up the pace, only to pause, his red eyes meeting Rika’s briefly. The panic vanished, only to be replaced by a more neutral expression, and as he approached, he forced a smile on his face.

“Uh… Hi guys,” he said. “Sorry about that. Gigimon decided to run off while I was taking him for a walk.”

His gaze zeroing in on his partner, he frowned disapprovingly.

“I  _ told  _ you to stay close, Gigimon! We’ve been through this before.”

“But I smelled Renamon and I wanted to meet her…” Gigimon whined. “Takato, don’t be mean!”

Takato groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Well…at least it was Renamon and not some anti-digimon person or someone who would run off screaming. That’s the  _ last  _ thing we need right now.”

“You should listen to your partner,” Rika said, her lips pulling down into a frown as she looked at Gigimon. She always knew the dinosaur had trouble listening - he was bad as Calumon in that regard. However, a surge of annoyance flashed through her body. Gigimon should  _ know _ better; how many times was the current danger pressed? How much more would it take for the words sunk in? “Things are a  _ lot _ different now than they were six years ago. We’re trying to keep a low profile. You don’t want Takato’s family to go into witness protection because you didn’t think things through, do you?”

Gigimon shrank into Renamon’s arms, looking appropriately frightened.

“No..” he said in a small voice before glancing at his partner, tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Takatomon.  I’ll remember next time.”

“You have a way of scaring digimon that look like babies,” Akira noted, eyeing his older sister with an amused look while Takato scratched Gigimon behind the ear comfortingly, Renamon handing him back to Takato.

“She has that habit,” the older boy acknowledged. “And sometimes it’s a good thing, otherwise Gigimon and Calumon would have ended up in a government vat or something years ago.”

Accepting his partner back into his arms, Takato took a step back and bowed his head politely to the small group.

“Well, that’s enough bothering you. Have fun with…uh…hanging out?”

“We’re doing brother and sister stuff,” Akira acknowledged with a nod. “Well… Figuring it out anyway. Results are inconclusive in my opinion.”

Rika arched her brow at that. He sounded like a robot when he talked like that and not a normal functional human being. Not that she could be giving any pointers on that sort of thing, but at least she didn’t sound like she was giving a science report.

That was Henry’s thing.

Takato chuckled. “Well, keep at it. I’m sure you’ll figure things out. Anyway.” He lifted a hand and smiled again at them. “Later.”

Rika frowned, feeling something odd in her gut. It squirmed and boiled, like a snake on fire. The whole interaction felt  _ wrong _ . Like they were on two sides of an ever widening chasm. That ever since that day at the hospital things between them had changed, permanently. Once again the heat of anger with the odd desire to throw up bubbled up, and she opened her mouth to say something.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she found herself blurting. “You’ve been acting weird for awhile now! It’s like you’ve become somebody else, who quite frankly, is a bit obnoxious!”

“We’re doing brother and sister stuff,” Akira said, nodding at Takato, before looking thoughtful and casting a sideways glance at Rika. “Well… Figuring it out anyway. Results are inconclusive in my opinion.”

Takato chuckled. “Well, keep at it. I’m sure you’ll figure things out. Anyway.” He lifted a hand and smiled again at them. “Later.”

Rika felt her mouth go dry. She felt perhaps some sleep would stop the hallucinations. She got as much sleep yesterday as she did the entire week and then a bit more. That should have stopped any ill-effects of the sleep deprivation, or at least that’s what she thought.

Apparently not.

Running a hand through her hair, she sighed as exhaustion once again settled on her shoulders. She felt like Atlas.

“Later,” she said instead.


	61. Three Primary Colors

**** Beneath the laughing skull of the moon, Shinjuku lay in smoking ruins all around Takato. Here and there, fires were lit, some small, and others, large, massive pits of hellfire that caused the streets to glow like a grim lamp in the dark of the night.

Takato coughed, hugging his arms around his naked self as an icy wind slashed across him, leaving him to shiver and he licked his lips nervously, tasting an odd, greasiness that was…not natural, but for the time being he ignored it and carefully made his way along the broken rubble.

“Guilmon…” he called out, turning this way and that for some sign –  _ any  _ sign – that his partner was nearby. Since returning from the digital world, the two had been inseparable, save for school, and they could not bear to be without one another for very long. Yet of his friend, he saw nothing.

Takato hoped that his absence wasn’t a result of the horrible destruction that stretched in all directions toward the dark horizon.

_ What…happened here?  _ he wondered.  _ I…I don’t remember any of this! How did I get here? Oh kami… My parents! Are they…? _ His thoughts were cut off as he felt something slice along the bottom of his right foot. Drawing in a sharp breath, he looked down and lifted his foot, finding himself standing amidst a mass of glinting, broken glass and a bloody footprint stain.

_ Ah nuts… _ he thought. There was no helping it now unfortunately, naked as he was. The best he could do was pick his footing as carefully as he could.

The wind sliced at him again as he made his way through the streets, and more than once he nearly slipped and fell. His foot hurt and he was cold. Blinking blearily, he hugged himself all the tighter, trying desperately to keep as warm as he could. Shelter…

Yet, for some reason, looking at each of the buildings, the shadows that drowned their insides with a solid mass of black repelled him. It was instinctive, almost to the point of fear and revulsion, and he felt his skin crawl from something other than the wind every time he lay eyes on them. He felt as though something within them were watching, laughing at him as he continued forward.

Forcing his gaze away from the buildings, his face lit up upon spying a payphone that had, miraculously survived the devastation and he hurried on over to it, snatching the phone off the hook. His hands slapped at his naked waste and hope gave way to desolation.

_ Duh. No change… And it probably wouldn’t work anyway with everything broken. _

“Mom… Dad… Rika… Everyone…” Shakily he set the phone back on the hook and leaned against it. He  _ had  _ to find someone. If he could just do that, then he could figure out what happened and find a way to…

Movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned to see shadows pouring out of the buildings like oil, and, as though it were drawn to him, it began to creep toward him, sending out black tendrils that sought his warmth. His skin prickled madly, and the hairs rose along his body, as though it were all trying to tear themselves free and go running while his fool feet remained glued to the ground.

_ Run… Run… _

Yet he remained rooted to the ground, and as he stood there, watching dumbfounded, shadows rose up from the sea of blackness, taking on human shape that stretched out hands and pointed at him accusingly.

_ “Your fault,” _ they all intoned.  _ “This is all your fault. They all died because of  _ you.”

“No…” Takato whispered. “No… I wouldn’t do that… I  _ couldn’t!” _

The shadows shifted suddenly, swirling around him, cutting off his escape. He spun around, preparing to chance leaping over them – or into the darkness – and gamble at coming out on the other side if he moved quickly enough, but he stopped short when he saw a cloaked figure standing across from him. He recognized the cloak readily. Crimson, with a pointed hood spearing upward with an upside-down pentagram emblazoned upon its surface.

_ Daemon… _

“Of course, you would,” the cloaked demon mocked. “Of course, you could. You hurt everyone around you. You left  _ Rika  _ behind when she wanted you to stay, just like her father before you. You hurt Jeri when you brought her to the digital world and she lost Leomon… All because you loved her and fantasized about the two of you bonding as Tamers. And when she was hurt… You were willing to unleash the darkness in your very soul… Willing to end an entire  _ world  _ to hurt her even  _ more.” _

Reaching up, Daemon drew back his hood, revealing Takato Matsuki’s face, smirking cruelly… _ knowingly  _ at him.

“We know the darkness that lies in you better than anyone after all. After all, our hearts beat as one with yours once upon a time.”

_ “No!” _

The shadows suddenly closed in on him then, and as the blackness swam over his bloody feet, hands shot up from them, grabbing hold of him by the legs. Fingers dug into his flesh, spearing great bloody holes in them that caused Takato to gasp, a scream of pain dying in shock. Arms climbed further up his legs, again biting deep into him, pulling him downward so they could grab hold of him. He struggled, squirming to escape. Faces drew up from beneath the darkness, and he saw that they bore the visage of his friends.

_ “Your fault…” _ Henry hissed, clawing at his arms.

_ “Yours…” _ Kazu and Jeri said as one, grasping his shoulders and pulling him down. Blood spilled out of his wounds. His legs were losing strength, but he tried one final time to break free…

Hands grabbed hold of his throat just then, and he gagged as they broke flesh, worming their way inside. He looked down to find Rika’s smirking, shadowy face drawing up toward him, her shining violet eyes her only color.

_ “Your fault…” _ she said, pulling him toward her.  _ “Let me  _ thank you, _ Lover boy…” _

Fire leapt up all around Takato as her lips met his, and the last thing he felt was the scorching heat as it burned him down to nothing…

**###**

Takato awoke abruptly with a startled gasp, hurling his blankets off from around himself. Looking around blearily for a moment, he dropped his face into a hand, his body trembling violently.

“Just…Just a dream,” he told himself shakily.

“Takato? Are you all right?”

Drawing his hand away from his face, he turned to look at a sleepy Gigimon rousing from the nest of blankets he had bundled around himself, gold eyes looking at his partner worriedly. Taking a shaky breath, the boy forced a smile on his face.

“Yeah, boy. I’m fine. Just a bad dream, that’s all.”

“Another one?” Gigimon asked. “You’ve been getting those a lot lately.”

Takato didn’t respond to that, instead opting to climbing out of his bed and down the ladder, taking care so as to not trip on the way down. Heading over to his dresser, he pulled out an old pair of gym clothes so he could start his morning exercises. It didn’t matter to him that outside it was still dark. He had to get them done before he went about his morning chores. Behind him, he heard Gigimon shifting on the bed, disentangling himself from the blankets. A moment later, he rocked on his heels with a startled grunt as the tiny basketball of a digimon jumped down and landed on his back before scampering up to his shoulder.

“Gigimon…” Takato began, a tired, amused smile on his face.

“We’re going for walksies!” Gigimon crowed, licking his partner’s face. “Can we play tag?”

“Training,” Takato corrected, setting his partner down so he could get changed. “We’re going out for training.”

“Ohhh…” Gigimon’s face fell at that. “But Takato… You’ve been training every day since I got back. When are you going to just have fun?”

Takato glanced away guiltily. “I…can’t,” he replied reluctantly. “Not for a while anyway. I don’t know when that’ll be.” He paused, glancing over at the photo on his desk of himself and his friends, Henry, Jeri and Rika, taken during the early days of their investigations in the hopes that in case something happened to their memories, they would have a hard copy of their new friendship available to remind them of what happened and how they connected to each other.

He let the reasons why hang unspoken between them, and Gigimon didn’t press, luckily. Shrugging off his shirt, Takato took up the top to his gym clothes and dropped it over his head. As the shirt slid down to his waist, he spied the series of drawings and detailed scribblings of information about them that he made, torn from a small, pocket-sized notebook.

Attempts at making modify cards to help them with their current predicament with Mnemosyne. Something that would help them find it and, hopefully,  _ deal  _ with it. He had thought about taking them to Henry…try testing them. Their working was a possibility. After all, the digivice created Guilmon, and it made Kazu’s scribbling of a Blue card function just like a real one, so why not?

_ “Only the digital world answers to wishes, Takato. This is the real world. Only logic runs here – especially with the Firewall up.” _

He tightened his hands into fists and glanced away, Rika’s words echoing through his mind. In spite his mind reminding him of past history, the truth of their situation hit him hard. The digital world  _ was  _ blocked off to them. Their partners came home not because they wished it, but because they broke through on their own accord. Their wishes meant nothing for all the years that Mnemosyne hurt them and mangled their memories.

_ If they were as strong as we thought they were…we could have ended this years ago…right? _

His eyes drifted up from his desk and up to the wall, whereupon was pinned a number of newspaper clippings, detailing the aftermath of the battle with Daemon.

_ 43 dead,  _ each of them read.

_ My fault… _

Takato felt a tremor race through his hands and he burrowed his fingers tightly into his palms to still the quaking. It didn’t work, and he squeezed even harder until his nails dug into the skin.

_ Deep breaths Matsuki… Come on… Deep…breaths… Just like Rika and Henry showed you! _

The scuffing of Gigimon’s stub-like feet against his pantleg and his frantic bark-like call of the boy’s name quickly brought him back to reality, and he gasped, hands unclenching.

“Takato! You’re hurting yourself!”

“I…wha…?” Blinking at his partner, he turned his hands to find his fingernails edged with a thin film of his blood, having broken the skin of his palms. Wincing, he fastidiously wiped them on his pants.

“Sorry about that boy,” he said. With large, desperate looking eyes, Gigimon pawed at his legs.

“Takatomon… You need some playtime. You  _ all  _ do. Everyone smells upset. Like you’re all about to crack or something.”

“Like Mnemosyne will let us,” Takato said with a grunt, quickly changing out of his pants. “The last time we tried something like that, an echo of the D-Reaper showed up and nearly killed us. Mnemosyne dropped by just long enough to gloat about it before saving us.” His eyes narrowed darkly at the memory. Their one shot at relaxation, blown out of the water just like that.

_ Literally, in a way, _ he thought, remembering the echoes of all the dead soldiers that washed up on the beach, victims of the D-Reaper’s past rampage.

“We’ve got to win,” he continued, a note of desperation in his voice, his fingers curling into fists again. “We’ve  _ got  _ to. Mnemosyne… We don’t even know what’s going to happen anymore, except that it won’t be anything good.”

He turned toward his partner. “Do you understand, boy? This is like the D-Reaper all over again. We can’t afford to lose this. This…This could be our  _ last  _ chance.”

His eyes took on a distant look, thinking about what might happen if they did lose. He remembered how devastated they had been when their partners had been taken from them. Rika’s own cry to Renamon as she begged her not to go. To fight Hypnos’ program. Would it be like that again?

_ If…If it meant making sure no one lost their partners… If it meant them hating me for going forward…I’d rather that they hate me for a really long time then to go through that again, even if they didn’t remember. _

Still… As he exited his bedroom, fully dressed, he felt doubts eating away at him.

“Gigimon? Am I doing the right thing?”

Gigimon glanced up at his partner as he hopped down the stairs alongside him.

“Um… What do you mean? Going out for walksies?”

“No,” Takato began, feeling a bit exasperated. “I mean…” Coming to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, he laid a hand on the wall and pressed his lips together. “…about…everything. Fighting Mnemosyne…”

“Fighting Mnemosyne is bad after everything it’s done?” Gigimon asked, hopping down from the stairs and looking up at his partner.

“No one wants to fight though,” Takato said, sitting himself down on the last step. “I…think? At any rate, no one is looking to win. I can’t do it on my own, but…I said I’d do just that if that’s what it took.”

He glanced down at the floor, rubbing his hands together worriedly. “And I’ve made a big mess of everything. I’ve hurt people. People have  _ died  _ because of me. Because I didn’t  _ think!” _

He closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. In his mind’s eye, he saw the fires raging from the battle with Daemon; the burned bodies that lay in the destroyed ruins of cars, flesh blackened and cracked beyond all recognition. At the memory, he felt himself tense up and he had to repress a cry.

“I just…don’t know what to do anymore. I’m way out of my element here. When I’m out of my element…I…screw up.”

_ Ayaka… _ he thought bitterly, thinking about how everything had pushed her to the breaking point.  _ That’s…all my fault too. _

Opening his eyes, he gazed at the wall. “I don’t even know who I can talk to anymore. I don’t know if I  _ can  _ talk to anyone anymore. Or should.”

Gigimon, seeing his partner’s depression, toddled on over and bumped up against his partner’s leg.

“We’ve made mistakes before,” he replied, nuzzling the boy. “We’ll get better, just like we used to. We can beat Mnemosyne if we all try, just like we did before with the D-Reaper. All we have to do is think of something.”

But as Takato listened to Gigimon’s words, all he could think of was what Rika said to him at the hospital that now felt so long ago.

_ “Only the digital world answers to wishes, Takato. This is the real world. Only logic runs here – especially with the Firewall up.” _

**###**

Takato arrived at school, struggling with his tie, his hair in disarray from his run to school. He was on time, and in no danger of arriving late, but he ran as part of his training regimen. He hadn’t realized how out of shape he had gotten since the end of his days as a Tamer, but the realization, at least inspired him to improve.

He  _ had  _ to improve  _ somewhere  _ at least.

Approaching the gate, he saw Kazu arriving at a more casual pace, looking surprisingly well-kept for a change, with his hair combed back neatly. Takato tilted his head to one side curiously at this, briefly wondering if his mother had forced him to take one of his rare shower days.

“Uh…hey,” he greeted, lifting a hand away from his tie and toward his friend.

_You couldn’t say something a little bit more?_ he berated himself.  

Kazu glanced at him, his grey eyes flickering up and down, raising a single eyebrow but replied with a, “Hey” all the same. 

_ Well… That’s…not a bad sign, _ Takato thought, pressing his lips together tightly.  _ I think. _

“So…uh… How’s things? Is…” He thought back. “…Hagurumon doing all right? Is he any better since the fight?”

Movement caught his attention, and he glanced to his side to see Ayaka passing by the two teens. Blushing lightly as the girl gave him a sharp look, he quickly looked away, feeling ashamed by their last encounter.

_I really ought to apologize for that. I shouldn’t have gone off on her like that._  

As Kazu watched Ayaka brush by them, his lips twitched upward into a slight smirk. 

“Ya know Chumley, it’s kind of hard to tell if the harpy dislikes you or me more right now,” the teenager said, putting his hands behind his head like he used to do when they were children. “I mean she didn’t even yell at you for looking like a storm curbstomped you.” He leaned in and gave a stage whisper. “That’s when you know she’s really pissed at ya.” 

Takato frowned at Kazu, starting toward the school. “I didn’t do the kinds of things you did to make her mad. I remember she promised to make you eat your teeth after she left us the first time. All she did was punch me in the cheek.” 

Kazu held his hands up, yet the smirk was still plastered on his face. 

“Just saying man. For a ladies man, you really know how to get them mad, huh?” A devilish grin crossed his face. “Or are you just attracted to the feisty ones?”   

“I’m no ladies man,” Takato scowled. “If I was, I wouldn’t make them so mad in the first place.”

He paused in stride and turned toward the taller teen. Kazu… He wasn’t sure what to say to him, or _if_ he even should, but he felt a strong desire to talk to _someone_ about what was on his mind. At this point, he wasn’t sure _who_ to talk to anymore. Neither Rika or Henry were willing anymore, and Jeri… 

Jeri he didn’t want to burden any more with worries than she already carried. 

_It’d help break the ice a little between us too, I think,_ he thought _Maybe he won’t have any answers, but...it still might help, even if it’s just a little bit._  

“Kazu…” he began, rubbing the back of his head. “I…don’t know what to do. I’m sure people would tell me you’re the last person to go to for this sort of thing, and…well, no offense, but you’ve made every girl at school mad at you, but…I could use some advice on what to do. How…How do I make things better? We’ve all been hurt bad and I’ve been a part of that but…”

A depressed look made itself visible on his face. He was sure that this was a bad idea. He knew there was no simply making things better anymore, but talking to Kazu…felt good. At least a little bit. It almost made him feel like they were back in the old days, trying to solve the Deva mystery.

“…what’s the right choice here in all of this?” he finished finally. 

Kazu looked at him, his brow furrowing, before he leaned back. 

“Man, there is no _right_ choice. I mean there are definitely _wrong_ choices, like going up to Ayaka like you did despite Jeri telling us what happened. That was downright fucking retarded. But if you want to make things better …” his voice trailed off as he looked away, staring off into the distance as if only he could see something. “Figure out what the hell you did wrong in the first place and fix _that_. Like for me, I was acting like a down right cunt. I made Kenta’s life miserable, pushed people around … and it’s going to take a long time to make that shit right. Even though Kenta says everything is OK, I still see him flinch whenever I get angry. And _I_ made that happen, ya know? It’s gonna take a long fucking time to make that right, if I ever can.” 

He turned around and looked at Takato, his lips turning down into a frown. 

“But if you’re talking about other shit, I mean everyone got their ideas but hell if I know what is right and what is wrong. It would be easier if Mnemosyne was out and killing shit, because that’s downright evil. But all sides got a point. This ain’t like the D-Reaper, though gods know I wish it were.” 

Takato’s teeth worried over his lip as he digested his friend’s words. It wasn’t what he expected. Kazu tended to be more the fighting type. 

_Did Mnemosyne hurt him that bad?_ he wondered. If that was the case, it gave him all the more reason to be angry with Mnemosyne. 

“But…Mnemosyne  _ hurt  _ people. It hurt us. It kept manipulating our memories. It  _ used  _ Ayaka… We all got warped by what it did. Jeri…” He clenched his eyes shut, his fingers biting into his palms once more, the broken flesh hurting once more. “We were all made worse by what it did to us, and…” Opening his eyes, he stared down at his shadow on the ground. He felt the muscles in him tensing up, his words coming out faster. “We could have been on the same side and worked together to protect both worlds, but it hurt us instead!”

Takato found that he was breathing rapidly. Placing one hand on his forehead, he shook himself. His head felt… _ uncorked  _ from the rest of him all of a sudden. He itched. There was pressure inside him that wanted  _ out. _

_ I can’t do that, _ he thought, dropping his hand.  _ I can’t. Not again. Not anymore. _

“Aren’t there…different kinds of evil?” he asked quietly. “A person can still do terrible things trying to do good, right? I mean, when I was fighting the D-Reaper, it…it thought what it was doing was the right thing. That we were too terrible to let live. What’s the difference between that and Mnemosyne other than we get to live? And how can we trust it to not change its mind later on? How…How can we trust it at all when it did what it did?”

He sighed and shook his head. “Sorry. I’m just… I don’t know what I’m talking about. Never mind Mnemosyne, I know I did all kinds of wrong things. I don’t know if there’s any coming back from that. I hurt Henry by getting into a fight with him. I hurt Rika by leaving her. Ayaka…”

Looking up, he watched her retreating back as she disappeared through the school doors, frowning slightly.

“I don’t get what  _ any  _ one sees in me, but…I’m going to do better. I’ve got to figure that out though.”

He turned back to Kazu, resuming their trek. “What do you think I’m doing wrong?” 

“Shit man, you’re asking me?” Kazu frowned before sighing, scratching the back of his head. “I dunno … maybe getting all wrapped in your own head or whatever? Getting all obsessed like? I mean once you put an idea up there, man you chase that fucking thing like a bloodhound, and you do what you think is right. I mean feeling right ain’t always bad, but like man, with Ayaka, it wasn’t about _you_ or _your_ justice or whatever. I mean maybe Ayaka’s choice wasn’t right. I mean I think it sucks, if only because it hurt Jeri. But she made it and you gotta respect that? And cuz of your idea of enacting what you feel is right, you tried to push _your_ feelings onto someone else and got slapped for your trouble. I guess in with Ayaka … you made it about you.”  

Kazu stopped and looked at him, pressing his lips together before he let out another sigh. 

“Look man, I ain’t no wise guru or whatever, and I think you are barking up the wrong tree by talking to me. But word of advice, if you want to do ‘right,’ be prepared in for a long ass haul. It’s a fucking bitch, man, but for me, I gotta do it if I want to make shit right again. And if you want to do make things fine between you and Ayaka or Rika or Henry, you’re going to face some nasty ass shit about yourself you don’t want to face. And things might not even be how they used to.” Kazu’s shoulders slumped slightly. “I know it won’t be for me.” 

Takato smiled at his friend all the same. It felt good to hear Kazu putting in this much effort into his thoughts and feelings regarding their current situation. Kazu, while known for words - especially those of bravado - he rarely gave voice to any thought that didn’t portray him as knowledgeable, having little enjoyment in humbling himself before others. 

“Well, you may not be a wise guru, but I think you hit the nail on the head.” Turning away, he frowned again. “I messed up with everyone. I don’t know if I’m wrong about fighting Mnemosyne, but…I was wrong with everyone else, and that’s the fact of it all.”

As they approached the doors, he pulled one open and held it out for Kazu to take.

“Thanks for the reality check anyway,” he continued. “And… Well. Just thanks.” He rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. “It was kind of nice talking to you about this. I mean it. I know things have been weird between us lately, but…I think you’re a good friend.” 

“Look dude, don’t get mushy and shit on me now,” Kazu said, rolling his eyes as he walked through the door. “But you’re welcome, I guess.” 

Takato chuckled at his friend’s antics. “Okay, okay. Fine, no mushy stuff, I promise. But thanks anyway.”

They continued on down the hallway, and made their way toward their class. Upon entry, he spied Ayaka, seated at her desk and going over her notes for the day. He gazed at her for a moment before making a decision and heading over to her. A part of him screamed that he was doing something stupid, but he felt he had to make something right.

He had to face the ugly in himself, even if it changed nothing. He had given it much thought ever since that disastrous day where she slugged him when he exploded on her, desperate to get her to remember. He found himself shaking, afraid to face the anger he was sure was there, but with an effort, he continued to head toward her until he stood in front of her desk, hands at his sides and his heart beating at a painfully rapid pace that was sure to destroy his nerves.

“Um…Ayaka?” he began tentatively. Brown eyes flickered up, dragging up and down his appearance, her frown becoming more pronounced as she took in his ragged appearance. 

“What?” she asked finally, the tone of her voice suggesting he better make it fast. 

Takato glanced away for half a second, mentally flinching at her obvious irritation at him before meeting her gaze again. A part of him wondered again if this was a good idea. He made a number of terrible decisions already, and yet…

  _No. I can’t back out now. I need to apologize to her. I have to. She...She stood with us. She deserves that much._  

In his mind’s eye, he thought back on the day where he realized that she held feelings for him. He still wasn’t sure what to make of that, or how he felt about her in return. Up until then, she never expressed any interest in him and had even been dating someone else. 

_ She helped...knowing that I couldn’t return those feelings anyway, _ he thought bitterly. No matter what he seemed to do, he always ended up hurting someone. 

“I want to apologize to you. I was out of line and…crazy sounding. So…I’m sorry. I won’t bother you like that anymore. I promise.”

He felt a heavy weight settle over him, thinking of all the times she had been with them in spite of how out of her league she was – something he admired about her – but…this was her decision after all, and he had to respect that.

_And I didn’t,_ he thought. _I should have listened to Jeri and let things go. I really was selfish after all._  

Ayaka’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. After a moment, she sighed and pushed her chair back, standing up before reaching out to fix his color. 

“Stupid Gogglehead,” was all that she said, adjusting his clothes back to where they were supposed to be. 

Takato blinked in surprise at this unexpected act. That, combined with her calling him a ‘Gogglehead’ caused a wave of emotion to wash over him; feeling as though the ghost of their past friendship had reached out to him through the memory wipe. Tears came unbidden to his eyes and he wiped at them.

“T-Thanks,” he said hoarsely before bowing politely to the copper-haired class rep. “I…um…I’ll get to my seat now.”

Quickly departing – brushing himself down as he did so to finish fixing himself up as best as he could before class started – he hurried over to his desk and set himself down with a heavy sigh. Brushing at his eyes again, he cleared them of remaining tears.

_So… What else is next?_ he wondered, turning his eyes to gaze out the window.  

**###**  

_ I wonder if Henry’s going to be at the meeting today, _ Takato thought as he, Kenta and Kazu made their way down the park path. It was unlikely of course. Jeri said as much to them earlier in the week and Henry confirmed it when he called him afterward. It bothered him that Henry removed himself from their group, but he could understand it. Henry wasn’t the only person who avoided their friends because of everything that happened lately.

_ I wish it wasn’t the case, _ he thought, not for the first time remembering his anger toward Mnemosyne for everything it did to them. Good intentions or not, it didn’t change the reality that everyone had been hurt. Roads to hell were paved with all kinds of good intentions, and Mnemosyne laid another stone.

But these were things he felt neither Kazu or Kenta would want to talk about just yet. Not until they met with everyone willing to stick it out and attend meetings. Takato sighed internally, feeling that the meetings had become a grim ritual and little more than a formality. Show up, check up on everyone, and then  _ possibly  _ discuss plans of action.

_ Which we don’t have, _ he thought, wondering if Rika was going to be there. She hadn’t been looking well lately – which was a bit of an understatement in his eyes as she looked  _ exhausted – _ and for the most part kept to herself. Was the Dark Ocean’s impact on her that bad? Was it getting worse?

His nails bit into his palms again as his thoughts wound themselves together tightly.

_ I really am screwing up, aren’t I? I should have been checking up on her, but I stayed away like a coward. Just…what am I doing? Giving her space is one thing, but…I feel like I’ve abandoned her. _

_ Again. I did it again. _

He closed his eyes tightly, pressing his nails into his hands all the more tightly, feeling them dig into the morning’s wounds. Muscles grew tight with tension. The bruises that darkened the skin of his palms ached under the pressure and his breathing grew more heated. The whole of the world narrowed in his mind down to a single point, and for the briefest of moments, the sounds of Kazu and Kenta’s voices grew faint and distant.

_Again._  

“..kato. Takato!” 

“Bu-wha?” With a blink, Takato ground to a halt and looked at Kenta. “Ah…yeah? What’s up?” 

“You were zoning out,” the spectacled boy said, his lips pulling into a frown, his dark eyes flickering to Takato’s clenched fists and back up to his crimson eyes. “Are you OK?” 

“Ah… Yeah,” Takato replied half-heartedly, forcing a smile on his face. “I’m just…thinking too hard again, that’s all. So…um…” Takato’s mind raced as he hurriedly looked for a quick conversation changer. “…are you doing anything this weekend?”

Takato wanted to kick himself for such a lame thing to say, but  _ something  _ had to be done to break the ice and shift topics. While Kazu more than talked enough for all three of them, the silence that hung amongst them was…unsettling to say the least. Like a dark cloud looming over them wherever they went.

_It’ll only get worse too once we meet up with the others._  

“Ah …” Kenta’s eyes flickered over to Kazu for a fraction of a second before looking back to Takato. “Not really. You?” 

_ Nothing fun, _ Takato thought in his head as he resumed his part in their trek, but he didn’t say so out loud. He was sure that even Kenta would rather talk about something involving Mnemosyne at the moment.

“Not really. Exercise mostly. I’ve been doing more running lately. Not to mention a little throwing up from that. I’ve had to dial it back a little bit.”

He grimaced, remembering how he had been pushing himself too hard too quickly. He nearly passed out into his own pile of vomit the first time. He wondered how long it would take before he got better.

_Hopefully not too long,_ he thought. _I’ve got to improve. I’ve_ got to! 

“Chumley, man, throwing up from running ain’t good,” Kazu said as he interjected himself into the conversation. “Ya gotta start small and go from there.” 

“Well, I know that  _ now,” _ Takato muttered. “I wasn’t really taught a whole lot before…everything happened.”

_ Rika… _ his mind whispered as it went back to the red-haired girl, her exhausted face floating in his thoughts. 

_ My fault. I’m no better than her dad. No better. _

Approaching the path that led to the old concrete bunker that was their hangout, Takato paused at the bottom of the steps and took a deep breath, his nails pressing into his wounds once more before releasing their tension ever so slightly. It was time to see who was there today.

“Here we go,” he said under his breath before starting up. As they made their way up the stairs, he heard the sound of voices. They were vague and distant, but they filled him with hope alongside trepidation. Picking up the pace, he hurried along. 

At the top of the stairs was Rika and Jeri, joined with Calumon and Renamon. It was clear they had stopped for a treat before coming to the meeting as the two girls had ice cream cones in their hand - strawberry for Rika and chocolate for Jeri - with the In-Training Digimon wisely given a bowl, no doubt in a fruitless attempt to keep the mess to a minimum. An attempt which clearly failed as vanilla and chocolate ice cream was all over his face, though it didn’t seem to bother him any as he continued to eat away, shoving his face into the bowl, ignoring the spoon which sat next to him. Renamon was nearby in her human form, a book in one hand and a drink in the other. 

Renamon’s eyes flickered upwards as the three boys appeared over the stares, closing her book, folding the page down where she had been. 

“Hello,” she said simply, tucking whatever she was reading underneath her arm, the chattering of the girls which sounded suspiciously like an _argument_ amazingly enough to immediately cease.  

Takato’s eyebrows furrowed, wondering just what was going on. Jeri and Rika _arguing_ about something? It seemed impossible. Rika considered arguing with Jeri the equivalent of kicking a puppy after all. 

“Hey!” Kazu chirped, prancing up the stairs, smoothing his hair back, like he was a bird preening himself. His blue eyes landed on the ice cream as well, and a roguish grin crossed his face - an expression which Takato had learned to associate with trouble. “What, you guys got ice cream? Were you on a date?” 

_ Date? _ Takato thought in surprise at Kazu as he extended a hand up in greeting to Renamon, but for the moment he dismissed it, his eyes instead falling on Rika. The bliss of ice cream aside, she looked as tired as before. He felt his heart clench in worry, and with it came the urge to say something. He nearly bit back on his words, feeling the hesitation rising up in him – a voice telling him that Rika did  _ not  _ want to hear from him – but he pushed through it.

“Uh… Hey…” he began.

“K-Kazu!” Jeri stammered out in blushing exasperation, interrupting the boy before he could finish. “What are you talking about?!”

Looking at Jeri revealed a face full of alarm as crimson flooded her face, her grip on her ice cream becoming unsteady as her hand twitched, as if looking for something else to grab hold of. 

“Well, I did buy her ice cream,” Rika said, her face betraying no emotion as she chased a bit of strawberry which was dripping down on her hand. 

As Takato watched, his raised eyebrows mirrored by that of Kazu and Kenta, Jeri’s mouth moved, yet no sound came out. The red discoloration deepened tremendously, attempting to rival the fire in Rika’s hair.

“R-Rika!” Jeri finally blurted out, causing the girl to glance at her with a raised eyebrow.

_ That…definitely takes me back, _ Takato thought, thinking of all the times she had teased him before and during the formations of their relationships prior to the resets Mnemosyne forced on them. He felt a flash of jealousy at the sight of Rika doing the same with Jeri, but he quickly, ruthlessly, squashed it.

He had no business feeling that way anymore. Rika simply didn’t care for him in that way anymore.

_ Definitely not after what happened at the hospital, _ he thought.  _ Stupid to be feeling jealous anyway when she looks so tired. _

He wanted to hit himself in the head for that streak of selfishness, but it would have to wait until he was out of her sight and out of her mind. 

“What?” Rika asked, a hint of innocence in her voice, but Takato knew more than anyone else that just because she made it sound like it wasn’t perfectly calculated didn’t mean that wasn’t the case. Out of habit, he waited for the faint twitch of her lips to pull upwards which usually indicated she was teasing only for Calumon deciding that she needed a clarification. 

“She said Rika!” he chirped ever so helpfully, Renamon bending down and taking a napkin out of her pocket and started to gently wipe off his face. Squirming slightly, the innocent In-Training decided that things clearly weren’t awkward enough, and asked, “Were we on a date?” 

“No,” Kazu said decisively, making his way up the stairs and sitting down next to Jeri, a small laugh escaping his throat but Takato didn’t miss the glare he sent toward Rika. It was the same look he would sometimes shoot Takato whenever he felt that Jeri was showering him with too much attention even though the red-eyed boy wasn’t sure how much clearer he could make it he didn’t hold a torch for Jeri anymore. “I was just teasing.” He smirked at Jeri. “You really need to learn to take a joke.” 

“Maybe if everyone didn’t act like they were being serious, I could,” Jeri mumbled, glowering at Rika before resuming eating her ice cream. Takato tilted his head to one side, feeling a strange sense of… _ something _ in the air, though what it was he couldn’t say.

Or perhaps, did not want to believe.

“Um… A-Anyway…” Takato began, taking a step closer to Rika. “So…how have you been?”

The question was directed primarily at Rika, but Jeri, smiling through her blushing face, looked up at him, her fingers gracing the side of her ice cream cone.

“Oh… You know,” she said evasively. “Hanging out, just like we always do.” She shot a scolding look at Kazu. “And _not_ like what you’re thinking.” 

“I didn’t say anything,” Kazu said, holding his hands up in surrender as Kenta carefully sat down next to his friend. 

“Too bad she said thinking,” Kenta muttered, his voice barely louder than a mouse’s whisper. “And we _all_ know what you were thinking.”  

Kazu elbowed him for that, hissing at Kenta to “shut up, man.” 

Rika glanced up at Takato for a moment, and now that he was closer, he could see bags hanging underneath her eyes. Yet her violet eyes were just as bright as they normally were in the past. 

“I’m fine,” she said simply, not offering anything more.  

Takato felt his heart crack a little at this short reply, but he nodded, understanding why she volunteered so very little.

_ It’s not like I deserve to know what’s going on with her, _ he thought, rubbing the back of his head.

“That’s…That’s good,” he replied stiffly, forcing a smile on his face. “You’ve been looking so tired lately that I’ve been getting kind of worried.”

At this, Jeri looked at Rika with concern, and her hand fell over hers. Rika turned her palm over to cup it, fingers intertwined around one another. Seeing this, Takato couldn’t help but feel another flash of jealousy, remembering that his hand once sat there, giving her comfort.

_ My fault, _ he thought.  _ I messed up and now I can’t be there for her when she needs someone most. _

His eyes softened at Rika’s and Jeri’s hands, squeezing around one another. 

_ But…I guess I don’t have to be anymore. _

Yet, try as he might, he couldn’t help but feel the bitter pain imparted by that knowledge. In his mind’s eye, he saw his back turning on Rika.

_I’m no better than her dad…_  

“So what are we even talking about today?” Kazu asked, his lips turning down even more into a frown as he noticed the two girl’s behavior even though it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for them. Kazu tended to be the jealous type though from Takato’s personal experience. 

“About Mnemosyne again, I guess, or whatever it is we’re going to do,” Takato replied, turning toward his friend. “Henry’s out for a little while, so we should probably figure what to do. Or…if we  _ should  _ do anything.”

“Do you think we should?” Jeri asked, her eyes watching Takato intently as she ran her fingers along Rika’s hand.

Takato met Jeri’s gaze before looking away, his eyes set in a hard expression.

“I’m going to,” he said firmly after a moment. “I don’t know how, but I’m going to give it a shot. Don’t get me wrong, I wish Henry were here to help, but…if he can’t, I’m not going to force him.”

He thought back to that time in the tunnel, when he led Rika and Henry to the tunnel where Guilmon had disappeared, to both warn them and also hoping for help of some kind. Henry offered his without complaint, and Rika after some hesitation.

He remained determined now as he was then. Mnemosyne wasn’t going to leave them alone. Ayaka proved that.

_ How much time do we have before it comes after us all, whether we’re willing or not? It forced us all to forget each other the first time and every other time since then until now. Why would that change? _

Unseen, a small smile touched the corners of Jeri’s lips. “Takato…” she said softly under her breath, too quiet for the boy in question to hear.

“Anyway,” Takato continued, “if anyone has any ideas or anything, I’m open to them.  _ If  _ you want to. I’ve had a few, but one of them I need Henry for and the other I need Gigimon for. So that kind of leaves Gigimon right now, and we’re going to work on that after the meeting is over.”

He cast his gaze around at the others, looking for…something. Some kind of affirmation or desire to help.

“So…yeah,” he said, flapping his hands at his sides. “That’s where I’m at. Whatever the rest of you want to do, I’ll leave that up to you.” 

Rika and Renamon were silent, neither of them adding their two cents one way or the other. It was a recent trend they had seemed to pick up - though not  unusual. Rika tended to keep her thoughts to herself for the most part. 

Kazu on the other hand, didn’t. 

“Man I don’t know,” he complained. “I’m having trouble with things that aren’t some mysterious all-powerful being. At least with the D-Reaper we knew where to beat it up at. With Mnemosyne, who the fuck knows. We gotta do something, but even though Brainiac was a fucking twat about it, he was kinda on the spot when he was asking _how_. As far as I’m concerned, just figure out something and tell me what to do, and I’m there. What do you think Kenta?”  

The spectacled boy jolted, unused to being dragged into the spotlight like this. After a moment, he looked down and twiddled his thumbs. 

“I think … instead of focusing on Mnemosyne at the moment, we focus on trying to talk to Henry,” he said quietly. “Henry is the one who has the most information on it, right? Plus he’s a huge source of firepower - literally. That and let’s be real, he’s the smartest of us all. Who knows what information he has we don’t know about. That and dividing us up only works in Mnemosyne’s favor. Divide and conquer right?” 

“What if,” Calumon piped up suddenly. “We ask it really nice to leave us alone?” 

“I wish we could just do that,” Jeri said, patting Calumon on the head with her free hand. “But I don’t think asking nicely is going to work. And…about Henry…” She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, her eyes darting toward the ground evasively. “He’s…not interested in fighting Mnemosyne. Right now, he’s trying to figure out if echoes are backup memories. He wants to know why he was able to remember when Mnemosyne kept changing things for the rest of us. He’s thinking if he can keep Mnemosyne from doing that again, it might…” She paused before continuing. “…leave us alone.”

_ Until it finds a way around that, _ Takato thought, but he didn’t voice his thoughts on that concern. 

“Well… He’s tackling things from a different angle,” he nodded. “If he thinks that’s the best way to fight, then I’m not going to bother him. He knows what he’s doing and…” Takato gave a harsh chuckle. “…well, I don’t. Who knows? His plan just might work and it could be the better one to try.”

_But…just in case, I’m going to keep an eye out for an alternative. Man, I hope Gigimon can find something today._  

“Why does he think the echoes are our back-up memories?” Kenta asked, his lips pulling down even more. It was rare to see him smile nowadays - though that could be said for everyone - but on Kenta who in their youth was filled with as much youthful vigor as Kazu was, it made him look like an old man, worrying as he withered away. 

Much to Takato’s surprise, Rika spoke up before Jeri had a chance to. 

“Essentially, our memories aren’t be erased. We are just being prone to suggestion, and memories as a whole can be stored digitally. If you take the suggestion as a virus, regaining our memories would be akin to bringing your computer back to the last point it was backed-up prior to getting the virus,” she explained. “The question is where is the backup, or our external hard drive. He thinks it has to do with the library data in all our code, and the echoes are part of that code.”   


“I don’t get it,” Kazu interrupted, yawning to make a point. “Why is any of this important?”   

“Because we’re potentially destroying parts of our memory when we destroy an echo,” Renamon finished. “Though Henry isn’t completely sure on this hypothesis. Either way, he believes the echoes have a deeper link in regards to memories than we first thought.” 

There was a moment of silence before Kenta spoke up again, his voice quiet but somehow his words carried. 

“Hasn’t … Mnemosyne been destroying echoes from the beginning? If … if they our memories … nothing we do in the future will matter because we won’t remember anything.” 

Takato frowned at this. “Um… I don’t think so,” he answered, casting his gaze over at Rika and Jeri, worrying over his lower lip. “I think on that Henry is kind of wrong. I mean, we haven’t forgotten anything about any of the echoes that showed up that we knew, or the people they came from.”

“I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything,” Jeri said quietly, squeezing Rika’s hand tightly again. “I still remember Leomon and my mom.” 

Rika didn’t answer, beyond her eyes flickering to Renamon again, her thumb rubbing Jeri’s hand. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking - he couldn’t help but wonder what would it be like to be in Renamon’s shoes who always knew what was on Rika’s mind. 

Kazu and Kenta, on the other hand, breathed large sighs of relief before Kazu turned his attention to Takato. 

“Well we know what Brainiac is working on. Honestly I don’t really get it, but whatever. What’s your plans, Chumley?” 

“Well…one of them I’m scrapping because I’m worried about how it might affect Gigimon if I tried it without Henry’s help,” he replied. “But the other one… It might sound crazy and farfetched, but those echoes  _ have  _ to be coming from somewhere. So for now, Gigimon and I are going to have a look around and see what we can sniff out. Gigimon can find just about anything once he puts his nose to it, and if we find the where or even the how, then maybe it can lead back to Mnemosyne.”

It was a strange plan. Takato would be the first to admit that, and he was certain Hypnos had better, but Mnemosyne’s control was so deeply imbedded in everything that they had few options. So far, the digimon seemed to be outside of its control, and with Gigimon’s tracking ability – the very same one that found a portal to the digital world – then, firewall or not, they stood a fighting chance of getting to Mnemosyne.

“It might not work,” he continued, “but…this is about the only thing I can do right now. And I think each of us should do what they’re best at until someone comes up with something. Henry’s good with computers. I’d just get in the way with that.” 

“Better than nothing. And he did find the gate to the Digital World,” Kazu shrugged. 

**###**

There was little left to be said after that. After a few more, short attempts at engaging in conversation, that left little sense of encouragement in cutting past the tension in the group, it was decided for everyone to leave and go their own ways. Takato watched Rika and Jeri head off, hand in hand, his expression neutral, but his emotions forlorn, a part of him wishing that he were with Rika, holding her hand to comfort her. Tearing himself away, he bid Kazu and Kenta goodbye and made his way toward home.

He barely noticed the journey, and nearly passed his home before his father called out to him.

“Hey! Takato! You’re going the wrong way!”

Blinking in surprise, Takato ground to a halt and looked over his shoulder, finding his father at the door, waving him down with a half-worried, half-amused expression on his face.

“Uh… Right,” Takato replied, shifting his grip on his school bag before turning around and starting toward his father.

“You okay, son?” Takehiro asked. “You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something there.”

“I’ve got some things on my mind.” Takato pressed his lips together tightly as he passed his father. “Same as usual.”

Takehiro nodded in understanding – at least as best as he understood things – clasping his son’s shoulder comfortingly before following him back into the bakery. Not for the first time did Takato wonder if it was a good idea to tell his parents about everything that was going on and his involvement in events. Given everything that was happening and how public it was rapidly becoming, he felt that he couldn’t hide any of it from them. So he did what he had done before, so long ago as a child.

He introduced them to Guilmon.

His mother reacted exactly as she had before, by panicking, while his father…admittedly more apprehensive than the last time, accepted it with all the good graces he could muster in order to support their son.

Sometimes, he felt that continued ignorance would be a bliss to them, not knowing that their wayward teen risked dying in a fight against some world-destroying, digital life form.

_ At least those have been few and far between since Daemon, _ he thought, rubbing at his arms reflexively. The burns were almost completely gone now save for some scarring, but their memory remained imbedded in both mind and body. He shivered in spite of the warm air. Some days, everything felt cold no matter how warm things were.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Takehiro asked, making their way toward the back. Takato shook his head.

“No… I’ve got to get Gigimon and head out for a little bit. I’ll be back for my shift. Um…” He paused at the stairs and glanced around. “Is Mom…?”

“She’s out getting some supplies right now,’” Takehiro replied, a bit of a sad note in his voice. Last night he expressed a desire to make Guilmon Bread, a loaf of bread shaped like Guilmon’s head, and make it one of their new line items. He had been rather proud of the idea, as it was one that he himself came up with. Or rather, that he believed he came up with. As with most of the parents of the Tamers as well as the rest of the world, his memories of the actual past were fuzzy, but Takato hadn’t bothered to correct him on this matter. 

Unfortunately, with the situation of the digital world being common knowledge again and digimon not being very popular anymore, Guilmon Bread likely wasn’t going to see production anytime soon. 

_ Not like it used to be, _ Takato thought miserably.

“Okay,” Takato sighed, turning away. “When she gets back…let her know that I’ll be careful.”

Not waiting to see what his father’s response was, he hurried up the stairs toward his room and slid open the door, just in time to be pounced upon by a crimson ball of laughter and slathering tongue.

“Ah! Gigimon!” Takato shouted as the teen toppled backward from the sheer, unexpected force from the red pinball as he found his face being licked all over.

_ “Takatomon! _ You’re home!”

“Yeah, yeah, I am, boy! Settle down!” Pulling his partner away, Takato set Gigimon down and gave him a loving scratch behind the ears. “So what have you been up to today?”

“Learning to read!” Gigimon reported with a bark. “Well, mostly looking at the pictures of your manga, but it’s fun trying to figure out what’s going on in them!”

“I…should probably help you with that,” Takato chuckled. Bouncing up to the boy, Gigimon nuzzled his ankles.

“So how are the others? Are they all right?”

“Well… That’s the question, isn’t it?”

Getting up, he headed over to his desk, casting his eyes over his many, many sketches and drawings, most of which were attempts to put ideas for dealing with Mnemosyne into some kind of card that he could scan through his digivice.

“I guess they’re all doing okay. Rika… She still looked tired, but she looked a little bit better.” An image of Rika’s hand clasped between Jeri’s flashed through his mind and he paused on his sketchbook briefly; the one that contained a drawing of Rika that he made so long ago that nearly got him into trouble with her. Picking up the sketchbook, he hefted it in one hand and held it for a moment.

“At least she’s doing better, right?” Gigimon asked, toddling after him, before sitting on his haunches.

“Yeah…” Takato said absently, a light tremor moving through him before he shifted, angling the sketchbook over the trash basket for a brief moment, as if preparing to make a decision, and then pulling open one of the drawers of his desk. Lifting up a pile of papers, he buried the sketchbook as deep underneath them as far as he could go and then slid the drawer shut.

_ And that’s goodbye to the past. _

A hot lump in the back of his throat, refusing to recede. Rika’s exhausted eyes continued to haunt his vision and the trembling from scant seconds ago increased in intensity. He felt something wet hit his hands and it was then that he realized he was crying softly. 

“Takatomon? Why is your face leaking? What’s wrong?”

“Sorry,” Takato said, his voice muffled as he ran an arm over his eyes. Taking a shuddering breath, he forced himself to reign in his emotions. “I’m just being stupid. We…ah…better get going.” He sniffed and stepped away from his desk. “I have another idea that I’d like to try out. I’d like to see if you can sniff out a way to Mnemosyne.”

Gigimon’s ears perked up at this. “Like I did with the portal to the digital world?”

“Yeah,” Takato nodded. “Whatever we can come up with.”

With a happy bark, Gigimon leapt up at Takato again, catching himself on his arm and clambering up to the boy’s shoulder.

“We’ll find something, Takatomon. I promise.”

A small, ghost of a smile touched the corners of Takato’s lips.

“I hope so, boy. I hope so.”

**###**

They didn’t find a thing.

Takato’s legs ached beneath his covers from the long walk he made across Shinjuku, hoping to catch a hint of  _ something  _ that could be of use to Henry or at least in finding Mnemosyne.

_ Lot of work with nothing to show for it,  _ Takato thought, shifting in his bed.  _ What a great way to end the day. I can just hear Kazu telling me that of course we’d find nothing. It’s Mnemosyne after all. It’s not like we’ve ever really been able to find it whenever we went looking for it. It always found us. _

Rolling over, his eyes fell on his cell phone, charging on his desk. He wondered if Mnemosyne was listening through it, waiting for him to do the same as Ayaka.

_ Would it be worth it? _ he wondered before glancing over at Gigimon, who lay curled up near his feet, snoozing softly.  _ No… _ he quickly answered himself.  _ I can’t trust Mnemosyne to take care of the digimon. But…if…if sacrificing my memory gave the others a way find him… _

He let the thought trail off before closing his eyes. He knew the source behind such thoughts. The desire that lay behind it to just forget and walk away from everything. From this fight with Mnemosyne… From all the hurt he heaped on his friends…especially on Rika.

_ It’s selfish,  _ he told himself.  _ I can’t run away. No more of that. I’m going to go down fighting, one way or the other. Just you wait, Mnemosyne. We’ll find you, and beat you. _

The dull, throbbing warmth of the aches that filled his body pulsed in tune with his heartbeat. In spite of the pain, he found himself being lulled to sleep, and closing his eyes, he did just that, slipping into the world of dreams, just as he always did.

**###**  

The next time Takato opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a familiar room; large with ample room for movement.

There was also a Renamon seated in a corner, arms folded over her chest and eyes closed. Takato clasped his hands over his mouth to keep from gasping out loud, certain that the kitsune would be able to hear him even in the depths of sleep.

_ Rika’s room?  _ he thought, the answer to his unspoken question as to where he was hitting him like a locomotive.  _ This…This is happening again. I’m dreaming and I’m…I’m astral projecting myself or something! Just like I did when I first dreamed of Rika, and then like when I saved Renamon’s echo…saw Leomon’s echo die…and showed up on Jeri and Kazu’s date… _

Beginning to inch away, Takato glanced around, looking for some sign of Rika in the dark room, but not yet seeing her. Was she not in the room? It didn’t seem likely, given that Renamon was fast asleep (or so it appeared).

_ She never stays somewhere without Rika unless she’s in school. So where…? _

The gentle bump of the back of his foot against the sleeping girl’s shoulder was his only warning as to where she was. Yet the second his foot touched her prone form, even though it was a merely a light touch, his mind went blank as darkness surrounded him, reaching up and pulling him under. 

**###**  

Red surrounded Takato's vision, finding himself in the park though the only thing which didn't have a crimson hue was the trees. Even they looked like they were wilting away to be washed away by the angry sea, the once proud branches hanging limply as if they were Atlas, with none of the strength to complete his task.

Looking around, he could feel far off in the distance the warmth of many fires, though none of them too close by. Suddenly there was a sound of an explosion somewhere in the distance, and the fires southwest of him - at  _ least  _ 30 in total - extinguished immediately, though there were a few flames which pitifully hung on. Somehow though, Takato knew they would flicker out soon enough.

There was no outrage or grief at this, just a numb acceptance. There was a movement out of the corner of his eye, and his head turned to see Grani, a beautiful red and white, though the colors caused his heart to ache.

"Grani." The greeting was a soft, rather feminine whisper, ending in a sigh.

"There are no signs of life here, Sakuyamon," the war horse said simply. "You of all people should know that."

"I know ... I just thought ..."

The words trailed off awkwardly into silence, a painful longing gripping his chest, clamping down hard and squeezing as if trying to wring what amount of life he had left in him. Once again, he looked down the path, and for a brief moment he could see the image of himself and Jeri, laughing and talking against a blue sky before it was gone.

It was like something lodged itself into his throat, but no matter how hard he swallowed, it wouldn't go down.

"They wouldn't want you to risk your life like this," Grani said after a moment. "It's dangerous here. The D-Reaper agents can be here at any minute. We cannot afford to lose you too."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Even though the apology left his lips, the words were hollow. With each passing year, the fight seemed a bit more pointless. They were so sure in the beginning ... but now ... even if a miracle did come, it would be too late. The Digital World is a lifeless wasteland and the Earth would soon follow suit. And even if life stayed on Earth, humans wouldn't be among the species.

Not like this.

All the same, he walked up to Grani, mounting the horse. Running a hand across the Digimon's hull, a thought crossed his mind.

_ A knight would be better suited for a horse than a priestess. _

**###**

Takato jerked back as the dream that had swallowed him whole – a strange, confusing dream where he was Sakuyamon and the war against the D-Reaper had continued onward – abruptly broke apart, leaving him blinking in confusion, a dull ache throbbing in his heart at some half-remembered loss. Staggering forward, he missed Rika’s eyes snapping open and collapsed to his knees in utter disorientation, unreality washing over him as his mind felt as though it  _ doubled  _ briefly before settling back down, becoming his singular, usual self once more.

_ I was…Sakuyamon? _ he wondered, gazing down at his hands, half expecting to see the violet gloves over them before burying them in his hair.  _ No… It was…It was more like…Rika’s memories. But…that never happened. She never rode Grani and the D-Reaper was beaten a long time ago…right? _

Relaxing his hands, he rose up slightly and turned in Rika’s direction, and found her violet eyes shining in the dark, centered right on him. Happiness was the last thing he saw in them.

_Oh nuts…_  

“... I better be fucking dreaming still,” the redhead growled, her violet eyes narrowing. To make matters worse, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Renamon stirring, her electric blue eyes opening, flickering around the room before finally landing on him. 

“Um… If I say you are,” Takato began, the corner of his mouth twitching nervously as he began to steadily back away from her, slowly turning around as he did so, “would it make you not want to kill me in the morning?” 

There was a brief pause as Rika glanced back to her partner who was approaching the girl softly, her eyes still trained on where Takato was. It was hard to say for sure or not if she saw him, but just like the first time he astral projected, she definitely knew he was there. 

“Renamon?” 

“Yes, Rika?” 

“Am I dreaming right now?” 

Renamon’s ears twitched for a moment, tilting her head, before signing his death warrant with one single word. 

“No.” 

Rika turned to look at Takato, any signs of exhaustion which she was displaying earlier unfortunately gone as her anger, and no doubt wrath, consumed her. Any other time Takato perhaps would be glad to see Rika looking well. Right now though, there was one thing which ran through his mind as Rika essentially confirmed what he suspected to be true. 

_I’m going to die._  

“You heard the lady.” 

The twitching in his mouth couldn’t stop, and for some reason an insane laughter began to bubble up inside him.

“Well…technically Renamon isn’t a ‘lady,’” he countered. “I mean, digimon don’t have gender, right?”

Stalling for time. He wondered if that was what he was doing for his brain to fix itself, as his mouth just kept on talking, saying whatever came to mind even if it did nothing to help him. Surely, Rika would understand that this was in all likelihood an accident. He didn’t even know why he was here in the first place after all.

_Then again… She wasn’t too happy with me dreaming about her in the first place…_  

Rika slowly stood up, cracking her knuckles. While in the past he wouldn’t _completely_ believe she would actually punch him - maybe - things now were awkward and testy between them. Not to mention Rika was a very private person, and even though it was an accident, something told Takato that his intruding in her room even if he didn’t mean to wasn’t exactly welcome.  

That’s when her eyes began to glow blue, matching Renamon’s, as she made her way toward the boy. 

“You know, I distinctly recall being able to interact with ghosts,” she said slowly. “I always wondered if I can punch one. Let’s test that out.” 

That did it. Something clicked and fell into place in Takato’s head and he felt anger burst up inside him. This was  _ not  _ fair at all! He hadn’t done anything  _ wrong  _ this time! Balling up his fists, he met Rika’s eyes levelly and he stomped one foot on the ground for emphasis.

“Oh, come on! This is crazy! I don’t even know why I’m here this time! If you want to hit me again, go ahead, but I’m not here right now because I _want_ to be! Ah…” Takato paused, his goggle-headed mind pausing for a second as he considered the possible ins and outs of astral projection. “…I…think? I think I didn’t want to be here. At least, not something weird and creepy like this. The last thing I remember is just falling asleep…bam! The next thing I know, I’m touching you and I get this weird vision where I’m Sakuyamon and we’re still fighting the D-Reaper.” 

“You were _touching_ me?” Rika growled, her body tense like a cat about to pounce until Renamon put a paw on her shoulder, effectively stopping her with a slightest of touches.  

“Rika?” Renamon’s voice was soft, but it carried it across the room. “Who are you talking to?” 

“Takato!” The redhead snarled, gesturing toward him wildly. Renamon’s ear twitched as she glanced toward where he was standing, tilting her head ever so slightly before uttering a single sound. 

“Ah.” 

There was a bit of a pause, the two staring at each other, though it was impossible to tell what either one were thinking, let alone talking about. After a moment, Rika’s brow furrowed and her hand reached up to touch her eye just as the blue glow blinked out. Finally she turned back to Takato, though she still looked less than pleased to see him in her room the plus side was she no longer looked like to murder him. 

Just yet anyway. 

Rika’s sudden aggression at his response – causing him to realize too late how his description of events must have sounded – caused him to freeze up completely. Thoughts from earlier of his hurting Rika hit him full force and his face cracked from the swell of pain rising in his heart. Instinctively, his hand rose toward her in comfort, but quickly hesitated, a black thought whispering in his thoughts as he saw the look in her eyes.

_ She doesn’t trust you, remember? She hates you for what you did to her. _

“I’m…sorry,” was all he said, and then girl, kitsune and bedroom vanished from his sight. His vision of the world swam all of a sudden, and Takato rolled over, gasping and gagging as his stomach attempted to hurl itself out of his mouth, causing his head to slam into the wall of his bedroom. Stars to burst across the darkness over his eyes and he lay there for what felt like an eternity, waiting for the whole world to stop spinning and trying to hurt him so he could get off it for a moment.

“Takatomon!” Gigimon exclaimed in surprise, bouncing out of his blanket nest and hurrying over to him. “What happened? Did you have a bad dream?”

“Ah… Well, I had  _ a  _ dream,” Takato croaked, rubbing at his head where he had smacked it, wallowing his way through the pain – physical and emotional – and confusion that wrapped chains around him. “A crazy, weird one where Rika tried to punch me for dreaming a dream within a dream… I think. Either that or I astral projected into her room.”

His eyes grew wide at that and with a cry he quickly scrambled out of his bed and climbed down the ladder. Part way down, his foot slipped and he hit the floor, much to Gigimon’s dismay. Undaunted, he hurried over to his desk where his cell phone was charging and quickly snatched it up, pulling down Rika’s contact information.

_ Rika?  _ he quickly typed out. _ It’s Takato. Did anything weird just happen tonight like me showing up in your room and you were about to hit me for it? Because if so, I didn’t mean it! I don’t know what happened! _

_Oh please, oh please don’t let it be real,_ he thought, hitting send. Just the very act of sending such a message would land him in deep trouble even if it wasn’t real, but on the chance that it was, he had to clear things up as quickly as possible.  

The response took a painful two minutes., but when it came, it didn’t bring the answer Takato hoped for. 

“ _Next time u invade my memories like that i will hit u. Accident or no.”_  

_ Oh nuts… _ Takato groaned, pressing the phone against his forehead.  _ Great. Now Rika’s mad at me…again. And…wait. When did she ride Grani? I don’t remember that happening at all. _

He paused on that thought for a second, rolling it around in his mind before deciding that, for the moment, it was best not to pursue it until Rika was in a far less foul and punchy mood.

He typed up an apology and hit send. As he waited for her response, he turned toward the window and gazed at the sky.

Whether she replied or not, he knew sleep would be a long time coming for him.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Rika being half-Japanese comes from another friend and fellow author over at fanfiction.net, RGZ Archer, whose work I also recommend. Sadly he doesn't post as much as he used to, but he's still worth a read.


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